Resetting foreign ties Lammy will need to send clear signals

David Lammy will be the first Labour foreign secretary succeeding a Conservative government since Robin Cook in 1997, if Labour triumphs in the general election.

- Patrick Wintour

On his arrival in office, Cook's first two acts were to expand the Foreign Office newspaper subscription list to include the Racing Post, and, perhaps more momentously, to give an interview to the Observer hailing "an end to xenophobia".

Lammy will be less bothered about racing tips - politicians gambling is out of fashion - but he is tempted to send a signal broadly similar to Cook's about how the UK under Labour is going to reconnect with the world.

He wants to signal three big resets: with Europe, on the climate crisis, and with the global south.

A planned visit to India in the first month will give a platform for the latter two.

It is said that foreign policy occupies 5% of the time for an opposition party, but 50% of the time once that party reaches government. Labour, barring an electoral meteorite, is readying itself for that sudden adjustment.

It is a daunting transition, not least because two wars are under way, both with the potential to expand.

Still worse, Lammy's natural allies in the Democrats in the US are in turmoil. The context of his foreign secretaryship, including relations with China, may turn on the US presidential election.