Professor Ted Malloch, tipped widely as the man Donald Trump will choose to serve as his ambassador to the European Union (EU), has told the BBC that Great Britain is now “at the front of the queue” for a trade deal with the United States.

“President Obama told us at the start of the referendum campaign that the way forward for trade deals were multi-lateral, regional bloc trade deals, and that if Britain left the EU we’d be at the back of the queue for a bilateral deal,” recalled BBC interrogator-in-chief Andrew Neil, speaking to a panel of Daily Politics show guests which included Professor Malloch.

“Could I suggest to you that he was wrong on both counts, that the future is now back to bilateral deals, the Trans-Pacific deal is over, TTIP, the North Atlantic deal, is all but over … and that bilateral deals are back in vogue?”

“And there’s one more thing you can add,” agreed Malloch. “I’ve said all this in print – the UK is now at the front of the queue.”

Malloch, once described as a “global sherpa” by the late Margaret Thatcher, is a hugely respected figure on the international scene, and said to be close to Brexit campaign leader Nigel Farage.

Incoming Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is also reported to be supportive of a UK deal, but caused consternation recently when he told a group of Cypriot financiers that Brexit could be an opportunity for European service providers to “take advantage … of the inevitable confusion”.

Referring to Ross’s comments, Leave.EU head of communications Andy Wigmore told Breitbart London that Prime Minister Theresa May’s team “do not have any relationship with Trump’s team, so why wouldn’t they say what they are saying?”

Key figures in May’s team failed to envision that a Trump win over Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton was possible, adopting a hostile posture towards the tycoon which could now prove unhelpful.

Wigmore recommended that the prime minister use Nigel Farage to “act as a bridge, to educate and negotiate”.

Wigmore accompanied the former UKIP leader and Breitbart London Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam when they visited the president-elect last November. The two latter-day revolutionaries are rumoured to have discussed the potential benefits of an Anglo-American Free Trade Agreement at some length.

The friendship between the two has been noted, with Trump causing panic in Downing Street when he tweeted that Farage would do “a great job” as Britain’s ambassador to the United States.