A British minister said on Sunday that the government is unlikely to ask the Reform party leader Nigel Farage to act as an intermediary to deal with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

The Reform UK leader – a close ally of Mr Trump and the only UK politician who was at his Palm Beach home on election night - described Mr Trump as a “pro-British American president”. He claimed the Republican politician would give the UK “potentially huge opportunities if we can overcome the difficulties that the whole of the cabinet have been rude about him”.

Speaking to the PA news agency at a Reform event near Exeter, Mr Farage described Mr Trump as a “pro-British American president” who gives the UK “potentially huge opportunities if we can overcome the difficulties that the whole of the Cabinet have been rude about him”.