JD Vance shares a picture with the Tory leader as the new US administration ‘gets up and running’

JD Vance shares a picture with Kemi Badeonch while Labour’s relations with the US are uncertain Credit: @JDVance/X

Genevieve Holl-Allen Political Reporter

08 December 2024

Kemi Badenoch has had dinner with vice president-elect JD Vance, as the pair “renewed their friendship” ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The Tory leader and Mr Trump’s running mate have regularly exchanged messages over the last year, and Mr Vance shared a picture of the pair together on Saturday night.

Mr Vance tweeted a picture of himself with his arm around the Tory leader, both smiling, and wrote: “Great to see the leader of the UK Conservatives (Mrs Badenoch) during her trip to the US.

“We discussed many topics, but I was unable to persuade her that coffee is much better than tea. Cheers, Kemi!”

‘A new generation’

An ally of Mrs Badenoch said: “The dinner renewed their friendship, and Kemi and JD will continue to stay in touch as the Trump administration gets up and running.

“JD sees Kemi as one of those on the global Right doing the deep thinking about how we reform the state.

“He and Kemi are of a new generation of centre-Right politicians – like Pierre Poilievre, who she met in Toronto on Friday; and Ron DeSantis, who endorsed her leadership campaign – who are using strong conservative principles to enthuse younger voters.”

It is the second time that the two politicians have met, having previously seen each other when Mr Vance was a senator and Mrs Badenoch was business secretary.

Sir Keir Starmer and his top team have also made overtures to Mr Vance in recent months, with David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, claiming that he and the US vice president-elect could find “common ground”.

But past comments made by Mr Lammy about the incoming president, including calling him a “sociopath” when he was last in office, have raised questions about relations.

‘Terrifying’ but ‘brilliant’

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who has been appointed by Mr Trump to head up the new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), has also used his social media platform, X, to regularly criticise Sir Keir and his Government.

At an event last week Mrs Badenoch used a speech at the International Democracy Union Forum last week to heap praise on Mr Musk and his drive for “government efficiency”.

She said: “The more state power grows, the more we curtail what people can and should do for themselves. Worse, we reduce people’s ability to think for themselves.

“This is why I am excited about DOGE and what president-elect Trump and Elon Musk will do on government efficiency. It is terrifying people around the world, but I think it will be absolutely brilliant.”

It comes amid speculation that Mr Musk could donate $100 million (£79 million) to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.