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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of Stay Ahead of the Games UK in Holy See

21st May 2012

A legacy for disabled people

Nigel Baker, British Ambassador to the Holy See since September 2011

21 May represents 100 days to go to the start of the Paralympic Games in London. The Paralympics are sometimes seen as an afterthought to the “main” Olympic event. This will not be the case for London 2012.
As I told Vatican Radio, London 2012 are the first Games that bring the organisation of the Olympics and the Paralympics fully together.

This is right. The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will provide a catalyst for changing perceptions of disabled people. But there are also good historical reasons. We are proud that the Paralympics are returning to the country that established what was later recognised as the Paralympic movement. It was Dr Ludwig Guttman, then treating wounded WWII war veterans at Stoke Mandeville hospital, who in 1948 – the year of the second London Olympics – initiated an archery competition for his patients. Dutch athletes took part four years later and by the 1960 Games, the Rome Olympics, 400 athletes from 21 countries were involved. The Paralympic Games were born.

Things have changed. This year there will be 4,200 athletes competing in 20 different sports, Two million people will watch. We are confident that, across the world, people will see disability in a different light – visibly, positively, and more knowledgeably. The Paralympics are not an add-on. They will be an integral part of the 2012 Games.

About Nigel Baker

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as…

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba (2003-6) and then as British Ambassador in La Paz, Bolivia (2007-11). In July 2016, Nigel finished his posting, and is currently back in London.

As the first British Ambassador to the Holy See ever to have a blog, Nigel provided a regular window on what the Embassy and the Ambassador does. The blogs covered a wide range of issues, from Royal and Ministerial visits to Diplomacy and Faith, freedom of religion, human trafficking and climate change.

More on Nigel’s career

Nigel was based in London between 1998 and 2003. He spent two years on European Union issues (for the UK 1998 EU Presidency and on European Security and Defence questions), before crossing St James’s Park to work for three years as The Assistant Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. At St James’s Palace, Nigel worked on international issues, including the management of The Prince of Wales’s overseas visits and tours, on the Commonwealth, interfaith issues, the arts and international development.

Nigel spent much of the early part of his FCO career in Central Europe, after an initial stint as Desk Officer for the Maghreb countries in the Near East and North Africa department (1990-91). Between 1992 and 1996, Nigel served in the British embassies in Prague and Bratislava, the latter being created in 1993 after the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the separate Czech and Slovak Republics.

Nigel joined the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in September 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 he took a two year academic sabbatical to research and write about themes in 18th century European history, being based in Verona but also researching in Cambridge, Paris and Naples. The research followed from Nigel’s time as a student at Cambridge (1985-88) where he read history and was awarded a First Class Honours degree, followed by his MA in 1992.

Before joining the Foreign Office, Nigel worked briefly for the Conservative Research Department in London at the time of the 1989 European election campaign.

Nigel married Alexandra (Sasha) in 1997. They have one son, Benjamin, born in Bolivia in September 2008.

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disability London 2012 olympics paralympics

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