Christian Philip Hollier Turner (born 19 August 1972) is a British diplomat serving as Political Director of the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign ...

since 2023. He previously served as British High Commissioner to Pakistan from 2019 to 2023.

Career

After completing his PhD at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

and making historical television documentaries, Turner joined the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

in 1997. He held positions in Private Office, the Economic and Domestic Secretariat and the

Prime Minister's Strategy Unit The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (often referred to simply as The Strategy Unit) was a unit based in the UK Cabinet Office between 2002 and 2010 (with its predecessor unit, the Performance and Innovation Unit, dating back to 1999). The Strategy ...

. Turner joined the

in 2005 whilst First Secretary at the British Embassy Washington, DC. On his return to London he served as Private Secretary to Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

in 2007; as Director Middle East and North Africa, 2009–2012 during the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

. Turner served as High Commissioner to Kenya from 2012 to 2015. During his time in Kenya he led the UK response to the Westgate Mall terrorist attack and the UK's reconciliation with the MauMau. On his return to the UK in 2016 Turner led the London Syria Conference for No 10, raising $12 billion for Syrian refugees. In 2016 he became Director General for the Middle East and Africa and then acting Political Director General. From 2017 to 2019 he served as Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

's international affairs advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor. In this role he was also senior responsible owner for the £1.25bn

Conflict, Stability and Security Fund The British Government created the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) on 1 April 2015, replacing the previous Conflict (Prevention) Pool. It is a pool of money, over £1 billion per year, for tackling conflict and instability overseas. R ...

. Turner was announced as High Commissioner to Pakistan in August 2019; he took office in December.

Honours

Turner was appointed Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the 2012 New Year Honours.2012 New Years Honours List ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...

'' https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/60009/supplement/1 Turner was made a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 2019.

Personal life

Turner is married with two children.

References

External links

British High Commission in PakistanChristian Turner
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Christian Living people Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Pakistan Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 1972 births