In an increasingly unsettled world, both Britain and the US need the special relationship more than ever

THE "special relationship" between the UK and the US has lasted, for better or worse, for almost 80 years.

- 

Sir Winston Churchill coined the phrase into diplomatic usage in a celebrated speech in 1946.

Over the years there have been many strong connections between prime ministers and US presidents, perhaps most notably Margaret Thatcher's warm relationship with Ronald Reagan which helped bring an end to the Cold War.

Despite coming from opposite ends of the political spectrum, even Tony Blair and George Bush eventually formed a tight bond, with both countries going to war in Iraq despite the opposition of some European allies.

But there have been some awkward moments when that political bond has been tested to its limit.

Former Labour prime minister Harold Wilson and the Republican president Richard Nixon were poles apart, both politically and in their approach.

In the early 1990s John Major and Bill Clinton fell out over the US issuing a visa to Sinn Fein's then-leader Gerry Adams and the brewing conflict in the Balkans.

Gordon Brown and Barack Obama never really gelled during the relatively short period when their leaderships overlapped.

And who could forget the uneasy relationship between Donald Trump and Theresa May, the US president famously gripping her hand as the pair awkwardly walked out of the White House together.

Connections were fluid during the Joe Biden years, not least because the former president has lukewarm feelings about the UK, proudly declaring "I'm Irish" during his 2020 US election campaign.

The fact that we had four prime ministers — Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer — during his four years in the White House also made it tricky to cement a strong bond with any of them. So there was much trepidation as to how the “special relationship” would fare when the 47th US President was elected on November 5 last year.