David Hugh Alexander Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick (born 28 September 1935) is a British diplomat.

Biography

Hannay was born in London and educated at

Craigflower Preparatory School Craigflower Preparatory School was an independent preparatory school for boys at Torryburn near Dunfermline, Scotland. History Craigflower Preparatory School was established at Craigflower House, Torryburn, near Dunfermline, Fife in 1923. (Cr ...

, Winchester College and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. He entered the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

in 1959, and was initially posted to positions in Tehran and Kabul. Starting in 1965 and continuing into the early 1970s, he was a representative of the British government in discussions which led to the United Kingdom's entry into the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

in 1973. He held various positions at the Foreign Office in London during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

at the British Embassy in Washington, DC, in 1984–1985, and was then promoted to ambassador and permanent representative to the European Economic Community from 1985 to 1990. After that posting he spent the next five years as ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations. Hannay took on specialised roles such as United Nations Special Representative for Cyprus between 1996 and 2003 and was a member of the UN High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, reporting to the Secretary-General in December 2004.

Honours and awards

In 1981 he was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG), in 1986 a Knight Commander (KCMG) and in 1995 a Knight Grand Cross (GCMG). On 19 June 2001 he was created 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Hannay of Chiswick, of Bedford Park in the London Borough of Ealing, sitting as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

. He was pro-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham from 2001 to 2006. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

he was made a

Companion of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...

. Lord Hannay was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by Birmingham University in 2003.

Other

He chaired the Board of United Nations Association UK from January 2006 to January 2011 and is now chair of the UN All-Party Parliamentary Group. He is currently a member of the Top Level Group for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation and a member of the Lords International Relations Committee.

Family

David Hannay was married to Gillian Hannay who died in 2015. He has four sons (Richard, Philip, Jonathan and Alexander) and twelve grandchildren (Peter, Charlotte, Juliette, Edward, Robin, Manon, Harry, Gustavo, Sophie, Julian, Albert and Theodore).

Arms

Publications

* ''Cyprus: The Search for a Solution.'' London: I.B.Tauris, 2005. * ''Britain's Quest for a Role: A Diplomatic Memoir from Europe to the UN.'' London: I. B. Tauris, 2013.

References

External links

Biography
from the Birmingham University website
Biography
from the UK Parliament website
Lords EU Select Committee
on the UK Parliament website
UNA-UK Biographyon the UNA-UK websiteInterview with Lord Hannay of Chiswick

transcript
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1999 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannay, David People's peers Crossbench life peers Diplomatic peers 1935 births Living people People educated at Craigflower Preparatory School People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford Permanent Representatives of the United Kingdom to the United Nations Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Permanent Representatives of the United Kingdom to the European Union Pro-Chancellors of the University of Birmingham Life peers created by Elizabeth II