Kamala Harris could make history on November 5 as the first woman to take the White House if she prevails in the US presidential election.
Harris has held small but narrowing leads over Republican opponent Donald Trump, who recently took a slim advantage in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. Polling from FiveThirtyEight shows Trump with a razor-thin 0.2% lead, well within the margin of error, with a few weeks of campaigning left.
Beyond reshaping US domestic policies, the results of the November election could also significantly impact international relationships, particularly with the UK.
A Harris victory might be seen as a more cooperative path for the new UK Labour government, contrasting with the transactional stance of the Trump campaign.
Under a Harris administration, the “special relationship”—first coined by Winston Churchill in 1944 to describe the close US-UK alliance—could receive a renewed boost, suggests Professor Paul Whiteley, an electoral behavior expert at the University of Essex. He believes a Harris win would allow the UK government to “breathe a huge sigh of relief.”
While Labour has kept diplomatic lines open with Trump’s team, Whiteley describes a potential Trump administration’s approach as “transactional,” whereas Harris’s would be “more human and based on shared cultures.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who met with Trump in New York in September, may not have time for a visit with Harris before the US election.
In terms of foreign policy, Harris’s approach is anticipated to extend many of the Biden administration’s priorities.
President Biden has focused on strengthening transatlantic ties and has made several visits to the UK as part of an effort to build cooperative defense strategies through the Aukus pact with Australia and the UK.
However, Harris has been met with some skepticism, with critics labeling her as taking a “continuity” stance on Biden’s policies without further innovation.
The upcoming election could signify a shift in US leadership and offer new opportunities for collaboration with the UK under Harris’s historic potential presidency.