Donald Trump’s victory presents Britain with a wonderful opportunity. The commentary to date has been mostly mordantly negative, or triumphantly obsequious. There is an entirely different way to view the news from across The Atlantic. But if Number Ten is to capitalise on it, it needs to react smartly and with resolution.

The special relationship between Britain and the US is one hundred years old next year. The two countries have mostly been each other’s closest allies, through six waves with peaks and troughs.

Traumas during those 100 years have provided opportunities for Britain to exert influence with the US and beyond, opportunities it has not always seized.

Nigel Farage jokes about Donald Trump groping Theresa May

The assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963 could have seen a great boost to British influence in Washington. But Prime Ministers Alec Douglas Home and Harold Wilson from October 1964 failed to turn up, and President Johnson went off in his own direction.

The Watergate Crisis and the OPEC oil shock of 1973-74 again presented Britain with a great opportunity for influence over the United States. But Edward Heath had his sights fixed solely on Europe, to the despair of many at the centre, including his Cabinet Secretary Burke Trend who fought against the odds to keep the lines of communication open with the White House.

The crumbling of the Soviet regime in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the mid to late 1980s by contrast was avidly seized upon by Margaret Thatcher, cleverly exploiting her close relationship with President Reagan to achieve an influence for Britain on the world stage not seen since 1945.

The events of 9/11 saw Tony Blair fully awake to the possibilities for British leadership. He seized the opportunity with both hands, and nine days after the fall of the Twin Towers was in New York and Washington exercising a leadership when President George W Bush was floundering. But hubris took over, and Blair and Bush conspired to shatter the unanimity of support from across the west which flowed out towards America in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The financial crises of 2007-08 saw, to the surprise of many, Gordon Brown seize the opportunity and provide a leadership and direction at the G20 in London in April 2009 which the untested President Obama was not offering.

President Donald Trump life in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 President Donald Trump life in pictures President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump poses in a rocking chair once used by President John F. Kennedy at his New York City residence Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump with his new bride Marla Maples after their wedding at the Plaza hotel in New York Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Celina Midelfart watch the match between Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer during U.S. Open. She was the date whom Donald Trump was with when he met his current wife Melania at a party in 1996 Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas serving as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, speaks to Donald Trump and Melania Knauss on the starting grid at the Daytona International Speedwa Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump talks with his former wife Ivana Trump during the men's final at the U.S. Open Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and his friend Melania Knauss pose for photographers as they arrive at the New York premiere of Star Wars Episode : 'The Phantom Menace,' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump talks with host Larry King. Trump told King that he was moving toward a possible bid for the United States presidency with the formation of a presidential exploratory committee Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump answers questions as Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura looks on in Brooklyn Park. Trump said on Friday he 'very well might' make a run for president under the Reform Party banner but had not made a final decision Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump makes a face at a friend as he sits next to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso before the start of the 2003 Miss Universe pageant in Panama City Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Entrepreneur Donald Trump is greeted by a Marilyn Monroe character look-a-alike, as he arrives at Universal Studios Hollywood to attend the an open casting call for his NBC television network reality series 'The Apprentice.' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Simon Cowell present an Emmy during the 56th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Megan Mullally perform at the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump, poses with his children, son Donald Trump, Jr., and daughters Tiffany and Ivanka Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump told Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner on Tuesday she would be given a second chance after reported misbehavior Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump holds a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as his wife Melania holds their son Barron in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. property mogul Donald Trump stands next to a bagpiper during a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, north east Scotland Reuters

Now we have the selection of perhaps the most surprising candidate ever in the history of the US Presidency. The 54th Prime Minister, Theresa May, has many advantages not possessed by the 45th US President, Donald Trump.

He will need her advice, her friendship and her support significantly if he is to be the success as President that he tells us he will be.

When the special relationship has flourished, it has been based on more than personal chemistry, never higher than between F D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, Thatcher and Reagan, and Blair and G W Bush. It has depended also upon close identity of interest. A common enemy has provided the biggest bond - Germany in World War One, Germany and Japan in World War Two, the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and now Isis and militant Islam. Economic prosperity is another common interest, with both countries now having a major incentive to secure an advantageous bilateral trade deal.

If the Trump White House is clever and lays aside the rhetoric of isolationism and unthinking aggression, as I think it will, it will recognise that Britain has an authority possessed by no other country on earth, dented though that authority was by its involvement in the Iraq War. No other country has the same goodwill towards the US not has so much to give it.

No other country combines political authority, deriving from Britain’s position in the UN, in Nato, in the G7/G20 and in the Commonwealth, with its unique cultural power. English is the world language, and Britain’s history, its Royal Family, its arts and its education are trusted and admired across the world. Britain has the most respected and famous Head of State in the world, and the younger royals, who some despise, will ensure the continuity of that influence deep into the 21st Century.

Britain should spend the next ten weeks, while Trump prepares for his inauguration on 20th January 2017, preparing its own precise plan on how Britain is going to be the indispensable ally guiding and shaping the US out of isolationism, and building a securer, safer, and more prosperous world. It is superbly well-equipped to do so, with the new British Ambassador in Washington, Kim Darroch, having been National Security Advisor in Whitehall for the last four years, with an unrivalled grasp of global issues and threats.

The lesson is simple. When Britain withdrew, as in 1963 or 1973 - 74, it lost the opportunity for influence. When Britain rushed in, as in 2001 - 03, it lost authority. 2016 - 17 provides the opportunity in the wake of Brexit for an assertion of influence and moral authority on the world stage not seen since the Second World War.