Michael Gifford | |
---|---|
British Ambassador to Kazakhstan | |
Assumed office January 2018 | |
Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Carolyn Browne |
British Ambassador to North Korea | |
In office 2012–2015 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Karen Wolstenholme |
Succeeded by | Alastair Morgan |
British Ambassador to Yemen | |
In office 2004–2007 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
Preceded by | Frances Guy |
Succeeded by | Timothy Torlot |
Personal details | |
Born | Michael John Gifford 2 April 1961 |
Nationality | British |
Spouse | Patricia Owen |
Children | 2 |
Education | Hastings Grammar School |
Michael John Gifford OBE (born 2 April 1961) is a British diplomat who has been the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Kazakhstan since January 2018. [1]
Gifford joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1981. From 2004 until 2007 he served as the British Ambassador to Yemen. He was then the Deputy Head of Mission in Cairo. He became the Ambassador to North Korea in October 2012. [2] He left that appointment in December 2015 and was succeeded by Alastair Morgan. [3] After full-time Russian language training he was appointed to be the Ambassador to Kazakhstan from early 2018. [4] He will leave this post in late summer 2021 and retire from the Diplomatic Service. [5]
Gifford was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to British foreign policy. [6]
Gifford is married to his wife,Patricia,and the couple have one son and one daughter. [2]
Sir Geoffrey Doyne Adams served as the British Ambassador to Egypt from 2018 to 2021,as a member of the British Diplomatic Service. He was Ambassador to the Netherlands from 2013 to 2017.
Sir David Elliott Spiby Blatherwick,,is a retired British diplomat. After joining the Foreign Office in 1964 he served in a number of diplomatic posts in Kuwait,Ireland,Egypt and at the United Nations in New York. He was appointed the British ambassador to Ireland from 1991 to 1995,and ambassador to Egypt from 1995 to 1999. Following his retirement he has served on the boards of a number of organisations.
Karen Suzanne Wolstenholme is a British diplomat who was Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2011–12.
David Arthur Slinn is a retired British diplomat. He was Chargéd'Affaires to Albania in 1995 to 1996. Slinn was the first British ambassador to North Korea. Slinn was head of the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team between 2007-08. He was appointed ambassador to Croatia in 2012 and retired from the Diplomatic Service in 2015. He also held posts in Geneva,Ulan Bator,Pretoria,Tirana,Belgrade,and Pristina.
Simon John Meredith Smith is a British diplomat,most recently the ambassador to the Republic of Korea.
Alastair David McPhail is a British diplomat who was the United Kingdom's first Ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan,appointed in July 2011 when the country gained independence. He had served as consul-general from 16 March 2011. McPhail left South Sudan in March 2013 and was appointed to be British Consul-General in Jerusalem from January 2014. He was replaced in Jerusalem in 2017 and was appointed to be ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from January 2019. He took up the post on 28 January 2019.
Carolyn Browne is a British diplomat who was the British Ambassador to Kazakhstan from 2013 to 2018.
Nigel Marcus Baker is a British diplomat,who was formerly Ambassador to Bolivia and Ambassador to the Holy See. He was Head of the Latin America department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2016 to 2019,and in August 2020 took up his appointment as British Ambassador to Slovakia.
Desmond Patrick Neil Wigan is a British diplomat who was UK Ambassador to Somalia from 2013 to 2015. Since 13 June 2019,he serves as the British ambassador to Israel,replacing David Quarrey.
Michael Douglas Aron is a British diplomat who has been Ambassador to Kuwait,Iraq,Libya and Sudan,and Yemen.
Mockbul Ali,OBE is a British diplomat and the current British Ambassador to the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti.
Dame Barbara Janet Woodward is a British diplomat and China expert. She is the current Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations,having previously served as British Ambassador to China from 2015 to 2020,the first woman to hold that position.
Francis Raymond Baker is a British diplomat and civil servant who was Ambassador to Libya from February 2018 to April 2019. He was Ambassador to Kuwait from 2010 to 2014,and Ambassador to Iraq from 2014 to 2017.
Sian Christina MacLeod is a British diplomat who was formerly head of the UK delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna. She is now the British Ambassador to Serbia.