Keith Shannon (born 17 September 1966) is a British diplomat. He served as British Ambassador to Latvia from 2017 to 2021 and British Ambassador to Moldova from 2009 to 2013.

Early life

He is the son of Andrew Shannon and Catherine Sutherland, and was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He attended

Craigmount High School Craigmount High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Edinburgh, Scotland with 1,269 pupils located in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated between Corstorphine, East Craigs and Drumbrae and it moved into new premises at ...

, a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

in Edinburgh. He gained an MA in Modern History with International Relations from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Career

He joined

HM 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 Home Civil Service, which ...

in 1988. From 1995-99 he was the Second Secretary (Technology) in Paris. On 18 May 2009 Shannon became the Ambassador to Moldova in Chişinău. His appointment was announced on 20 November 2008. He kissed hands with the Queen on 19 February 2009. He was replaced in Moldova by

Philip Batson Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

in April 2013 and it was announced he would transfer to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Shannon succeeded Sarah Cowley as the Ambassador to Latvia in June 2017. He was succeeded by

Paul Brummell Paul Brummell (born 28 August 1965) is a British diplomat and travel writer. Early life Brummell was educated at St Albans School before reading geography at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He entered the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ...

in July 2021.

References

External links

UK in Moldova on FlickrSHANNON, Keith
''Who's Who 2013'', A & C Black, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012, accessed 9 April 2013
Keith Shannon jokes at Moldovan Football Annual Event
youtube.com, December 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon, Keith 1966 births Living people Diplomats from Edinburgh People educated at Craigmount High School Alumni of the University of St Andrews Scottish diplomats Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Moldova Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Latvia