Edward David Gerard Llewellyn, Baron Llewellyn of Steep, (born 23 September 1965), is a British diplomat and former political adviser serving as the British Ambassador to Italy since 2022. Previously HM Ambassador to France from 2016 to 2021, he served as

Downing Street Chief of Staff The Downing Street chief of staff is the most senior Special adviser (UK), political appointee in the 10 Downing Street#Office of the Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, acting as a senior aide to the Prime Minist ...

under

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

from 2010 to 2016. In February 2022, Lord Llewellyn was appointed HM Ambassador to Italy, presenting his credentials to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician and jurist who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 20 ...

on 7 April 2022.

Early life and career

Llewellyn was educated at

Sunningdale School Sunningdale School is a boys' preparatory independent boarding school of up to 105 pupils, situated in Sunningdale in Berkshire, close to London, England. History The school was founded in 1874 by William Girdlestone, it has of gardens and ...

, then

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, where he was a year above

. 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 man ...

, before going up to

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he was Steward (''i.e.'' President) of the College JCR. New College contemporaries include Rageh Omaar,

Steve Hilton Stephen Glenn Charles Hilton (born 25 August 1969) is a British English and American political commentator, former political adviser, and contributor for Fox News Channel. He served as director of strategy for the British Prime Minister David C ...

and Ian Katz. The UK Government website states that Llewellyn spent four years (from 1988 to 1992) working for the

Conservative Research Department The Conservative Research Department (CRD) is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters in Westminster. The CRD has been descri ...

, including a year as Private Secretary to

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

Political and diplomatic career

After

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, Llewellyn was engaged as an aide to

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

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

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

from 1992 to 1997, as a member of Patten's ' Cabinet' following Patten's appointment as a European Commissioner from 1999 to 2002, and then as Chief of Staff to former Liberal Democrat Leader

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. Internation ...

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, was created in 1995 immediately after the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the 1992 to 1995 Bos ...

from 2002 to 2005. 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, Llewellyn was promoted

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," fro ...

(OBE) in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. In July 2021, Lord Llewellyn was appointed an

Honorary Captain Junior commissioned officer (JCO) is a group of military ranks which is higher than havildar (non-commissioned officer) and lower than lieutenant (commissioned officer). The term is only used by Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Senior havil ...

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 ...

Chief of Staff to David Cameron

Following

's victory at the Conservative leadership election in December 2005, Llewellyn was hired to be Cameron's personal chief of staff in his capacity as Leader of HM Opposition, continuing in this role until 2010.

Coalition negotiations

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

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired 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 Cameron government. A ...

William Hague William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...

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 ...

, when negotiating a prospective deal with the Liberal Democrats after the 2010 general election. Their negotiations being successful, the Conservative–LibDem coalition agreement was drawn up leading to the formation of the coalition government in 2010.

Downing Street Chief of Staff

Cameron became

and appointed Llewellyn to the post of

. 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. On 14 May

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

following the Conservatives' general election victory, Llewellyn was sworn of the Privy Council.

House of Lords

In August 2016, Llewellyn was nominated for elevation as 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

's Resignation Honours, being created on 20 October 2016 as ''Baron Llewellyn of Steep, of Steep, in the County of Hampshire''. Introduced by Lords Patten and Hague on 31 October, Lord Llewellyn took his seat on the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Ambassador to France

Appointed British Ambassador to France, on 23 September 2016, Llewellyn took office on 9 November 2016. Lord Llewellyn took a leave of absence from

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as is customary while on

His Majesty's Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

. Succeeded in Paris by

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Dame Menna Rawlings in summer 2021, it was announced Lord Llewellyn would receive another diplomatic appointment.

Ambassador to Italy

Nominated on 18 January 2022 as British Ambassador to Italy and non-resident Ambassador Extraordinary to

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

in succession to Jill Morris, Llewellyn presented his

credentials A credential is a piece of any document that details a qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or '' de facto'' authority or assumed competence to do so. Examples of credentials include ac ...

at the

Quirinal Palace The Quirinal Palace ( ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the main official residence of the President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporziano, an estate on the outs ...

on 7 April 2022. Lord and Lady Llewellyn reside at the Villa Wolkonsky in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

.www.burkespeerage.com
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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 Military personnel from Hampshire 21st-century Royal Navy personnel