JD Vance to Meet UK Foreign Secretary Lammy Before Holiday/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ U.S. Vice President JD Vance will meet U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening on Friday before starting a family vacation in the Cotswolds. The discussions will cover trade, Ukraine, and Gaza, where Washington and London differ on strategy. The meeting underscores a growing personal rapport between the two leaders despite political differences.
Vance UK Visit: Quick Looks
- Vance, Lammy to meet at historic Chevening estate in Kent
- Talks expected to address U.S.-UK trade deal details on steel, aluminum
- Ukraine war and Gaza conflict high on the agenda
- U.S. and U.K. differ on Palestinian state recognition timeline
- Putin signals interest in meeting Trump amid Ukraine deadline
- Lammy and Vance bonded over shared working-class, faith backgrounds
- Past meetings include Catholic Mass at Vance’s home and papal inauguration in Rome
- After talks, Vance to vacation with family in the Cotswolds
- Cotswolds location reportedly Charlbury, a luxury countryside destination
- Region popular among wealthy Americans and celebrities
Deep Look
Vance to Hold UK Talks Before Heading to Cotswolds Retreat
LONDON — U.S. Vice President JD Vance is set to meet U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday at Chevening, the official country residence of Britain’s top diplomat, before beginning a family holiday in one of England’s most fashionable countryside destinations, the Cotswolds.
The meeting takes place as the U.K. seeks favorable terms for steel and aluminum exports under a broader trade deal announced in late June. Both sides are also expected to address the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, where Washington and London have taken different stances on conflict resolution.
Trade and Geopolitical Agenda
British negotiators want to ensure that the new U.S.-U.K. trade arrangement delivers for key industries. On security matters, Russia’s war in Ukraine looms large. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he hopes to meet President Donald Trump next week — a day before Trump’s deadline for Moscow to show progress toward ending the 3½-year-old war.
While Trump has emphasized direct bilateral talks with Putin, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders insist Ukraine must be directly involved in any peace negotiations.
On Gaza, Starmer recently announced the U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel commits to ending the humanitarian crisis and working toward “long-term sustainable peace.” The Biden and Trump administrations have opposed this approach, saying recognition at this stage rewards Hamas for its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
A Growing Personal Connection
Despite coming from different political traditions — Lammy from the left-leaning Labour Party and Vance from the Trump-aligned Republican right — the two have built an unexpected rapport rooted in shared experiences. Both grew up in difficult working-class circumstances and share a Christian faith.
Lammy told The Guardian that he considers Vance a friend. The foreign secretary attended a Catholic Mass at the Vance family home in Washington earlier this year, and the pair met again in Rome during the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in May, which Lammy attended alongside Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
“I had this great sense that JD completely relates to me and he completely relates to Angela,” Lammy said. “So it was a wonderful hour and a half.”
Historic Meeting Venue
Chevening, located in Kent southeast of London, is an almost 400-year-old mansion surrounded by 3,000 acres of gardens, lawns, and woodland. It was gifted to the nation by the 7th Earl Stanhope in 1967 and now serves as the foreign secretary’s official country retreat.
Vacation in the Cotswolds
Following the meeting, Vance and his family will spend several days in the Cotswolds, a 2,000-square-kilometer region stretching across parts of five counties in western England. Known for its honey-colored stone cottages, rolling hills, and picturesque villages, the area has become a magnet for wealthy American visitors.
According to British media, the family will stay in Charlbury, a village about 12 miles west of Oxford. The Cotswolds has been in the spotlight recently after hosting the wedding of Eve Jobs, daughter of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, to British Olympic equestrian Harry Charles.
Plum Sykes, a socialite and journalist, told The Times that Charlbury is “very fashionable” and part of a broader “mass exodus from America to the Cotswolds,” where visitors are drawn by its charm — and the fact that “power and money attract power and money.”
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