Kim Darroch

His Excellency
Sir Kim Darroch
KCMG
British Ambassador to the United States
Assumed office
28 January 2016[1]
Monarch Elizabeth II
President Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Prime Minister David Cameron
Theresa May
Preceded by Sir Peter Westmacott
United Kingdom National Security Advisor
In office
23 January 2012 – 7 September 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Sir Peter Ricketts
Succeeded by Sir Mark Lyall Grant
Her Majesty's Permanent Representative to the European Union
In office
July 2007 – 23 January 2012
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
David Cameron
Preceded by Sir John Grant
Succeeded by Sir Jon Cunliffe
Personal details
Born Nigel Kim Darroch
(1954-04-30) 30 April 1954
County Durham, England[2]

Sir Nigel Kim Darroch KCMG ( /ˈdærək/; born 30 April 1954) is a senior British diplomat, who since January 2016 has been British Ambassador to the United States.[3]

Early life

Darroch was born in County Durham on 30 April 1954. He was educated at Abingdon School and at Durham University, from where he graduated with a BSc in Zoology.[3][4]

Career

Darroch joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1976 after graduation,[3] and he was appointed to the Diplomatic Service in 1980[5] to serve as a First Secretary in Tokyo from 1980 to 1984.[3] He served in a number of posts, including as desk officer for the Channel Tunnel project and co-secretary of the UK-French Channel Tunnel Treaty Group, as private secretary to David Mellor and then The Lord Glenarthur as the FCO's Minister of State from 1987 to 1989, and as Counsellor for External Affairs at the British Permanent Representative to the European Union for a year before being promoted to Director as head of the FCO's press office in 1998.[3]

In 2000, Darroch moved back to policy work as Director of EU Comd, and in 2003 promoted further to be Director-General, Europe. In 2004, he transferred to 10 Downing Street, as Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat, where he served as the Prime Minister's principal advisor on European affairs. After three years, Darroch was appointed to replace Sir John Grant in Brussels, as British Permanent Representative to the European Union in 2007 for a four-year term.[3]

He served as the British government's second National Security Advisor from January 2012 to September 2015. On 24 June 2011, it was announced that Darroch would replace Sir Peter Ricketts as National Security Advisor in January 2012, with Sir Jon Cunliffe selected as Darroch's replacement as Permanent Representative to the European Union.[3][6]

Ambassador to the United States

On 7 July 2015, the Foreign Office announced that Darroch would be replaced by Sir Mark Lyall Grant in September 2015, with Darroch moving to a different diplomatic post.[7] On 20 August 2015, the Foreign Office announced that his new role would be as the Ambassador to the United States, replacing Sir Peter Westmacott from January 2016.[8]

In June 2016, along with the Consulate General, he launched the GBx group in San Francisco, a curated community of British tech entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In November 2016, following the US election, a memo by Darroch to Prime Minister Theresa May was leaked in which he said the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, could be influenced by the British government. The following week, Trump tweeted that Nigel Farage should serve as British ambassador to the United States, which was rejected by Downing Street, which said that there is no vacancy and that the UK has "an excellent ambassador to the US".[9][10] Darroch was in London the next day for consultations with May that were said to have been long planned.[11]

Honours

Darroch was appointed a Companion of Order of St. Michael & St. George (CMG) in the 1997 New Year Honours,[12] and as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Order of Precedence and Date of Presentation of Credentials". United States Department of State. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Darroch, Sir (Nigel) Kim. ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who (online edn, Nov 2015 ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Durham University Gazette, XXI [2](ns) including supplement". reed.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "No. 48673". The London Gazette. 9 July 1981. p. 2.
  6. ↑ "Senior Diplomatic Appointments". Number 10. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  7. ↑ "National Security Adviser appointment: Sir Mark Lyall-Grant – Press releases – Government of the United Kingdom". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America – News stories – Government of the United Kingdom". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Wilkinson, Michael; Alexander, Harriet (22 November 2016). "Donald Trump recommends Nigel Farage for British ambassador to the United States – but No10 tells him 'there's no vacancy'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Wintour, Patrick; Elgot, Jessica; Borger, Julian (22 November 2016). "Ministers rejects Donald Trump's call to appoint Nigel Farage ambassador". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Cowburn, Ashley (22 November 2016). "Theresa May meets with British ambassador to the US following Donald Trump remarks". The Independent. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "No. 54993". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 30 December 1997. p. 3.
  13. ↑ "No. 58729". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 14 July 2008. p. 2.
Government offices
Preceded by
Unknown		 Director-General, Europe of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
2003–2004		 Succeeded by
Nicola Brewer
Preceded by
Sir Stephen Wall		 Head of the
Cabinet Office European Secretariat
2004–2007		 Succeeded by
Jon Cunliffe
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Sir John Grant		 UK Permanent Representative to the European Union
2007–2011		 Succeeded by
Sir Jon Cunliffe
Preceded by
Sir Peter Westmacott		 British Ambassador to the United States
2016–		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Government offices
Preceded by
Sir Peter Ricketts		 National Security Advisor
2012–2015		 Succeeded by
Sir Mark Lyall Grant
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