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John Holmes (British Diplomat)
Sir John Eaton Holmes (born 29 April 1951) is a British former diplomat who is the current Chairman of the Electoral Commission. Early life Holmes was born on 29 April 1951 in Preston, in the north of England. He was educated at Preston Grammar School and went on to study Greats at Balliol College, Oxford. He was brought up in Penwortham, a middle-class suburb of Preston, where he went to school at Crookings Lane Primary and was in the same class as Howard Mendel, a Natural History Museum entomologist. Holmes played cricket for Lancashire schoolboys and was also a tennis player. He was a member of Penwortham Congregational Tennis Club where he won the junior singles as a teenager. He entered the Welsh Open as a student and was defeated by Buster Mottram. Holmes also played football as a schoolboy, representing Penwortham Hill Rovers junior side. One of the coaches for Penwortham Hill Rovers was Tommy Lawrenson, father of the Liverpool footballer, Mark Lawrenson who grew u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chatham House
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It is the originator of the Chatham House Rule. The Royal Institute of International Affairs has its headquarters in central London at 10 St James's Square, which is known as Chatham House. It is a Grade I listed 18th-century building that was designed in part by Henry Flitcroft and was occupied by three British prime ministers, including William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, whose name became associated with the house. Canadian philanthropists Lieutenant-Colonel Reuben Wells Leonard and Kate Rowlands Leonard purchased the property in 1923 and then donated the building to the fledgling institute as its headquarters. As a result, the Chatham House name is used as a metonym for the institute as a whole. Chatham House accepts individual members, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Allan
Sir Alexander Claud Stuart Allan (born 9 February 1951) is a British civil servant who served as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Head of Intelligence Assessment for Her Majesty's Government between 2007 and 2011. He resigned as the Prime Minister's Independent advisor on ministerial standards in November 2020. Early life Allan is the son of Robert Allan, Baron Allan of Kilmahew. Between 1964 and 1969 Allan was educated at Harrow School, followed by obtaining a BA (Hon) degree in Mathematics from Clare College, Cambridge in 1972. In 1973 he also received an MSc degree in Statistics from University College London. Civil Service career * 1973 to 1992 – Allan had various appointments in Customs & Excise and HM Treasury, aside from two years as a freelance computer consultant in Australia (1983–1985). * 1992 to 1997 – he was the principal private secretary to the Prime Minister (John Major to April 1997, and Tony Blair to Aug 1997). * 1997 to 1999 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De La Rue
De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that produces secure digital and physical protections for goods, trade, and identities in 140 countries. It sells to governments, central banks, and businesses. Its authentication division provides government revenue technology, brand protection, and ID security, such as polycarbonate data pages for passports. Its currency division designs and produces banknotes, secure polymer substrate and banknote security features. This includes security holograms, security threads and security printed products for central banks and currency issuing authorities. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is the world's largest commercial printer of banknotes. In April 2025, the company agreed a £263 million takeover by Atlas Holdings, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval and set to be completed in the third quarter of 2025. History The company was founded by Thomas de la Rue, who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Secretary
Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings at state dinners, the person to whom diplomatic credentials should be presented, and the title by which the diplomat should be addressed. International diplomacy Ranks The current system of diplomatic ranks was established by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961). There are three top ranks, two of which remain in use: * ''Ambassador''. An ambassador is a head of mission who is accredited to the receiving country's head of state. They head a diplomatic mission known as an embassy, headquartered in a chancery usually in the receiving state's capital. ** A papal nuncio is considered to have ambassadorial rank, and presides over a nunciature. ** Commonwealth countries send a high commissioner who presides over a high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents within the city limits, over 19.1 million residents in the urban area, and over 21.5 million residents in Moscow metropolitan area, its metropolitan area. The city covers an area of , while the urban area covers , and the metropolitan area covers over . Moscow is among the world's List of largest cities, largest cities, being the List of European cities by population within city limits, most populous city entirely in Europe, the largest List of urban areas in Europe, urban and List of metropolitan areas in Europe, metropolitan area in Europe, and the largest city by land area on the European continent. First documented in 1147, Moscow became the capital of the Grand Principality of Moscow, which led the unification of the Russian lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreign And Commonwealth Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO was itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office. The department in its various forms is responsible for representing and promoting British interests worldwide. The head of the FCDO is the Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom), secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly abbreviated to "foreign secretary". This is regarded as one of the four most prestigious positions in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet – the Great Offices of State – alongside those of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Lawrenson
Mark Thomas Lawrenson (born 2 June 1957) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, among others, during the 1970s and 1980s. After a short career as a manager, he then became a radio, television and internet Pundit (expert), pundit for the BBC, TV3 (Ireland), TV3, BT Sport and Today FM, retiring at the end of the 2021–22 football season. Born and raised in England, Lawrenson qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland national football team, Republic of Ireland through his grandfather, Thomas Crotty, who was born in Waterford. Club career Preston and Brighton Mark Lawrenson was born in Preston and attended St Teresa's Catholic Primary School in Penwortham and, later, Preston Catholic College, a Society of Jesus, Jesuit school. His father, Tom, had been a winger for Preston North End. He always wanted to be a footballer, although his mother, Theresa, wanted him to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buster Mottram
Christopher "Buster" Mottram (born 25 April 1955 in Kingston upon Thames) is an English former tennis player and UK number 1, who achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15 on 17 July 1978 and again on 7 February 1983. Early life Mottram is the son of Tony Mottram and Joy Gannon, leading British tennis players in the 1950s. He was brought up in south-west London and educated at King's College School in Wimbledon. His sister Linda was also a successful tennis player, who competed at the Wimbledon Championships alongside her brother in 1978. Career Mottram was a promising tennis player from an early age, having been coached by his father with the assistance of the Lawn Tennis Association. Having already emerged as the youngest-ever winner of the British under-21 championships, the zenith of his junior career came upon reaching the finals of the Boys' Singles tournaments at both the French Open and Wimbledon in 1972; while prevailing at Roland Garros (becoming only t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welsh Championships
The Welsh Championships ( Welsh: Pencampwriaethau Cymru) its original name until 1970 was also known as the Championship of Wales (1951), the Welsh Open ( Welsh: Cymraeg Agored) (1947–50) the Green Shield Welsh Championships and Green Shield Welsh Open (1970–74) for sponsorship reasons was an outdoor tennis event held from 1886 through 1974 it was played at various locations throughout its duration including Cardiff, Newport and Penarth in Wales. The dates that the tournament was held varied between June and July annually. History The Welsh Championships tournament began in 1886. It was originally held at the Penarth Lawn Tennis club, in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan through the later part of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth, the last event being held there in 1909. The championships was staged only once during this time in Cardiff, in 1891, before it became a permanent fixture at the Newport Athletic Club from 1946 onward which also the hosted th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
