British politics is melting down. The new ambassador is tuning it out.

Felicia Schwartz is the diplomatic correspondent at POLITICO. In public, Christian Turner is the perfect entertainer. The new British ambassador to the United States used his welcome party in February to toast an embarrassing British defeat (also known as the 250th anniversary of American independence).

He hosted a buzzy party ahead of the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner. And after a gunman stormed the dinner , threatening to upend King Charles’ state visit , he held a brunch where he urged shaken guests to “keep calm and have a cup of tea.” In private, Turner is engaged in a much more delicate kind of political acrobatics — trying to maintain influence in Washington while the government he’s meant to represent unravels further by the day. Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a growing mutiny from within Labour after the party got walloped in local elections nationwide, and he may soon be pushed out of office. Starmer’s leadership crisis looms over any discussion of U.K. politics, and all Turner can do is keep his head down. Meanwhile, the scandal over his predecessor Peter Mandelson’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein isn’t finished unfurling. His deputy abruptly exited his job last week. And then there is the full book of bilateral business to attend to: Turner must help save a struggling US-U.K. trade deal and convince President Donald Trump and his team that NATO and trans-Atlantic ties continue to matter. This is not the 53-year-old career diplomat’s first D.C. posting, having previously served as first secretary in the early 2000s. In fact, both of his children were born in Washington some two decades ago.

Key points

• He hosted a buzzy party ahead of the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
• And after a gunman stormed the dinner , threatening to upend King Charles’ state visit , he held a brunch where he urged shaken guests to “keep calm and have a cup of tea.” In private, Turner is en…
• Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a growing mutiny from within Labour after the party got walloped in local elections nationwide, and he may soon be pushed out of office.
• Starmer’s leadership crisis looms over any discussion of U.K.
• politics, and all Turner can do is keep his head down.