Biden nominates Jane Hartley as ambassador to UK

President Biden will nominate Jane Hartley to serve as ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, the president announced on Wednesday. 

Hartley was the ambassador to France and Monaco during the Obama administration and the White House said in a statement that she strengthened the U.S. relationship with France while focusing on counterterrorism cooperation. 

“She arrived in Paris shortly before the Charlie Hebdo attack and served through the Bataclan and Nice attacks. Hartley subsequently received the Legion of Honor from the President of France in recognition of her efforts,” the White House said in a statement.

Hartley was a fundraiser for Biden during his 2020 presidential run and was a major fundraiser for former President Obama.

Hartley previously was CEO of the economic and political advisory firm Observatory Group and was CEO of G7 Group, a macroeconomic and political analysis research firm. She also was a White House aide in the Carter administration.

She is a member of the visiting committee, executive committee, and dean’s council at the Kennedy School at Harvard University and is on boards at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Sesame Workshop, the group behind television’s “Sesame Street.”

The prestigious U.K. ambassadorship is typically one of the first to be announced. Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg was reportedly considered last year for the role and turned it down. 

Biden on Wednesday also nominated longtime diplomat Elizabeth Bagley to be ambassador to Brazil, major donor Alan Leventhal to be ambassador to Denmark and foreign service career member Alexander Laskaris to be ambassador to Chad.