Britain’s next ambassador to the US has been appointed – and while it’s not second time lucky for George Osborne at least he has something to fall back on.
The New World exclusively revealed in July that senior advisers to Keir Starmer were pushing for the former chancellor to be appointed UK ambassador to Washington ahead of Peter Mandelson eventually securing the role. Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin revealed the entreaty was very serious — and that the former chancellor was unsurprisingly very much up for it.
Ultimately, the job went to Mandelson, who succeeded Dame Karen Pierce into the Edwin Lutyens-designed ambassador’s residence at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue before being forced out once again in disgrace over his intimate relationship with the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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Osborne’s name was mentioned in dispatches as a potential successor to Mandelson – but, alas, he has fallen short again. The new ambassador is Christian Turner, who was only appointed the UK’s representative at the United Nations in May. He is said to have just edged out Nigel Casey – who, as the present ambassador to Moscow, may have been thought to be well prepared for the Kremlin-friendly White House.
Still, at least the former chancellor has taken on another big job.
Osborne has been hired by OpenAI, which makes the ChatGPT tool, as managing director and head of its OpenAI for Countries initiative, which “ensure[s] AI systems are built on democratic values while supporting local innovation ecosystems, education and infrastructure”. He will take up the London-based role in January and oversee the expansion of the initiative, OpenAI said.
At least it will keep the man who wanted to be David Cameron’s successor as prime minister busy. The ex-chancellor currently only has his roles as chair of the British Museum, co-president of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a think tank and advocacy group, adviser to Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange, and co-host of a podcast with one-time sparring partner Ed Balls. He said this week he would leave his role as a partner at Robey Warshaw, the boutique investment bank. No wonder he hasn’t got time to be Starmer’s Trump whisperer!
