Martin Alexander Baillie Reynolds is a British civil servant who served as Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

from 2019 to 2022. Reynolds previously served as British Ambassador to Libya under Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

and as the principal private secretary to Johnson when he served as

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

in May's government.

Early life

Reynolds was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England. He was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and Gonville and Caius College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he gained an undergraduate degree in law.

Career

Before entering government, Reynolds worked as a lawyer in London. From 1997, he worked at 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 ...

. Becoming a diplomat, Reynolds served at the British High Commission in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

as Deputy High Commissioner between July 2011 and November 2014. From December 2014 to January 2018, he was Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for part of that time while

was Foreign Secretary. Reynolds was Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Libya for five months between April and September 2019. In July 2019, Johnson became prime minister, and Peter Hill resigned as

Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior official in the United Kingdom Civil Service who acts as principal private secretary to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of this office is ...

. Reynolds was recalled from his overseas posting and took up that post at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

in October 2019.

2020 lockdown party email

On 10 January 2022, an image leaked to

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since conti ...

purported to show an email sent by Reynolds on 20 May 2020 inviting those at 10 Downing Street to "make the most of the lovely weather and have some socially distanced drinks" in the garden. Invitees were asked to "bring your own booze". It was reported that over 100 people were invited to this gathering, and between thirty and forty people attended. Campaigners including the

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (also known as Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK) is a pressure group of over 4,000 relatives of people who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The group created the Nation ...

group called for Reynolds to be dismissed. On 3 February 2022 he resigned as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, but was expected to remain in place until a successor had been found. On 8 March 2022, Reynolds was succeeded by Peter Wilson. In May 2022, following the release of the investigation final report by Sue Gray, it was revealed that Reynolds had boasted he had "got away with" rule-breaking at a " bring-your-own-booze" party in May 2020. In a fragment of a message to a special adviser, he had said: "Best of luck - a complete non-story but better than them focusing on our drinks (which we seem to have got away with)." Reynolds' name was mentioned 24 times in the report.

Honours

Reynolds was appointed

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 the

2018 Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

, for services to British foreign policy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Martin Living people Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to South Africa Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Libya British civil servants Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of HM Diplomatic Service People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford Principal Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 20th-century British diplomats People from Oxford Year of birth missing (living people)

Early life

Career

2020 lockdown party email

Honours

See also

References