Rishi Sunak avoids Ron DeSantis during his UK visit

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis Arrives at Foreign Office

Rishi Sunak will not meet US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis during his visit to the UK.

On Friday, Mr. DeSantis met with James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of Business.

The meetings are formally held in his capacity as Governor of Florida , the third most populous US state.

Downing Street said Mr Sunak will not be meeting with Mr DeSantis in part because it is not standard protocol for a meeting between the prime minister and the state governor.

There is also a logistical issue as Mr. Sunak is in Scotland on a pre-arranged trip to the Conservative Conference.

'Welcome to London!

However, the Governor was greeted by the Prime Ministers of Japan and South Korea earlier in his trip. .

Dan Eberhart, a former Trump sponsor who now supports Mr. DeSantis, said the trip «set the stage» for the governor to «discuss his foreign policy experiences and ideas at the debate stage.»

Mr. DeSantis addressed a group of 50 business leaders at a private round table with Ms Badenoch.

Mr Cleverley tweeted a photo of the couple with the caption «Welcome to London».

Welcome to London @GovRonDeSantis 🇬🇧🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/BCbuGiET9Z

— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly), April 28, 2023

The UK is regularly ranked as Florida's top business partner, with over 600 UK businesses employing over 50,000 Floridians.

Mr. DeSantis is well behind Donald Trump in the polls to be the Republican presidential nominee. But his supporters say the numbers could change when he officially announces his bid.

Nigel Farage's British Reform Party has also been reported to be trying to arrange a meeting with Mr. DeSantis.

>But Mr. Farage said that they had met before and that there would be no new meeting.