List of High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom

The High Commissioner from New Zealand to the United Kingdom is New Zealand's foremost diplomatic representative in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and in charge of New Zealand's diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom.

The High Commission of New Zealand is located in London, the United Kingdom's capital city. New Zealand has maintained a resident High Commissioner in the United Kingdom since 1905, and a resident Agent-General since 1871. The High Commissioner to the United Kingdom is concurrently accredited to the Republic of Ireland and Nigeria.

As New Zealand was created as a part of the British Empire, its diplomatic relationship with the United Kingdom is its longest-standing; the position of High Commissioner in London pre-dates New Zealand's dominion status by two years, the Balfour Declaration of 1926 by 21 years, and the adoption of the Statute of Westminster of 1931 by 42 years. New Zealand appointed a High Commissioner to Canada in 1942, and a High Commissioner to Australia in 1943.

As fellow members of the Commonwealth of Nations, diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the United Kingdom are at governmental level, rather than between Heads of State, with member countries exchanging High Commissioners, rather than ambassadors.

Sir Lockwood Smith, The current High Commissioner

List of heads of mission

Agents-General in the United Kingdom

	Name	Portrait	Monarch	Took Office	Left Office
1	Dr Isaac Earl Featherston		Victoria	1871	1876
2	Sir Julius Vogel			1876	1880
3	Sir Dillon Bell			1880	1891
4	Sir Westby Perceval			1891	1895
5	William Pember Reeves		Victoria Edward VII	1895	1905

High Commissioners to the United Kingdom

	Name	Portrait	Monarch	Took Office	Left Office
1	William Pember Reeves		Edward VII	1905	1908
2	Sir William Hall-Jones		Edward VII George V	1908	1912
3	Sir Thomas Mackenzie		George V	1912	1920
4	Sir James Allen			1920	1926
5	Sir James Parr			1926	1930
6	Sir Thomas Wilford			1930	1935
	Sir James Parr, 2nd time		George V Edward VIII	1935	1936
7	Sir William Joseph Jordan		Edward VIII George VI	1936	1951
8	Sir Frederick Doidge		George VI, Elizabeth II	1951	1955
9	Sir Clifton Webb		Elizabeth II	1955	1958
	Dr Richard Mitchelson Campbell (acting)[1]			1958	1958
	George Laking (acting)[1]			1958	1961
10	Sir Thomas Macdonald			1961	1968
11	Sir Denis Blundell			1968	1972
	Merwyn Norrish (acting)[1]			1972	1973
12	Sir Terry McCombs			1973	1975
13	Hugh Watt			1975	1976
14	Sir Douglas Carter			1976	1979
15	Les Gandar			1979	1982
16	Bill Young			1982	1985
17	Joe Walding			1985
18	Bryce Harland			1985	1991
19	George Gair			1991	1994
20	John Collinge			1994	1997
21	Richard Grant			1997	1999
22	Paul East			1999	2002
23	Russell Marshall			2002	2005
24	Jonathan Hunt			2005	2008
25	Derek Leask			2008	2013
26	Sir Lockwood Smith			2013	incumbent

Footnotes

1. Acting High Commissioner only.

References

• "Heads of Missions List: U". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 8 July 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2006.