Kim Darroch

Sir Kim Darroch   (diplomat, propagandist)
'We're not big fans' of the UK ambassador
Born	Nigel Kim Darroch 1954-04-30 County Durham, England
Alma mater	Durham University
Member of	Centre for European Reform
British Ambassador to the United States In office January 2016 - Present Preceded by Peter Westmacott  United Kingdom National Security Advisor In office 23 January 2012 - 7 September 2015 Preceded by Peter Ricketts Succeeded by Mark Lyall Grant  Her Britannic Majesty's Permanent Representative to the European Union In office July 2007 - 23 January 2012

Sir Kim Darroch (born 30 April 1954) is a senior UK diplomat who has served as the British Ambassador to the United States since January 2016.

Ambassadorial leaks

2016

In November 2016, following the 2016 United States presidential election, a memo by Sir Kim Darroch to Prime Minister Theresa May was leaked in which he said the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, could be influenced by the British government. The following week, Trump tweeted that Nigel Farage should serve as British Ambassador to the United States, which was rejected by Downing Street, which said that there is no vacancy and that the UK has "an excellent ambassador to the US".

Sir Kim Darroch was in London the next day for consultations with Theresa May that were said to have been long planned.

2019

On 7 July 2019, secret diplomatic cables from Darroch to various members and officials of the UK government, dating from 2017 to 2019, were leaked to the Mail on Sunday, including statements such as the Trump administration was 'inept and insecure'. This drew widespread criticism with Nigel Farage saying Darroch was "totally unsuitable" for office and Sir Bill Cash saying the comments were "toxic". On 8 July 2019 Donald Trump tweeted that Darroch was "not liked or well thought of within the US" and that "we will no longer deal with him".

On 9 July 2019, Boris Johnson refused to answer whether he would keep Kim Darroch as Britain’s ambassador to the US following the heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations, as Conservative Party leadership rival Jeremy Hunt told Donald Trump to treat the UK with “respect”.

Mr Johnson, the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May as prime minister, said in the only head-to-head televised debate of the Conservative Party leadership race “I’m not going to be so presumptuous” about what date Sir Kim would leave his job. “I and I alone will decide who takes important and politically sensitive jobs,” he said.

The former foreign secretary added it was of “fantastic importance” for Britain to have a “close partnership with the US”. He also defended the UK’s apolitical civil service, saying it was “absolutely vital” that official advice “should not be leaked” and “is not politicised” by ministers.

Mr Hunt, the outside candidate to get into Number 10, lambasted the president for his “disrespectful and wrong” comments regarding Mrs May and Sir Kim, saying it was the prerogative of the British government to choose its ambassadors. He insisted Sir Kim would remain in post if he were to succeed Mrs May.

His intervention came as Sir Kim was forced to withdraw from a planned White House meeting on Tuesday 9 July 2019 after the president stepped up his attacks on the UK’s ambassador, calling him “wacky”, “a very stupid guy”, and “a pompous fool” foisted on the US by Britain.

Diplomatic career

Name: Nigel Kim Darroch KCMG

Date of Birth: 30 April 1954

Married to: Vanessa Claire

Children: one son 1983, one daughter 1986

Darroch is a former head of the Foreign Office News Department. In 2003-4 he was a member of the Departmental Board of the Foreign Office.

In December 2006 Darroch was moved to Brussels:

Mr Kim Darroch CMG has been appointed as the United Kingdom Permanent Representative to the European Union at Brussels in succession to Sir John Grant KCMG, who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Mr Darroch will hold the personal rank of Ambassador and will take up his new appointment in autumn 2007.^[1]

Observers, such as Martin Bright of the New Statesman saw this as part of the process of transition to a Brown administration:

Last month's reshuffle at the highest levels of the Civil Service gave an indication of the shape of a Brownite diplomatic corps. Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Tony Blair's key foreign policy adviser, will move to Washington in the autumn, where Brown prides himself on personal relationships with individuals such as Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. At the same time, Kim Darroch, the PM's adviser on Europe, will move to Brussels. Both men will be consulted, but they will consider their wings seriously clipped.

Already, Jon Cunliffe, Brown's second permanent secretary at the Treasury, is being tipped to replace Sheinwald, with Ivan Rogers, a former director of European policy at the Treasury now working for Citigroup, lined up to replace Darroch. The appointment of economists rather than career diplomats to these key advisory posts would mark a sea change in the diplomatic culture of Downing Street.

• 2004-06 EU Adviser to the Prime Minister and Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat
• 2003-04 FCO, Director-General for European Union Affairs
• 2000-03 FCO, Director for European Union Affairs
• 1998-00 FCO, Head of News Department
• 1997-98 Counsellor (External Relations), UK Permanent Representation to the EU, Brussels
• 1995-97 FCO, Head of Eastern Adriatic Department
• 1993-95 FCO, Assistant then Deputy Head of European Union Department
• 1989-92 First Secretary, Rome
• 1987-89 FCO, Private Secretary to Minister of State dealing with Middle East
• 1985-86 FCO, Maritime, Aviation and Environment Department
• 1980-84 Third later Second later First Secretary, Tokyo (External Affairs and Defence)
• 1976-79 FCO

 

Event Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Brussels Forum/2015	20 March 2015	22 March 2015	Cleve North Rhine-Westphalia Germany	Yearly discreet get-together of huge amount of transatlantic politicians, media and military and corporations, under the auspices of the CIA-close German Marshall Fund. The 2015 main theme was (R)evolution.

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References

1. ^  Written Answers July 2006, in response to a question from Kevin McNamara, cited in Craig Murray, A class war? August 1, 2006.
2. ^  Senior Diplomatic Service Appointments Monday 11 December 2006 09:40 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (National) News
3. ^  Martin Bright If Gordon Brown has a world view, it's high time he shared it The Observer, Sunday January 7, 2007

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