Philip Barton

Career

Philip Robert Barton gained a BA degree from Warwick University and a MSc from the London School of Economics. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1986 and served at Caracas, New Delhi, at the FCO, and on secondment to the Cabinet Office and as a private secretary to the Prime Minister. He was deputy High Commissioner to Cyprus 2000–04; deputy Governor of Gibraltar 2005–08 (with a spell as acting Governor in 2006); Director, South Asia, at the FCO 2008–09; Director, Foreign Policy and Afghanistan, and Pakistan Co-ordinator at the Cabinet Office 2009–11; deputy head of mission at Washington, D.C. 2011–14; and was appointed High Commissioner to Pakistan from January 2014. He left Islamabad at the end of his assignment on 11 February 2016, and was to transfer to another Diplomatic Service appointment.

Honours

Barton was appointed OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1997 and CMG in the 2007 Birthday Honours.

Action as High Commissioner to Pakistan

Anti-tobacco movements in Pakistan and in the UK blamed Philip Barton for his participation in a delegation led by British American Tobacco in 2015 to complain about the Pakistani government's decision to increase the size of health warnings on cigarette packs. "Inside sources at the Health Ministry confirmed the participation of the British High Commissioner in the meeting as a member of the delegation."