Jonathan "Jon" Benjamin [1] (born 19 January 1963[ citation needed ]) is a British diplomat. He joined the United Kingdom's diplomatic service in 1986. [2] He studied German, Swedish and international relations at the University of Surrey. [3]
During his career, he has served as consul general in New York City and has represented UK interests in Indonesia and Turkey. He was Ambassador to Chile in 2009–2014 and High Commissioner to Ghana and ambassador to several neighbouring countries in 2014–2017. He was later the director of the Diplomatic Academy in London. [2] His other roles in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have included appointments as the head of the human rights policy department (2002– 2005), the deputy head of the drugs and international crime department (2000–2002) and the head of the Zimbabwe emergency unit (2000). [3]
He was appointed Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Mexico in 2021, replacing Corin Robertson. [1] In May 2024, he was removed from that position when a video emerged of him pointing an assault rifle at an embassy employee while on a tour of the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Durango. [4] [5]
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.
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. The word is also used informally for people who are known, without national appointment, to represent certain professions, activities, and fields of endeavor, such as sales.
The Heads of British diplomatic missions are persons appointed as senior diplomats to individual nations, or international organisations. They are usually appointed as ambassadors, except in member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations where a high commissioner is appointed. The head of mission to an international organisation is usually a permanent representative. For some nations a consul or consul-general is appointed.
Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings at state dinners, the person to whom diplomatic credentials should be presented, and the title by which the diplomat should be addressed.
The Bahamas has a strong bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom, represented by a High Commissioner in London. The Bahamas also associates closely with other nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Mexico–United Kingdom relations are the bilateral relations between Mexico and the United Kingdom. Both nations are members of the G-20 major economies, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations.
Alan Charlton is a British former diplomat who was Ambassador to Brazil from 2008 to 2013. Following retirement from his diplomatic career, he has been active writing books, promoting relations between the United Kingdom and Latin America, lecturing on cruise ships and volunteering with the Samaritans.
Matt Baugh is a British diplomat who was ambassador to Somalia, the first for 20 years.
The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Mexico City is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in Mexico. The Embassy is located on Paseo de la Reforma 350 20th Floor, Torre del Angel.
Dominic Sebastian Schroeder is a British diplomat currently serving as Principal of the International Academy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The International Academy is an institution of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom. It was originally the Diplomatic Academy when it was part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The International Academy is located in the main building of the FCDO in King Charles Street, London.
Julia Longbottom is a British diplomat and the current Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan since March 2021. She is the first woman ambassador to represent the United Kingdom in Tokyo.