The diplomatic foreign relations of the United Kingdom are conducted by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, headed by the Foreign Secretary. The prime minister and numerous other agencies play a role in setting policy, and many institutions and businesses have a voice and a role.
Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos, is a British Labour Party politician and diplomat who served as the eighth UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Before her appointment to the UN, she served as British High Commissioner to Australia. She was created a life peer in 1997, serving as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council from 2003 to 2007.
The King's Official Birthday is the selected day in most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those countries. It does not necessarily correspond to the date of the monarch's actual birth.
The monarchy of Australia is a key component of Australia's form of government, embodied by the Australian sovereign and head of state. The Australian monarchy is a constitutional one, modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while incorporating features unique to the constitution of Australia.
Simon Peter Wallace Murdoch is a New Zealand diplomat and public servant. He was New Zealand's Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was previously New Zealand High Commissioner to Canberra, and Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Penelope Anne Wensley, is an Australian former public servant and diplomat who served as the 25th Governor of Queensland from 2008 to 2014. She was previously High Commissioner to India from 2001 to 2004 and Ambassador to France from 2005 to 2008.
David George Hamilton Frost, Baron Frost is a former British diplomat, civil servant and politician who served as a Minister of State at the Cabinet Office between March and December 2021. Frost was Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe from January 2020 until his resignation in December 2021.
Elizabeth Josephine "Liz" O'Neill was an Australian public servant and diplomat.
Sir Julian Beresford King is a British diplomat and civil servant who served as the final British European Commissioner from 2016 to 2019 prior to Brexit, having previously served as the British ambassador to Ireland (2009–2011) and France (2016).
Frances Jennifer Adamson, is an Australian public servant and diplomat who is the 36th Governor of South Australia, in office since 7 October 2021. She previously served as Australian Ambassador to China from 2011 to 2015 and as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2016 to 2021.
Jan Elizabeth Adams is a senior Australian public servant who has served as the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade since July 2022. Adams is also a former Australian diplomat who served as the Australian Ambassador to Japan since October 2020. She was previously the Australian Ambassador to China from February 2016 to August 2019.
Theresa May's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 13 July 2016 when she accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government after the resignation of her predecessor David Cameron in the aftermath of the European Union (EU) membership referendum, and ended upon her resignation on 24 July 2019. As prime minister, May served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury and as Minister for the Civil Service. May's premiership was dominated by Brexit, terrorist attacks in Westminster, the Manchester Arena and London Bridge, the Grenfell Tower fire, and the Salisbury poisonings.
CANZUK is an acronym for a proposed alliance comprising Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom as part of an international organisation or confederation similar in scope to the former European Economic Community. This includes increased trade, foreign policy co-operation, military co-operation and mobility of citizens between the four states, tied together by similar economic systems, social values and political and legal systems, in addition to the majority population of each country speaking English. The idea is lobbied by the advocacy group CANZUK International and supported primarily by conservatives. Other supporters include think tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute, the Henry Jackson Society, Bruges Group and politicians from the four countries.
The effect of Brexit on Gibraltar concerns the status of Gibraltar after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union ("Brexit"). The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, having formally notified the EU in March 2017 of its intention to do so. Gibraltar is not part of the UK, but unlike all other British Overseas Territories, it was a part of the European Union along with the UK. It participated in the Brexit referendum and it ceased, by default, to be a part of the EU upon the UK's withdrawal.
Lieutenant General John James Frewen, is a senior officer in the Australian Army. He joined the army via the Royal Military College, Duntroon and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps in 1986. He was posted to the First Battalion of the Royal Australia Regiment (1RAR), were he took up the role as Platoon Commander - 7 Platoon Charlie Company. He has commanded the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2003–04), Combined Task Force 635 (2003), the 1st Brigade (2012–14), Military Strategic Commitments Division (2014–16) and Joint Task Force 633 (2017–18), and deployed on operations to Rwanda, the Solomon Islands and Afghanistan. He was appointed Principal Deputy Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate in March 2018, Coordinator General of the National COVID Vaccine Taskforce in June 2021, and Chief of Joint Capabilities in September 2021.
Major General Roger John Noble, is a retired senior Australian Army officer and diplomat. He joined the army via the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1984 and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. He commanded the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Al Muthanna Task Group (2005) and the 3rd Brigade (2013–15), and deployed six times on operations to East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. He was seconded to the United States Army in 2016 and served as Deputy Coalition Land Force Commander, Iraq, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, and subsequently as Deputy Commanding General – North in the United States Army Pacific (2017–19). He retired from the Australian Army in 2021 and served as Australian Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism from February 2021 to February 2023, before joining Laing O'Rourke as General Manager – Defence.
Sarah Elizabeth Healey is a British civil servant, appointed as Permanent Secretary for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in February 2023. Previously, she was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Jacqueline Louise "Jacky" Perkins is a British diplomat who has been the British Ambassador to Belarus since 2019. Previous to that, she was the deputy head of mission in Kuwait.
Following its withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom began negotiations on several free trade agreements to remove or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, both to establish new agreements and to replace previous EU trade agreements. Withdrawal ended 47 years of membership during which all its trading agreements were negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of the bloc. The UK did not actually withdraw from the European Single Market and the European Union Customs Union until 31 December 2020.
