The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Botswana is the

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 ...

'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 ...

in the

Republic of Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

, 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 ...

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

. Botswana (formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland) gained independence on 30 September 1966. As Botswana is a member 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 ...

, it and the United Kingdom exchange High Commissioners rather than ambassadors. The British High Commissioner to Botswana is also the UK Representative to the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security coopera ...

whose headquarters are in Gaborone.

List of heads of mission

British High Commissioners to Botswana

*1966–1969: John Gandee *1969–1973: George Anderson *1973–1977:

Eleanor Emery Eleanor Emery, CMG (23 December 1918 – 22 June 2007) was High Commissioner to Botswana from 1973 to 1977: the first British woman to reach that rank. She was born in Glasgow but educated at Western Canada High School; and the University of G ...

*1977–1981:

Wilfred Turner Wilfred Turner, (10 October 1921 – 26 June 2015) was a British diplomat in the second half of the Twentieth century. He was educated at Heywood Grammar School and the University of London. He was with the Ministry of Labour from 1938 to 194 ...

*1981–1986: Wilfred Jones *1986–1989: Peter Raftery *1989–1991: Brian Smith *1991–1994:

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...

*1995–1998: David Beaumont *1998–2001:

John Wilde John Wilde (December 12, 1919 – March 9, 2006, pronounced "WILL-dee") was a painter, draughtsman and printmaker of fantastic imagery. Born near Milwaukee, Wilde lived most of his life in Wisconsin, save for service in the U.S. Army during Wor ...

*2001–2005:

David Merry David Byron Merry, CMG (born 16 September 1945) was High Commissioner to Botswana from 2001 He was at the Ministry of Aviation from 1961 to 1965 when he entered the HM Diplomatic Service. He served in Bangkok, Budapest, Bonn, East Berlin, Man ...

*2005–2010: Frank Martin *2010–2013: Jennifer Anderson *2013–2016:

Nick Pyle Nicholas John Pyle is British diplomat who had been Deputy Governor of Gibraltar from September 2016 to August 2022. He served as acting Governor from 18 February 2020 to 11 June 2020. Prior to Gibraltar, Pyle had been High Commissioner to Bot ...

*2016-2020

Katy Ransome Katy or KATY may refer to: People * Katy, a short form of the name Katherine * Katy (given name) * Katy (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a fictional character * Katy Perry Places Serbia * Kać, Serbia ( hu, Káty, link=no) United States * Katy, Mis ...

*2020–:

Sian Price Sian or Siyan may refer to: __NOTOC__ People *Siân, a Welsh girl's name; list of people with this name Places *Sian, Iran (disambiguation), various places in Iran *Sian, Russia, a rural locality in Amur Oblast, Russia *Xi'an, China, formerly roman ...

References

External links

UK and Botswana
gov.uk {{Lists of heads of UK diplomatic missions

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations