Paul Thomas Arkwright (born 2 March 1962) is a British diplomat who was High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2015–18.

Early life

Arkwright was born in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

, and grew up in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He is the son of Thomas Arkwright and Muriel Hague. He grew up in Bolton. He attended the independent school

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

. He gained a BA in English in 1983 from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

Career

Arkwright joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1987. He was based in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

(British Military Government near the

Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...

) from 1988–1991, seeing the overthrow of the Berlin Wall at first hand. From 1993–1997 he was a First Secretary to the UK Mission to the UN. From 1997–1998 he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France; this led to him being a First Secretary from 1998–2001 at Paris. From 2001–2005 he was part of the UK Delegation to NATO in Brussels. From 2006–2009 he achieved a senior post in the FCO, becoming Head of the Counter-Proliferation Department (CPD).

Ambassador

Arkwright was British Ambassador to the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

2009–2013. He was Director, Multilateral Policy at the FCO 2013–2015, and was then appointed High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, taking up his post at Abuja in October 2015. He was replaced in November 2018 to transfer to another Diplomatic Service appointment. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to foreign policy.

Personal life

Arkwright married Patricia Holland in 1997 in Paris, and they have a son and daughter. He follows

Bolton Wanderers F.C. Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

References

External links

UK in the Netherlands

His blog

UKinNL at Flickr

UKTI Netherlands at Flickr

Video clips

UKinNL YouTube channel

2011 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkwright, Paul Thomas 1962 births Living people People from Bolton People educated at Ampleforth College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands Permanent Representatives of the United Kingdom to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Nigeria Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George