Nigel Farage, who helped president-elect Donald Trump during the election campaign, said he was “very flattered” following Trump’s tweet calling him to be the next UK ambassador for the US.
Trump tweeted on Monday that “many people” would like to see Farage as ambassador and that he would do a “great job”
“I don’t think I will be the ambassadorial type. Whatever talents or flaws I have got I don’t think diplomacy is at the top of my list of skills,” Farage told Sky News on Tuesday morning.
This was just as well, as a Downing Street spokesman said: “There is no vacancy. We already have an excellent ambassador to the US.”
Farage wasn’t the only one surprised by the tweet. Former British ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, said the “UK ambassador in DC exists to defend UK interests in US, not US interests in UK. Can’t have foreign presidents deciding who our [ambassador] should be.” he tweeted on Tuesday.
Farage was the first foreign politician to meet Trump following his win last week. The former UKIP leader offered to act as a go-between for the British government and the US – an offer quickly declined by Downing Street, which insisted there was no need for a “third party” in the UK/US relationship.
“It just goes to show they are not really interested in the country or the national interest, they are more concerned about petty party politics and trying to keep me out of everything,” he said.
“If you think of America in terms of a business and think of them as a client we want to do business with, what would you do? You would use the person who has the connections.
“Nobody in this administration in the UK has any connections with the Trump team at all, and yet they are prepared on behalf of the country to cut off their noses to spite their faces.”