Kim Darroch

His Excellency Sir Kim Darroch KCMG
Her Majesty's Ambassador to the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2016
Monarch	Elizabeth II
President	Barack Obama
Prime Minister	David Cameron
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	30 April 1954 County Durham, England[1]
Profession	Diplomat

Sir Nigel Kim Darroch KCMG (born 30 April 1954) is a senior British diplomat, who since January 2016 has been Her Majesty's Ambassador to the United States.^[2]

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.^[2]

Career

Darroch joined the Foreign Office in 1976 after graduation,^[2] and was appointed to the Diplomatic Service in 1980^[3] to serve as a First Secretary in Tokyo from 1980–1984.^[2] 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 1987–89, 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.^[2]

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 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 term of four years.^[2]

Sir Kim served as the British government's second National Security Advisor from January 2012 to September 2015. On 24 June 2011, Number 10 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.^[2][4]

On 7 July 2015, Number 10 announced that Sir Kim would be replaced by Sir Mark Lyall Grant in September 2015, with Darroch moving to a different diplomatic post.^[5] On 20 August 2015 the Foreign Office announced that his new role would be as HM Ambassador to the United States, replacing Sir Peter Westmacott from January 2016.^[6]

Honours

Darroch was appointed a Companion of Order of St. Michael & St. George (CMG) in the New Year Honours 1997,^[7] and as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the Birthday Honours 2008.^[8]

References

1. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
2. Darroch, Sir (Nigel) Kim. Who's Who (online edn, Nov 2015 ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
3. The London Gazette: no. 48673. p. 2. 1981-07-09. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
4. "Senior Diplomatic Appointments". Number 10. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
5. "National Security Adviser appointment: Sir Mark Lyall-Grant - Press releases - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
6. "Change of Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the United States of America - News stories - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
7. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 54993. p. 3. 1997-12-30. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
8. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58729. p. 2. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2009-08-16.

External links

• UK Government press release announcing Darroch's appointment to UKREP