Peter Mandelson is a gamble as US ambassador – but exactly what Trump needs

One of the hardest things about being the British ambassador to Washington is giving it up at the end of your term. You are living in one of the finest private addresses in DC – the only Lutyens-built house in North America – with its fabulous art collection, swimming pool, tennis court and hot and cold running servants; with your chauffeur-driven Bentley, manicured gardens – and you’re right next door to the vice-president’s official residence on Massachusetts Avenue. The ambassador plays host to a lot of government ministers over from London who want to sit up late and discuss the intricacies of what is happening on the Hill, and discuss over breakfast the next morning how their policy initiatives will be received by Washington’s power brokers. He said he didn’t want to discuss the possibility of going to Washington but nevertheless gave some sharp analysis of where the Democrats had gone wrong in November and why Trump deserved to win. And if you look at the different dossiers that will have to be grappled with, post-20 January when the Trump second term kicks off, it’s going to need someone with some real political heft.