A low-key career diplomat, Turner couldn’t be more different from his predecessor, Sir Peter Mandelson, whose calamitous Epstein-related ouster and arrest still threatens to bring down Prime Minister Keir Starmer. (Sir Peter Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and has consistently denied any wrongdoing.)
Fortuitously, Turner comes to Washington with deep knowledge of Iran. A Farsi speaker, he has been the British Foreign Office’s chief negotiator with Iran for the past three years. “I know the actors in that field extremely well and I have been at the center of those discussions.”
Unlike his predecessor, Turner has stayed off the headlines since he arrived. Which doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy. “There’s plenty of time for the sort of more public-facing part of my job; that will come,” he said. “For now, I’m focused on getting things done. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. My first job is to establish relationships in Washington.”
How to establish a relationship with the most unconventional president ever?
“All leaders are, in a sense, their own personalities. President Trump is a very authentic leader. I’ve worked with Pakistani generals, I’ve met Putin, I’ve served British politicians on all sides of the aisle. It’s really not for me to pick and choose… I serve to engage whomever the American people elect.
“We’ve had quite a lot of contact,” he said about Trump. “I’ve seen up close the President’s extraordinary ability to shape things. He has a genius for political communication and it’s an extraordinary talent.”
The Garden Party, Turner’s first major social event, burnished his credentials, and illustrated how well he could utilize the splendid ambassadorial residence. Designed in 1925 by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it is itself one of the crown jewels of British soft power.
“I am in some senses a hotelier, a restaurateur. I’m a good diplomat, but underneath that, I try to throw good parties where people can come and have a good time while the national interest is advanced. I do have a ballroom, and it’s a very nice one.”
