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British ambassador to the US abruptly resigns

2026-05-20 09:31:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Britain's second-most senior diplomat in Washington, who stayed on as acting ambassador after Peter Mandelson was sacked, has suddenly left his post.

The UK government gave no reason for James Roscoe's sudden departure, which comes amid an investigation into the leaking of discussions at a meeting of the UK's national security council.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “James Roscoe has left his post.” No further explanation was given for the departure of Roscoe, who had served as deputy head of mission at the British embassy since 2022.

Roscoe was among those shortlisted for the ambassadorship after Mandelson was sacked over his links to convicted child sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. The post eventually went to another career diplomat, Christian Turner.

Senior officials at the embassy are said to have been among those questioned as part of an investigation following reports this year of cabinet division at a national security council meeting over allowing the US to use British bases for strikes against Iran.

These discussions are protected by the Official Secrets Act, and a leak of information from the National Security Council is considered a serious breach. In 2019, Theresa May fired the then defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, over a leak.

David Lammy, the justice secretary, ordered an inquiry into the apparent leak of discussions this year. The Spectator reported that Keir Starmer suggested that the US should allow the bases to be used to carry out defensive strikes against Iranian targets at a meeting last Friday, but was met with opposition from Ed Miliband, Rachel Reeves, Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood. The report was subsequently picked up by several media outlets.

As US charge d'affaires, Roscoe played a key role in Donald Trump's state visit to the UK in September 2025.

Recently, as second in command at the embassy, ??he was involved in the king's state visit to the US to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Before moving to Washington, he was the United Kingdom's ambassador to the UN and previously served as chief of communications for the late Queen Elizabeth II from 2013 to 2016.

He had also been the chief press officer in Downing Street for prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Roscoe's previous diplomatic postings included the UN, Sierra Leone and Iraq.

It is reported that Roscoe had seen himself as someone on the operational side of “cleaning up the mess” in terms of smoothing relations with the White House, rather than acting as a key figure in relations with the United Kingdom.