Robin William Renwick, Baron Renwick of Clifton, (born 13 December 1937) is a former diplomat and a former member of the House of Lords. He was first a Labour peer but moved to the crossbenches in 2007. He retired from the House in 2018. Lord Renwick was educated at St Paul's School and graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1962 with a Master of Arts in history. He further studied at the Sorbonne. From 1956 to 1958 he completed national service in the British Army. In 1963 he entered the

British Foreign 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 ...

and had the postings detailed below. Renwick 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 the

1980 New Year Honours The 1980 New Year Honours were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 31 December 1979 to celeb ...

and was promoted to Knight Commander (KCMG) in the

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

. He was recommended for a life peerage and created Baron Renwick of Clifton, of Chelsea in the

Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in th ...

, on 26 September 1997.

Diplomatic posts held

Diplomatic service: * Dakar, Senegal, 1963–64 *

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

, 1964–66 * New Delhi, 1966–70 * Private Secretary to Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, 1970–72 *

First Secretary First Secretary may refer to: * First minister, a leader of a government * Secretary (title), a leader of a political party (especially Communist parties), trade union, or other organization * First Secretary (diplomatic rank), a role within an emba ...

, Paris, 1972–76 *Counsellor, Cabinet Office, 1976–78 *Head of

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

Department, FCO, 1978–80 *Political Adviser to

Governor of Rhodesia The Governor of Southern Rhodesia was the representative of the British monarch in the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia from 1923 to 1980. The Governor was appointed by The Crown and acted as the local head of state, receiving instruct ...

, 1980 *Head of

Chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Chancery (diplomacy), the principal office that houses a diplomatic mission or an embassy * Chancery (medieval office), responsible for the production of official documents * Chancery (Scotlan ...

, Washington, 1981–84 *Assistant Under-Secretary of State for European affairs, FCO, 1984–87. Helped to negotiate the 1984 UK rebate, a two-thirds reduction in the British financial contribution to the

European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...

Ambassador to: * South Africa, 1987–91; involved in the release of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

* United States, 1991–95

Directorates held

Lord Renwick has served on the board of directors of the following firms: * BHP * British Airways * Richemont * Fluor Corporation * Harmony Gold *

Kazakhmys Kazakhmys Group is a vertically integrated holding company whose key assets are concentrated in the mining industry and non-ferrous metallurgy. It was established and registered in the form of a joint-stock company in August 1997. On 14 January ...

SABMiller SABMiller plc was a South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Prior to that date, it was the world's ...

He also served as Deputy Chairman, Robert Fleming Bank, then Deputy Chairman, Fleming Family and Partners *Vice-chairman, JP Morgan Europe *Vice-chairman, JP Morgan Cazenove (previously Cazenove) * Excelsior Mining Corp. He currently serves as *Chairman, Advisory Board,

Stonehage Fleming Stonehage Fleming was formed in 2014, when Fleming Family & Partners, the family office run by family members of banking pioneer Robert Fleming, merged with Stonehage, an international family office. The Group manages assets worth more than £ ...

*Senior Adviser, Richemont *Advisory Board, Appian Capital *Director, Excelsior Mining *Chairman, Kropz plc Publications *Economic Sanctions *Helen Suzman *The End of Apartheid : Diary of a Revolution *A Journey with Margaret Thatcher *Fighting with Allies : America and Britain in Peace and War *How to Steal a Country *Not Quite a Diplomat (Memoir)

References

The Rhodesia Settlement (De-Classified), Foreign & Commonwealth Office 2021 Ann Bracken, "How to break into the White House", Biteback Publishing 2021

External links

Interview with Robin William, Lord Renwick

transcript
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme,

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Renwick of Clifton, Robin Renwick, Baron 1937 births Living people People educated at St Paul's School, London University of Paris alumni Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States Crossbench life peers Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Diplomatic peers Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to South Africa JPMorgan Chase people