LIAM Fox is being lined up as the UK’s candidate to lead the World Trade Organisation (WTO), according to reports.
The former trade secretary, who has both resigned and been sacked from the Cabinet in the past, is thought to be the frontrunner to be nominated by Downing Street.
Just last year, Fox was relieved of his Cabinet duties by Boris Johnson. In 2011, he was forced to step down from the government following the revelation that he had permitted his close friend and best man, Adam Werrity, to assume an unofficial and undeclared role in which he attended Ministry of Defence meetings without obtaining security clearance.
The WTO, formed in 1995, is central to Boris Johnson’s plans for the UK to sign free trade deals with other countries after Brexit.
Run by its member governments, the organisation has been unable to adjudicate on trade disputes since Donald Trump refused to appoint US judges to its appellate body.
Fox, who infamously claimed in 2017 that a free-trade deal with the EU would be “easiest in human history”, is facing competition former Labour minister and EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson. However, the nomination is decided by Tory ministers, who have until July 8 to make their choice according to the Times.
The Independent reports that the North Somerset MP would be a “popular choice” among Conservative backbenchers.
The nominee would need to secure the backing of anther member government to be named WTO chief.
Fox, who is said to have close ties in Washington, served as trade secretary under Theresa May amid failed attempts to secure a Brexit deal with the EU.
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