Kim Darroch

Early life

Darroch was born in County Durham on 30 April 1954. He was educated at Abingdon School and at Durham University, from where he graduated with a BSc in Zoology.

Career

Darroch joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1976 after graduation, and he was appointed to the Diplomatic Service in 1980 to serve as a First Secretary in Tokyo from 1980–1984. He served in a number of posts, including as desk officer for the Channel Tunnel project and co-secretary of the UK-French Channel Tunnel Treaty Group, as private secretary to David Mellor and then The Lord Glenarthur as the FCO's Minister of State from 1987-1989, and as Counsellor for External Affairs at the British Permanent Representative to the European Union for a year before being promoted to Director as head of the FCO's press office in 1998.

In 2000, Darroch moved back to policy work as Director of EU Comd, and in 2003 promoted further to be Director-General, Europe. In 2004, he transferred to 10 Downing Street, as Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat, where he served as the Prime Minister's principal advisor on European affairs. After three years, Darroch was appointed to replace Sir John Grant (British diplomat) in Brussels, as British Permanent Representative to the European Union in 2007 for a four-year term.

He served as the British government's second National Security Advisor from January 2012 to September 2015. On 24 June 2011, it was announced that Darroch would replace Sir Peter Ricketts as National Security Advisor in January 2012, with Sir Jon Cunliffe selected as Darroch's replacement as Permanent Representative to the European Union.

Ambassador to the United States

On 7 July 2015, the Foreign Office announced that Darroch would be replaced by Sir Mark Lyall Grant in September 2015, with Darroch moving to a different diplomatic post. On 20 August 2015, the Foreign Office announced that his new role would be as the Ambassador to the United States, replacing Sir Peter Westmacott from January 2016.

In June 2016, along with the Consulate General, he launched the GBx group in San Francisco, a curated community of British tech entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In November 2016, following the US election, a memo by 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". Darroch was in London the next day for consultations with May that were said to have been long planned.

Honours

Darroch was appointed a Companion of Order of St. Michael & St. George (CMG) in the 1997 New Year Honours, and as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.