Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

One of the things I like the least in this job is having to say goodbye to so many good people. Just over three weeks ago I had to bid adieu to our long-serving team leader and unsung Council hero Matt Forman. It’s been a long three weeks since then, and I’ve been awake most […]

Visibility is important. In my first month in Norway the evening news ran a profile piece on me in which I talked about my husband Xavier. A 16 year-old boy wrote to me and told me that seeing this had made him believe for the first time that his dreams were worth just as much […]

I retire at the end of February, after 32 years in the Foreign Office, and 40 years in public service in total. Just another civil servant moving on from a job. But to me it feels a poignant moment. When I left university in 1980 I wasn’t seeking fame or fortune, which was perhaps just […]

I leave Japan at the end of February on completion of my term as Ambassador. It was also my first posting as a young diplomat, so it’s rather an appropriate place to be ending my career in. I have been fascinated by Japan since 1983, when I visited on a study tour, after winning an […]

As I prepared to leave Japan at the end of February, on completion of my assignment, I have been reflecting on my four years as Ambassador here, as well as the four years I spent here earlier in my career. I’ve been flicking through my photos. I decided to do 39 tweets highlighting things I […]

The last time British and Japanese Foreign and Defence ministers met in the “2+2” format with their Japanese counterparts, it was in the splendid setting of the former Royal Naval College at Greenwich. This time, under COVID, it will take place virtually, from electronic conference suites in Whitehall and the Japanese equivalent, Kasumigaseki. But the […]