Edward David Gerard Llewellyn, Baron Llewellyn of Steep, (born 23 September 1965) is a British diplomat and former

political adviser Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

serving as the British Ambassador to Italy since 2022. He previously served as the

British Ambassador to France The British Ambassador to France is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in France, and is the head of Britain's diplomatic mission in Paris. The official title is ''His Majesty's Ambassador to France''. Traditionally, the ...

from 2016 to 2021 and as the

Downing Street Chief of Staff The office of Downing Street Chief of Staff is the most senior political appointee in the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, acting as a senior aide to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of the office retains a ...

under former

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

from 2010 to 2016. In February 2022, he was appointed British ambassador to Italy. He presented his credentials to

Italian president The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy par ...

on 7 April 2022.

Early life and career

Llewellyn was educated at

Sunningdale School Sunningdale School is a family-run boys' preparatory independent boarding school of around 100 pupils, situated in Sunningdale in Berkshire, close to London, England. Introduction Sunningdale School is a small school that seeks to educate its ...

. He later attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, where he was a year above David Cameron. Llewellyn left Eton in 1983 and spent a brief amount of time working at

Conservative Central Office The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and manag ...

, before studying at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, where he was steward (i.e. president) of the College JCR. New College contemporaries included

Rageh Omaar Rageh Omaar (; so, Raage Oomaar; ar, راجح أومار; born 19 July 1967) is a Somali-born British journalist and writer. He was a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq. In September 2006, he moved to ...

Steve Hilton Stephen Glenn Charles Hilton (born 25 August 1969) is a British political commentator and former political adviser. He served as director of strategy for the British Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2012. Since 2017, Hilton has hosted ...

and

Ian Katz Ian Alexander Katz (born 9 February 1968) is a British journalist and broadcasting executive who is currently Chief Content Officer at Channel 4, overseeing all editorial decision making and commissioning across Channel 4's linear channels, str ...

. The UK government website says that Llewellyn spent four years (from 1988 to 1992) working for the Conservative Party's research department, including a year as Private Secretary to Margaret Thatcher.

Political career

After leaving Oxford, he was employed as an aide to

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

from 1992 to 1997, as a member of Patten's '

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

' following Patten's appointment as a

European Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

from 1999 to 2002, and then as Chief of Staff to the former

Liberal Democrat Leader The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the head and highest-ranking member of the party. Liberal Democrat members of Parliament also elect a deputy leader of ...

Paddy Ashdown Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, (27 February 194122 December 2018), better known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Internati ...

in his role as

high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, were created in 1995 immediately after the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the 1992–1995 Bosn ...

from 2002 to 2005. Llewellyn was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

1997 Birthday Honours The 1997 Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 1997 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 1997 for New Zealand.New Zealand list: Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingd ...

and promoted to

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

(OBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours. Llewellyn was appointed as an Honorary Captain in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

in July 2021.

Chief of Staff to David Cameron

Following

's victory in the Conservative leadership election in December 2005, Llewellyn was hired to be Cameron's personal chief of staff in his capacity as

leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. Llewellyn continued in this role until 2010.

Negotiations over coalition

He served as part of the Conservative negotiating team, along with

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Oliver Letwin Sir Oliver Letwin (born 19 May 1956) is a British politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dorset from 1997 to 2019. Letwin was elected as a member of the Conservative Party, but sat as an independent after having the whip removed in S ...

, when they were negotiating a possible deal with the Liberal Democrats after the 2010 general election. Their negotiations were successful and they created the

Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement The Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement (officially known as The Coalition: Our Programme for Government) was a policy document drawn up following the 2010 general election in the United Kingdom. It formed the terms of referen ...

leading to the formation of a coalition government.

Downing Street Chief of Staff

Cameron became

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and appointed Llewellyn to the post of

Downing Street chief of staff The office of Downing Street Chief of Staff is the most senior political appointee in the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, acting as a senior aide to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of the office retains a ...

. In July 2011, several newspapers reported that Llewellyn asked Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates not to speak to Cameron about the

News International phone hacking scandal The News International phone hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now-defunct ''News of the World'' and other British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police b ...

. Following the Conservative Party's election victory at the 2015 general election, Llewellyn was sworn into the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 14 May 2015.

House of Lords

In August 2016, he was nominated for a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

age in

's Resignation Honours and was created Baron Llewellyn of Steep, of Steep in the County of Hampshire, on 20 October. He took his seat on 31 October, when he was introduced by

and

Ambassador to France

It was announced on 23 September 2016 that he would become

, and it was reported that he will not sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

while serving as ambassador. He took up the post on 9 November 2016, being referred to as Edward Llewellyn. Llewellyn was succeeded as ambassador by

Menna Rawlings Dame Menna Frances Rawlings (''née'' Hornung; born ) is a British diplomat serving as British Ambassador to France since 2021. Previously British High Commissioner to Australia from 2015 to 2019, she then served as Director General of Economi ...

in summer 2021, but it was announced he would transfer to another Diplomatic Service appointment.

Ambassador to Italy

On 18 January 2022 it was announced that Llewelyn would succeed

Jill Morris Jill Morris (born 14 August 1967) is a British diplomat who was the British Ambassador to Italy and non-resident British Ambassador to San Marino, succeeding Christopher Prentice. She is the first female to have held this post. Early life M ...

as British Ambassador to Italy and Non-Resident Ambassador to San Marino. He presented his credentials to president

on 7 April 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llewellyn, Edward 1965 births Living people Alumni of New College, Oxford British special advisers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) officials Diplomatic peers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to France Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Steep, Hampshire Downing Street Chiefs of Staff Royal Naval Reserve personnel People educated at Sunningdale School