Meet the Mace Most Influential Ambassadors

Vicki Treadell is the British high commissioner to Australia. She was born in the Federation of Malaya, later Malaysia, in 1959 to a Cantonese mother and a father of a French-Dutch ancestry. Treadell joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1978. In the 2000s, she held the post of deputy high commissioner in Mumbai covering western India, where she had a business focussed brief focusing on commercial and financial capital. In 2010, Treadell became high commissioner to New Zealand and governor of Pitcairn, becoming the first woman to serve in the post of British commissioner to New Zealand. Between 2014 and 2019, Treadell served in the country of her birth as British high commissioner to Malaysia. Treadell has been honoured for her service by being appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in 1989, and later in 2010 a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).

Martin Shearman is a British diplomat currently serving as the British ambassador to Belgium. Shearman was born in 1965 and was educated in Tunbridge Wells, later attending Trinity College, Oxford. He began his diplomatic career in 1989 with the European Community Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Shearman has spent a considerable part of his career working on European-related issues – he was a deputy European correspondent in the early 2000s and head of the EU External Department between 2006 and 2008. However, Shearman’s first overseas posting was at the British embassy in Japan where he was responsible for British business, trade and investment interests. Shearman then became deputy high commissioner to Nigeria from 2003-2006, and between 2008 and 2012 served as the British high commissioner to Uganda. After finishing his time in Kampala, Shearman joined the UK mission to the UN in New York, responsible for the UK’s engagement with the UN on development, humanitarian and human rights issues with the rank of ambassador. In June 2019, he took up his current post in Belgium. Shearman is a Commander of the Royal Order of Victoria.

Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque is the British high commissioner to Canada. Born in 1963, le Jeune d’Allegeershecque was educated at Ipswich High School for Girls and attended the University of Bristol. After graduating, she joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1985, working in its Nuclear Energy department. Le Jeune d’Allegeershecque’s first overseas posting was with the UK representation to the European Union in Brussels, later joining the High Commission in Singapore as second secretary. Between 1999 and 2007 she served in various posts in the Americas, serving at embassies in Venezuela and Colombia as the deputy head of mission and at the embassy in the United States as counsellor and consul general. In 2007 le Jeune d’Allegeershecque served in the FCO as director of human resources and in 2012 became the British ambassador to Austria, where she also served as the UK’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Vienna. After a brief period as charge d’affairs in Paris in 2016, le Jeune d’Allegeershecque was appointed to her current role as high commissioner to Canada. In 2010, she was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for her services to diplomacy.

Woodward is the British ambassador to China. Born in Suffolk in 1961, Woodward attended the University of St Andrews, graduating with an MA in History. Woodward went on to teach English in China between the years 1986 and 1988, firstly at Nankai University and later at Hubei University. Her time in China inspired her to learn Chinese, a language she would go on to master. In 1988, she attended Yale University to study International Relations and gained a second MA degree. Woodward joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1994 and was posted to Moscow for four years, initially as second secretary and then as first secretary. From 1998 to 2001 Woodward focused on European Union issues at the FCO, including working on the Agenda 2000 negotiating team and later the EU Enlargement Section. Woodward was posted to Beijing between 2003 and 2009, holding a number of posts in that time, including political counsellor, minister and deputy head of mission. In 2009, she became international director of the UK Border Agency, returning to the FCO as a director general in 2011. In 2015, Woodward was made the ambassador to China, the first female British ambassador to the country. In late 2019, an interview Woodward conducted for Chinese state television was pulled, apparently because of an answer she gave about the protests in Hong Kong. She has been tipped as a potential candidate for ambassador to the USA.

Formerly chief of staff to David Cameron, Ed Llewellyn is the British ambassador to France. Born in 1965, Llewellyn attended Eton College, alongside his future boss, David Cameron. Llewellyn attended New College, Oxford before working at the Conservative Research Department. He went on to serve as Margaret Thatcher’s private secretary from 1991-1992, and then as a personal adviser to Chris Patten, during his time as Governor of Hong Kong. He went on to serve as chief of staff to Paddy Ashdown, who was then the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Llewellyn was hired by David Cameron as his chief of staff after Cameron became leader of the Conservative Party and leader of the opposition in 2005, later becoming the Downing Street chief of staff under Cameron’s premiership. After the 2010 general election, Llewellyn was part of the Conservative negotiating team that successfully negotiated the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition agreement. In 2016, Llewellyn was made a member of the House of Lords and shortly after became the British ambassador to France.

Sir Sebastian Wood is Britain’s ambassador to Germany. Born in London in 1961, Wood studied Mathematics and Philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford and joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1983. Wood’s first overseas posting was to the British embassy in Bangkok, after which he learnt to speak Mandarin. After spending time in Thailand, Wood was appointed a first secretary to the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group working on the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong. Between 2001 and 2005, Wood worked at the British embassy in Washington, focusing on US foreign policy in Asia. In 2005, he became the FCO’s Asia-Pacific director, before becoming ambassador to China in 2010, his work as ambassador was recognised in 2014 when he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for services to British prosperity and British interests in China. In 2015, Wood was appointed at the British ambassador to Germany, taking his post up in September of that year. Wood is a fan of jazz and is a keen guitarist – something that has earned him notoriety in his postings for his live performances.

Lindsay is an experienced British diplomat and has served as ambassador to Hungary since 2016. An alumnus of Glasgow University, he first joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1980 and has spent the majority of his career in Asia and the Pacific. His first overseas posting was at the British Embassy in Tokyo as the first secretary political, and when Lindsay returned to London in 1999, he headed the South Asia department in the FCO. Between 2003 and 2007, Lindsay’s diplomatic career took him to Romania, first working for the Romanian foreign minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, and later at the British Embassy in Bucharest as a political counsellor. During this period, Lindsay worked on issues including Romania’s accession to NATO and the EU. Lindsay was appointed to the British Consulate General in Hong Kong as the deputy consul general and director. He spent four years as the British ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain, before becoming British ambassador to Hungary in 2016. Lindsay has spoken of the need to strengthen Hungarian-British relations following Brexit – pointing out that the UK has the biggest Hungarian-born population outside of the Carpathian Basin. He was awarded an OBE in 2002.

Sir Dominic Asquith is a prominent British diplomat currently serving as the British high commissioner to the Republic of India. Asquith was born in 1957 and is the great-grandson of former British prime minister, Herbert Henry Asquith. He was educated at Ampleforth College and joined the Diplomatic Service in 1983. Prior to joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Asquith worked in number of roles in and relating to the Middle East, including as a researcher at the Institute of Palestinian Studies in Beirut. His first overseas posting with the FCO was as second secretary and head of the British Interests Section in Damascus between 1986 and 1987, going on to serve as first secretary in Muscat. His career with the FCO has taken him to several countries including the USA, Argentina and Saudi Arabia. His first ambassadorial post was in Baghdad between 2006-2007, and he went on to serve as ambassador to Egypt and Libya before taking up his current role in India in 2016. As the ambassador to Libya, Asquith survived an assassination attempt just 300 yards from the Benghazi Consulate office. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2004, and was knighted for services to diplomacy in 2012.

Robin Barnett is the British ambassador to Ireland. Born in 1958, Barnett studied Law at the University of Birmingham and joined the Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO) in 1980 soon after graduating. His career in the FCO began as a desk officer for Indonesia and the Philippines. Barnett’s first overseas posting was to the British embassy in Warsaw in 1982, and his career has seen him posted in several cities, including to Vienna, New York and Bucharest, where he served as ambassador between 2006 and 2010. He returned to Warsaw in 2011 to serve as British ambassador to Poland, a post he held until 2016. Barnett was appointed as ambassador to Ireland in 2016, a position of particular importance given the potential implications of Brexit on the Northern Ireland border. As ambassador, Barnett has sought to reassure those worried over the border issue that the Good Friday Agreement under any Brexit scenario. He recently heralded the restoration of devolution in Northern Ireland as a “great start to 2020”.

Neil Wigan is a British diplomat currently serving as the British ambassador to Israel. Wigan attended the University of Oxford where he studied History. He would go on to gain a MSc in economics from the University of London, later gaining a postgraduate diploma from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Wigan worked at the Bank of England and as an economist. He joined the FCO as an adviser in charge of the UK’s economic policies in the European Union. He received his first overseas posting in 2002, heading the Political Section of the British Embassy in Tel Aviv. Wigan followed up his time in Israel by heading the Middle East and North Africa Group between 2002 and 2008, later working as a deputy director for Wider World in the Cabinet Office’s Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat. He was appointed ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010 before becoming the ambassador to Somalia in 2013 and six years later, to Israel. Wigan spoke to The Mace for its launch issue, and stressed his desire to deepen collaboration with the Israeli tech sector, including furthering the UK’s work with Israel’s Arabtech port.

Jill Morris is a senior British diplomat, currently serving as the British ambassador to Italy and as Her Majesty’s non-resident ambassador to the Republic of San Marino. Born in Chester in 1967, Morris studied modern languages at the Universities of Southampton and Warwick. After joining the Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO) in 1999, Morris worked as a desk officer in the United Nations Department and received her first overseas post at Nicosia, Cyprus as a second secretary in 2001. After four years in Nicosia, Morris relocated to Brussels as of the UK Representation to the EU, holding the posts of external relations desk officer and counsellor. Morris returned to the FCO in 2008, where she worked in several posts, including head of the Consular Strategy Department, head of the Counter-Proliferation Department and the FCO director for Europe. In 2016, she took up her post in Italy, becoming the first woman to hold this post. Morris recently launched the “UK in…” initiative to promote links between Britain and Italian regions, which she says reflects ““the extraordinary richness in diversity that Italy offers through its different regions and cities”. In June 2015, Morris was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for services to British foreign policy.

Paul Madden is the British ambassador to Japan. Born in Devon in 1956, Madden was educated at The King’s School and Caius College, Cambridge, where he gained a MA degree in Economic Geography. Madden continued his education at Durham University where he achieved a Master of Business Administration qualification. Prior to joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Madden worked for the Department of Trade and Industry, during which he held the post of private secretary to the minister between 1984 to 1986. Madden studied Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies and at Kamkura in Japan. After joining the FCO, Madden’s first overseas posting was to Tokyo as First Secretary Economic between 1988 and 1992. Madden returned to the FCO in London and worked on EU enlargement and environmental issues, before spending four years in Washington. In 2003, he became deputy high commissioner in Singapore. He later became high commissioner to Singapore in 2007, followed by high commissioner to Australia from 2011 and 2015. In 2017, Madden was made the British ambassador to Japan. Madden is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and published a book titled Raffles: Lessons in Business Leadership,

Michael Davenport is a British diplomat and the current British ambassador to Kuwait. Born in 1961, Davenport studied French and German Language and Literature at Cambridge University, going on to teach English at Graz University in Austria. Davenport returned to education to study Law at the College of Law in London, qualifying as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1988. Davenport, joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1988, starting as a desk officer in the East Africa Department. Davenport’s first overseas posting was as second secretary in Warsaw in 1990, during which time his work included supporting Poland’s early political and economic reforms after the fall of communism. He then headed the FCO’s UN Peacekeeping Section before going to Moscow to serve as first secretary political. He returned to Poland in 2000 in the run up to the country’s accession to the European Union. Davenport went on to serve as deputy head of the mission to Cairo and then as director of the Russia, South Caucasus and Central Asia directorate. In 2010, he took up his first ambassadorial role, becoming the British ambassador to Serbia. He left the post in 2013 but stayed in Belgrade, becoming the EU’s ambassador and head of the EU Delegation to Serbia. In 2017, he was appointed to his current role as British ambassador to Kuwait. He is currently learning Arabic.

Peter Wilson is a British diplomat currently serving as the British ambassador to the Netherlands. He was educated at Eton College and later attended Merton College, Oxford and the Kennedy School of Government. Wilson joined the Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO) in 1992. His first overseas posting was to the British embassy in Beijing between 1996 and 1998. After leaving China, he worked for British Trade Commissioner Leon Brittan in 1999 and later served as the first secretary at the UK representation to the EU. After heading the Strategic Policy Team at the FCO, Wilson served as a political counsellor in Islamabad, a political counsellor in Beijing and as the Asia Pacific director at the FCO in London. Wilson was appointed a CMG in 2013 for strengthening British foreign policy in Asia during his time as Asia Pacific director. From 2013-2017, Wilson was ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the UK mission to the United Nations for four years, prior to being made the British ambassador to the Netherlands in 2017. Alongside his role and duties as an ambassador, Wilson is also the UK’s permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). He is fluent in Mandarin and French.

Laura Clarke is the British high commissioner to New Zealand and the governor of the Pitcairn Islands. Clarke studied Modern Languages at the University of Cambridge between 1997 and 2001, achieving a Double First-Class Honours degree in German and Russian Language, Literature and History. Clarke later attended The London School of Economics and Political Science to study International Relations. Prior to joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Clarke worked for the Ministry of Justice, the European Commission and the UK parliament. At the FCO, Clarke has worked in several roles including, chief of staff to the minister of Europe, political counsellor in Pretoria, government coordinator for India and head of the South Asia Department. Under her supervision, the British High Commission in New Zealand employed its first Maori adviser. Her support for Maoridom has extended to FTA talks, with Clarke stressing the importance of their involvement in any future trading arrangement.

Dr Christian Turner is Britain’s new high commissioner in Islamabad, having taken up the role in January 2020. Turner has had a long career in diplomacy and the civil service – he first joined the Foreign Office in 1997 and has since held several high profile posts. These include serving as first secretary in the British Embassy in Washington DC from 2002-2006, as secretary to the UK Cabinet’s Economic and Domestic Committees and as the prime minister’s private secretary. In 2009, he became Middle East and North Africa director at the FCO and three years later, he became high commissioner to Kenya. Following this, he returned to the Foreign Office, this time as director general for MENA. In this role, he oversaw the London Syria Conference in 2016, which brought together world leaders to pledge over US$12 billion to help rebuild the lives of civilians caught up in the conflict. His most recent post was as Theresa May’s international affairs adviser and deputy national security adviser, in a period that saw continued conflict in Yemen and the fallout of the Salisbury attack. He has said he is “honoured and excited” to begin his role as high commissioner in Islamabad.

Deborah Bronnert has been the British ambassador to Russia since January 2020. After completing a degree in Mathematics at the University of Bristol, she joined what was then the Department of the Environment. During her time at the department, she was posted to the UK representation to the EEC. Joining the Foreign Office in 1993, Bronnert returned to Brussels to work at the European Commission under Neil Kinnock. She was first posted to Moscow in 2002 to work as an economic and trade counsellor – a post she held for three years. On her return to the UK in 2005, she attended the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies to complete a master’s degree in Russian and Eastern European political economy. She later returned to the FCO to head up the European Directorate and from 2008-2011 served as the department’s director for prosperity.

Her first ambassadorial role came in 2011 when she became the British ambassador to Zimbabwe, serving in the role for three years. She then became COO at the FCO and most recently served as the department’s director-general for economic and global issues. She has described her appointment to Moscow as a “huge honour”.

Simon Collis is a British career diplomat and the current British ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Born in 1956, Collis attended Christ’s College, Cambridge between 1967 and 1973. Collis joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1978, his career with the FCO has mainly focussed on South Asia and the Middle East. His first overseas posting was as a second secretary in Bahrain between 1981 and 1984, before becoming Middle East spokesperson in the news department of the FCO. He went on to serve in several roles including first secretary in New Delhi between 1991 and 1994, and consul general in Dubai and Basra in the 2000s. Collis has served as ambassador to Qatar, and to Syria between 2007 and 2012, his time ending when the British government withdrew its staff from Syria with the outbreak of the civil war. He went on to serve as British ambassador to Iraq for two years before taking up his current role in Saudi Arabia in 2015. In 2016, Collis became the first UK ambassador to perform the Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj after converting to Islam. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2014 for services to British interests in Iraq and Syria.

Nigel Casey is a British diplomat, currently serving as the high commissioner to South Africa. Casey attended Balliol College, Oxford where he read Modern History. A career diplomat, he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1991. His first overseas posting was to Johannesburg, South Africa where he served as the vice consul to the British Consulate General in Johannesburg. After spending two years in South Africa, Casey was moved to Washington DC and worked as the chief of staff of the British ambassador to the United States. Casey returned to the FCO, heading the Nuclear Weapons & Disarmament Team, the G8 and OECD Team, and later the Iraq Unit. Casey’s other overseas postings include heading the Foreign and Security Policy at the British Embassy in Moscow between 2003 and 2005, serving as a political counsellor at the British High Commission in New Delhi, and as British ambassador to Bosnia & Herzegovina between 2011 and 2014.

Casey spent three years as private secretary to the prime minister for foreign affairs to both David Cameron and Theresa May, before returning to Johannesburg in 2017 to serve in his current role. Casey is fluent in English, French, Russian and Bosnian. Casey has spoken out in favour of the benefits that a future free trade agreement between South Africa and the UK will bring.

Simon Smith is a British diplomat, currently serving as Britain’s ambassador to the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Born in 1958, Smith attended Wadham College, Oxford to study German and French, gaining a BA in Modern Languages in 1980. Prior to joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Smith worked at the Department of Employment for six years. In 1986 he joined the FCO, where his work mainly focused on economic, trade and investment issues, and has held positions in London, Tokyo and Moscow. Between 2007 and 2012, Smith served as the British ambassador to Austria and the UK’s permanent representative to the international organisations based in Vienna, including the United Nations. Smith then served as ambassador to Ukraine from 2012 to 2015, and was appointed the British ambassador to South Korea in 2018. Smith had previously visited the Korean peninsula during his time as head of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s NE Asia & Pacific Department. Smith speaks English, French, German, Russian, Ukrainian and Japanese and is currently studying Korean.

Hugh Elliott is a British diplomat currently serving as Britain’s ambassador to Spain and non-resident ambassador to Andorra. Elliott studied Modern and Medieval Languages at the University of Cambridge before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1989. He first worked as an assistant desk officer at the East Africa Department before being posted to Madrid where he served as third, then second secretary, focusing on European Union and economic issues. He went on to serve in several roles in the diplomatic service both at home and abroad, including as head of the Amsterdam Treaty Unit, deputy head of the Drugs and International Crime Directorate, head of economic, political and public affairs in Buenos Aires and as a counsellor in Paris, focusing on global issues and strategic threats. From 2006 to 2013 he worked in the private sector, as the global head of government relations at Anglo American plc. He returned to the Foreign Office in 2013 as the director of communications, the director of Europe and then as the director of international agreements. Between 2018 and 2019 he was the director of communication and stakeholders at the Department for Exiting the European Union, before taking up his current role in Spain in August 2019. Since taking up the post, Elliott has focused on trying to ensure that British expats in Spain register for residency to ensure they are able to stay in the country after the transition period.

Judith Gough is a British diplomat, currently serving as the UK ambassador to Sweden. Born in 1972, Gough studied German and Russian at the University of Nottingham before starting her career at Ernst and Young, where she was a consultant in emerging markets and financial services. Gough joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2001. In her early career as a diplomat, she worked at the British embassy in South Korea, and later became the British ambassador to Georgia. After leaving Tbilisi, Gough served as director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the FCO and in 2015 became ambassador to Ukraine. Gough was the first female ambassador to both Georgia and Ukraine. She featured in the 2018 BBC documentary Inside the Foreign Office, in which she spoke about being openly gay, claiming “I’m not the lesbian ambassador to anywhere; I’m an ambassador who happens to be a lesbian.” After four years in the post, Gough became the British ambassador to Sweden in August 2019. In the role, she has advised British citizens living in Sweden to make any residency applications “as early as possible” and before the end of the Brexit transition period in December 2020.

Sir Dominick Chilcott is a British diplomat, currently serving as the UK’s ambassador to Turkey. Born in 1959, Chilcott spent a year in the Royal Navy as a midshipman, before attending Greyfriars, Oxford to read Philosophy and Theology. Chilcott joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1982, serving in Ankara between 1985 and 1988, Lisbon between 1993 and 1995 and at the UK’s mission to the European Union in Brussels between 1998 and 2002 and went on to lead the EU Directorate. In 2006 he was appointed as Britain’s high commissioner in Sri Lanka and later served as the deputy head of mission to the United States between 2008 and 2011, ambassador to Iran in 2011 and then ambassador to Ireland in 2012. After spending four years in Dublin, Chilcott was announced as the new ambassador to Turkey, beginning his post in January of 2018. Between his overseas assignments, Chilcott’s work at the FCO has covered European, Middle Eastern and Africans affairs, he has also been a private secretary to Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and Malcolm Rifkind. In 2003, Chilcott was appointed CMG and later KCMG in 2018.

Moody is the British ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Having studied Law at New College, Oxford, Moody joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1988 as an assistant desk officer for Gibraltar and Cyprus, receiving his first overseas posting in Mexico City in 1990. Moody went on to lead the FCO’s Bosnia team between 1994 and 1996, and later served as head of the policy team at the Joint Export Promotion Department in 1997. After spending a period of time as part of the external relations team in Brussels, and in the post of deputy head of the Africa Department in the FCO, Moody became the deputy high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 2010, he became director of international policy at the UK Border Agency and went to serve as head of border security at the Home Office. Moody returned to the FCO in 2012, leading the FCO’s Pakistan and Afghanistan Department as well as becoming acting director of the South Asia and Afghanistan Directorate. After spending three years as a deputy high commissioner in Pakistan and director of the Asia-Pacific Directorate, Moody was made ambassador to the United Arab Emirates in 2018.