Angela Rayner has spoken to US Vice President-elect JD Vance, a day after he won election to the White House as Donald Trump’s running mate.
The Deputy Prime Minister posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it was “good to speak” to the Ohio senator in the latest sign of the UK Government trying to build relations with the incoming US administration.
She said: “Good to speak to US Vice President-elect @JDVance as UK Deputy Prime Minister.
“We spoke about our plans for the future and how, working together, we build on the special relationship between our great countries.”
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Mr Trump on Wednesday after his election win.
The Prime Minister offered “hearty congratulations” in their first conversation since the result.
Good to speak to US Vice President-elect @JDVance as UK Deputy Prime Minister.
We spoke about our plans for the future and how, working together, we build on the special relationship between our great countries.
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) November 7, 2024
Downing Street said: “The Prime Minister offered his hearty congratulations and said he looked forward to working closely with President-elect Trump across all areas of the special relationship.”
Sir Keir met Mr Trump during a visit to New York in September, where they had dinner at Trump Tower, along with Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
The President-elect will be inaugurated on January 20 2025 in Washington DC.
There have been concerns that comments by British politicians about Mr Trump may damage relations between the UK Government and the President-elect.
They include words by senior party figures, including Mr Lammy, who described the Republican politician as a “neo-Nazi” sympathiser.
Meanwhile, Ms Rayner had called Mr Trump an “absolute buffoon” during his handling of the Covid pandemic.
She had told ITV: “He’s an absolute buffoon. He has no place in the White House. He’s an embarrassment and he should be ashamed of himself, especially when thousands of Americans have died.”
After he lost the election in 2020, she later said she was “so happy to see the back of Donald Trump”.
Ms Rayner had also dismissed Mr Vance’s description of the UK as a “truly Islamist” country with nuclear weapons.
In July she told ITV Mr Vance had said “quite a lot of fruity things in the past” but said does not “recognise” his view of the UK.
