Edward Llewellyn, Baron Llewellyn of Steep

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His Excellency The Right Honourable
The Lord Llewellyn of Steep
OBE PC
S465 EdLlewellyn2017 GOVUK.jpg
British Ambassador to France
In office
9 November 2016 – 8 August 2021
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded bySir Julian King
Succeeded byMenna Rawlings
Downing Street Chief of Staff
In office
11 May 2010 – 13 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
DeputyCatherine Fall
Preceded byJeremy Heywood
Succeeded byFiona Hill
Nick Timothy
Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Opposition
In office
6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010
LeaderDavid Cameron
Preceded byStephen Sherbourne
Succeeded byAnna Healy
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
31 October 2016
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born (1965-09-23) 23 September 1965 (age 56)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
EducationEton College
Alma materNew College, Oxford

Edward David Gerard Llewellyn, Baron Llewellyn of Steep, OBE, PC (born 23 September 1965)[1] was the British Ambassador to France. He took up the post on 9 November 2016.[2] Formerly a British political adviser, he was the Downing Street Chief of Staff under former Prime Minister David Cameron.

On 18 January 2022, it was announced that in February he would succeed Jill Morris as Ambassador to Italy.[3]

Early life and career[]

He attended Eton College at the same time as Cameron, though Llewellyn was a year above him. Llewellyn left Eton in 1983 and spent a brief amount of time working at Conservative Central Office, before studying at New College, Oxford, where he was steward (i.e. president) of the College JCR. New College contemporaries included Rageh Omaar, Steve Hilton and Ian Katz.

Political career[]

After leaving Oxford, he was employed as an aide to former Governor Chris Patten in Hong Kong, as a member of Patten's 'Cabinet' following Patten's appointment as a European Commissioner, and then to the former Liberal Democrat Leader Paddy Ashdown in his role as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.[4][5][6]

Llewellyn was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 Birthday Honours[7] and promoted to Officer (OBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours.[8]

Llewellyn was appointed as an Honorary Captain in the Royal Naval Reserve in July 2021.[9]

Chief of Staff to David Cameron[]

Following David Cameron's victory in the Conservative leadership election in December 2005, Llewellyn was hired to be Cameron's personal Chief of Staff in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition. Llewellyn continued in this role until 2010.

Negotiations over coalition[]

He served as part of the Conservative negotiating team, along with George Osborne, William Hague and Oliver Letwin, when they were negotiating a possible deal with the Liberal Democrats after the 2010 general election. Their negotiations were successful and they created the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement leading to the formation of a coalition government.

Downing Street Chief of Staff[]

Cameron became Prime Minister and appointed Llewellyn to the post of the Downing Street Chief of Staff. In July 2011, several newspapers reported that Llewellyn asked Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates not to speak to Cameron about the News International phone hacking scandal.[10]

Following the Conservative Party's election victory at the 2015 United Kingdom general election, Llewellyn was sworn into the Privy Council on 14 May 2015.[11]

House of Lords[]

In August 2016, he was nominated for a life peerage in David Cameron's Resignation Honours[12] and was created Baron Llewellyn of Steep, of Steep in the County of Hampshire, on 20 October.[13] He took his seat on 31 October, when he was introduced by Chris Patten and William Hague.[14]

Ambassador to France[]

It was announced on 23 September 2016 that he would become Her Majesty's Ambassador to France,[15] and it was reported that he will not sit in the House of Lords while serving as ambassador.[16] He took up the post on 9 November 2016, being referred to as Edward Llewellyn.[17] Llewellyn was succeeded as ambassador by Menna Rawlings in summer 2021 and transferred to another Diplomatic Service appointment.[18]

Ambassador to Italy[]

On 18 January 2022 it was announced that Llewelyn would succeed Jill Morris as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Italian Republic and Non-Resident Ambassador to San Marino.[19]

References[]

  1. ^ LLEWELLYN, Rt Hon. Edward David Gerard, Who's Who 2016, A & C Black, 2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2015)
  2. ^ "Edward Llewellyn OBE, British Ambassador to France". Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Italian Republic (January 2022)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  4. ^ "At-a-glance: Cameron's camp". BBC. 6 December 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  5. ^ Beckett, Andy (21 March 2007). "The Cameroons". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  6. ^ "David Cameron's band of Etonian brothers". London: The Independent. 20 May 2007. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  7. ^ "No. 54794". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1997. p. 26.
  8. ^ "No. 57855". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2005. p. 24.
  9. ^ "No. 63542". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 November 2021. p. 21618.
  10. ^ Shipman, Tim (19 July 2011). "News of the World phone hacking scandal: July 19 morning as it happened". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Business Transacted and Order Approved at the Privy Council held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace on 14 May 2015" (PDF). Privycouncil.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Resignation Honours 2016". Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  13. ^ "No. 61741". The London Gazette. 25 October 2016. p. 22592.
  14. ^ "Introduction: Lord Llewellyn of Steep". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 776. House of Lords. 31 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to France". Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  16. ^ Elliott, Francis (24 September 2016). "Former chief aide at No 10 becomes our man in Paris". Times online. Retrieved 24 September 2016.(subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)
  17. ^ "British Embassy Paris". gov.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  18. ^ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to France: Menna Rawlings" (Press release). GOV.UK. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Italian Republic (January 2022)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
Government offices
Preceded by Downing Street Chief of Staff
2010–2016
Succeeded by
Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British Ambassador to France
2016–2021
Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Llewellyn of Steep
Followed by
The Lord Duncan of Springbank
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