US Vice President JD Vance is causing a stir as he holidays in the Cotswolds, as his huge security team and protests against his visit disrupt the quiet life of villagers.
Not only did his high-profile visit cause chaos at high-end Cotswolds farm-shop, Daylesford – owned by Tory donor Lady Bamford – the US vice president has also sparked rumours of tensions in the Tory party after choosing to meet with shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick instead of party leader Kemi Badenoch.
Days earlier, Mr Vance and his family started their UK getaway with David Lammy at Chevening, the foreign secretary’s grace-and-favour country estate in Kent.
But Mr Jenrick isn’t the only right-wing figure to be wined and dined by the Republican during his stay, with Mr Vance also having reportedly met with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage for breakfast. Here, The Independent takes a look at all the right-wing figures Mr Vance has met with during his break.
Nigel Farage
JD Vance is said to have met Nigel Farage for breakfast on Wednesday morning, after hosting a barbecue the night before at the Grade II-listed manor house where he is staying in the tiny hamlet of Dean, near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
The US vice president has taken a growing interest in Reform UK in recent months, with reports from July saying he had asked the UK’s ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson: “So what’s going on with Reform? I see that they’re doing very well.”
Mr Farage has always had a strong relationship with President Donald Trump – although it appears to have cooled this year, initially sparking speculation he may not end up meeting with Mr Vance.
Robert Jenrick
Mr Vance also met with Robert Jenrick – seen as a key challenger to Kemi Badenoch – during his holiday in the UK, inviting the shadow justice secretary to meet him before a drinks event on Tuesday.
While the invite sparked rumours Mr Vance had given Mrs Badenoch the cold shoulder, a Conservative spokesman said the party leader’s team had spoken to Mr Vance’s but that “scheduling” had proved difficult for the pair to meet.
Taylor Van Kirk, Mr Vance’s press secretary, said the VP “specifically tried to see Kemi Badenoch, a friend of his, but a meeting was not possible due to their conflicting schedules”.
Former leadership contender Mr Jenrick has strayed well beyond his justice brief in recent months, building a prominent social media presence with campaigns on a range of issues, from the impact of immigration on housing to tackling fare-dodgers on the London Underground.
He and the vice-president have voiced similar concerns about the erosion of freedom of speech, as well as opposition to equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives.
James Orr – a Cambridge philosopher who has been influential in the growth of the national conservative movement in Britain – attended a barbecue hosted by Mr Vance at his Cotswolds holiday residence on Tuesday, alongside several other right-wing figures.
Mr Vance and Mr Orr became close friends in 2019, after the Republican politician converted to Catholicism, with the pair sharing an interest in faith and conservative politics.
“We hit it off on long walks and exchanging ideas about the state of the world”, Mr Orr told Politico last year.
The academic has sparked controversy for his views on LGBTQ+ issues and family life, previously claiming that sexual education in the UK had been outsourced to “rainbow activists”, who show children material “too graphic to even publish in newspapers.” He has also claimed that diversity in Britain is a “debilitating weakness”.
Thomas Skinner
Apprentice star Thomas Skinner also attended the barbecue alongside Mr Orr. The pair struck up an unlikely friendship after talking on the social media site X, and it culminated in Mr Skinner being invited to join Mr Vance at his holiday home in the Cotswolds.
Mr Vance previously backed Mr Skinner on X after the 34-year-old reality star claimed he had received “death threats” and “vile comments about my children” after he made a series of posts saying “something’s gone wrong” in the UK and “there is nothing wrong with being proud of where you’re from”.
In separate posts, Mr Skinner argued it was “not far-right” to be “flying your flag and loving your country”.
On Tuesday evening, he shared a picture of himself and Mr Vance after the barbecue, saying: “Cracking night in the beautiful English countryside with JD, his friends and family. Once in a lifetime.”
Danny Kruger
Tory MP Danny Kruger was also on the guest list for Tuesday’s barbecue, an MP who has been a strong proponent of traditional family values. He sparked controversy in 2022 after saying women shouldn’t have an “absolute right to bodily autonomy” when it comes to abortion in a debate about female reproductive rights in the United States.
He also told a conservative conference in 2023 that marriages between men and women were “the only possible basis for a safe and successful society”. They prompted then-prime minister Rishi Sunak to distance himself from the comments amid concern over their implications for LGBTQ+ people.
