The private secretary to the prime minister for foreign affairs is a senior official in the

British Civil Service His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, which ...

who acts as the

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

for all matters concerning foreign policy and international affairs to the

prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

. The holder of this post has traditionally been a member of

His Majesty's Diplomatic 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 d ...

on secondment to the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

, and reports directly to the

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 ...

List of private secretaries to the prime minister for foreign affairs

*1950–1952: David Hunt *1952–1955:

Anthony Montague Browne Sir Anthony Arthur Duncan Montague Browne (8 May 1923 – 1 April 2013) was a British diplomat who was private secretary to Sir Winston Churchill during the last ten years of the latter's life. Montague Browne was the biological father of Justi ...

*1955–1957:

Guy Millard Sir Guy Elwin Millard (22 January 1917 – 26 April 2013) was a British diplomat who was closely involved in the Suez crisis, and afterwards ambassador to Hungary, Sweden and Italy. Career Guy Elwin Millard was educated at Wixenford, Charterho ...

*1957–1963: Sir Philip de Zulueta *1963–1966: Oliver Wright *1966–1969:

Michael Palliser Sir Arthur Michael Palliser (9 April 1922 – 19 June 2012) was the vice chairman of the Salzburg Seminar's Board of Directors and a senior British diplomat. Life Born in Reigate, Surrey, the son of Admiral Sir Arthur Palliser, he received h ...

*1969–1970:

Edward Youde Sir Edward Youde (; Cantonese: ''Yau Tak''; 19 June 1924 – 5 December 1986) was a British administrator, diplomat and Sinologist. He served as Governor of Hong Kong between 20 May 1982 and his death on 5 December 1986. Early years Youde ...

*1970–1972: Peter Moon *1972–1974:

Thomas Bridges, 2nd Baron Bridges Thomas Edward Bridges, 2nd Baron Bridges, (27 November 1927 – 27 May 2017) was a British hereditary peer and diplomat. Early life Bridges was born on 27 November 1927 to Edward Bridges, later Cabinet Secretary. His grandfather was Rober ...

*1974–1977: Patrick Wright * 1977–1979:

Bryan Cartledge Sir Bryan Cartledge (born 10 June 1931), is a former British diplomat and academic. After studying at Hurstpierpoint College and St John's College, Cambridge, he took research posts at St Antony's College, Oxford and the Hoover Institute at S ...

*1979–1981: Michael Alexander *1981–1984:

John Coles John Coles may refer to: *John David Coles, film and television director *John Coles (historian) (1930–2020), British archaeologist * John Coles (diplomat) (born 1937), former British High Commissioner to Australia * John Coles (businessman) (183 ...

*1984–1991: Sir Charles Powell *1991–1993: Stephen Wall *1993–1996:

Roderic Lyne Sir Roderic Michael John Lyne (born 31 March 1948) is a British former diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2000 to 2004. Early life and education The son of a senior Royal Air Force officer who flew Spitfi ...

*1996–1999: Sir John Holmes *1999–2001:

John Sawers Sir Robert John Sawers FRUSI (born 26 July 1955) is a British intelligence officer, diplomat and civil servant. He was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), a position he held from November 2009 until November 2014. He was previously ...

*2001–2003:

Francis Campbell Francis Martin-Xavier Campbell (born 20 April 1970) is a British diplomat and academic. Since January 2020, he has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia. From 2014 to 2020, he was the Vice-Chancellor of St Mary's Un ...

*2002–2004:

Matthew Rycroft Sir Matthew John Rycroft (; born 16 June 1968) is a British civil servant and diplomat serving as Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office since 2020, appointed following the resignation of Sir Philip Rutnam. Rycroft previously se ...

*2004–2007:

Antony Phillipson Antony John Phillipson (born 13 January 1971) is a British diplomat, and as of 2021, British High Commissioner to South Africa. He was High Commissioner to Singapore from 2011 to April 2015, and from 2017 to June 2021 was the British Consul-Ge ...

*2007-2007:

Matthew Gould Matthew Steven Gould (born 20 August 1971) is a British civil servant who is CEO of NHSX, the body which oversees digital policy and programmes in NHS England. He was Ambassador to Israel (2010–15) and Director General for Digital and Me ...

*2007–2011: Thomas Fletcher *2011–2014: John Casson *2014–2016: Nigel Casey *2016-2019: Jonny Hall

References

{{Reflist

External links

A DIRECTORY OF BRITISH DIPLOMATS
gulabin.com, December 2013 Lists of British people Civil service positions in the United Kingdom British Prime Minister's Office Foreign relations of the United Kingdom

List of private secretaries to the prime minister for foreign affairs

See also

References

External links