Ambassador to the US Nigel Elton Sheinwald of United Kingdom

In a memo to Gordon Brown, Sheinwald described Obama as a "decidedly liberal" man who "got diverted by his presidential ambitions.

The British Embassy said: "Nigel Sheinwald has not passed on any such anecdote about Senator McCain and Governor Palin.

Ready or not, Nigel Elton Sheinwald is due to replace the soft-spoken David Manning at the British Embassy this fall.