(Bloomberg) -- Veteran diplomat Jonathan Powell, who was instrumental in negotiating the peace process in Northern Ireland as a former adviser to Tony Blair, is the UK’s new national security adviser.
“Together with his experience helping to negotiate the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and work on some of the world’s most complex conflicts, he is uniquely qualified to advise the government on tackling the challenges ahead,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement Friday.
The appointment of Powell, 68, adds experience to Starmer’s administration, which has had a rocky start since the Labour Party took power for the first time in more than a decade in July. He will be tasked with managing the UK’s stance on wars including those in the Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as building ties with Donald Trump’s new US administration.
Powell will succeed Tim Barrow who has served since 2022.
Currently the chief executive of Inter Mediate, a UK-based charity which aims to help resolve international conflicts, Powell spent 17 years in the Foreign Office before becoming Blair’s chief of staff while Labour was in opposition. He stayed in the role after Blair’s 1997 election win and throughout his decade in power.
Powell’s experience crosses the political divide, as Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him special envoy to Libya in 2014.
His charity was called in by Starmer to help negotiate the controversial return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. In the statement, Powell called his new role “hugely important” at a time when “national security, international relations, and domestic policies are so interconnected.”
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