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. 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 ...
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 i ...
David Cameron 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, ...
, 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 man ...
, before studying at
New College, Oxford, 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 in
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 Delta i ...
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 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 Bos ...
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
David Cameron'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. 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 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 i ...
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 ...
. 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 on 14 May 2015.
House of Lords
In August 2016, he was nominated for a
life peerage in
David Cameron'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
Chris Patten and
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 ...
.
Ambassador to France
It was announced on 23 September 2016 that he would become
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 ...
, 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 upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
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
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.
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