Ministers hail peer as a heavyweight, but others question the selection of a previously outspoke critic of party policy

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Peter Mandelson has been formally unveiled as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, with a series of ministers hailing him as a political heavyweight who will be a reliable conduit into a potentially chaotic second Donald Trump administration.

Some Labour MPs were, however, less enthusiastic, questioning why Keir Starmer would reward and trust a figure who had previously weighed in with outspoken criticism of the party’s policies and personalities.