The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to New Zealand is the United Kingdom's foremost

diplomatic representative Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and head of the UK's

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

in New Zealand. As the United Kingdom and New Zealand are fellow members of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

, their diplomatic relations are at governmental level, rather than between heads of state. Thus, the countries exchange high commissioners, rather than ambassadors. The British high commissioner to New Zealand is also the non-resident

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 ...

of the

Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...

, a

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

, and formerly non-resident high commissioner to the

Independent State of Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

. Besides the High Commission in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, the UK government maintains a consulate general in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

List of High Commissioners

The following persons have served as British High Commissioner to

since 1939: *1939–1945: Sir Harry Batterbee *1945–1949: Sir Patrick Duff *1949–1953: Sir Roy Price *1953–1957: General Sir Geoffry Scoones *1957–1959: Sir George Mallaby *1959–1963: Sir Francis Cumming-Bruce *1969–1973: Sir Arthur Galsworthy *1973–1975: Sir David Aubrey Scott *1976–1980: Sir Harold Smedley *1980–1984: Sir Richard Stratton *1984–1987: Terence O'Leary *1987–1990: Robin Byatt *1990–1994: Sir David Moss *1994–1998: Robert Alston *1998–2001: Martin Williams *2001–2006:

Richard Fell Richard Taylor Fell CVO (born 11 November 1948) was the British High Commissioner to New Zealand and the colonial Governor of the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands (of which only Pitcairn is inhabited) from 2001 to 2006. He was educ ...

*2006–2010: George Fergusson *2010–2014: Victoria Treadell *2014–2017:

Jonathan Sinclair Jonathan William Rossiter Sinclair (born 13 October 1970) is a British diplomat who is Director of Human Resources at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Career Sinclair was educated at Radley College and studied at Oxford University for a ...

*2018–2022:

Laura Clarke Laura Mary Clarke (born 3 June 1978) is the CEO of ClientEarth a global non-profit environmental law organisation. She is a former British diplomat, who served as the British High Commissioner to New Zealand, and the Governor of Pitcairn. Bio ...

*2022–:

Iona Thomas Iona Thomas is a British diplomat who serves as the British High Commissioner to New Zealand, and the Governor of Pitcairn. Thomas did a bachelor’s in literae humaniores at Oxford University and a masters in economics at the London School of ...

References

External links

UK and New Zealand
''gov.uk'' {{Lists of heads of UK diplomatic missions

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

United Kingdom High Commissioners United Kingdom High Commissioners 1970 establishments in the Pitcairn Islands United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations

List of High Commissioners

See also

References

External links