Paul Lever

Sir Paul Lever KCMG (born 31 March 1944) is a British retired senior ambassador.

Sir Paul Lever KCMG
British Ambassador to Germany
In office 1997–2003
Monarch	Elizabeth II
President	Roman Herzog Johannes Rau
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Chancellor	Helmut Kohl Gerhard Schröder
Preceded by	Christopher Meyer
Succeeded by	Sir Peter Torry
Personal details
Born	(1944-03-31) 31 March 1944
Nationality	British
Education	St Paul's School, London
Alma mater	The Queen's College, Oxford

Career

Paul Lever was educated at St Paul's School, London and The Queen's College, Oxford. He joined the Diplomatic Service on leaving Oxford in 1966. After a year at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) he was sent to Finland to learn Finnish and served at the embassy in Helsinki 1967–71. He later served as chef de cabinet to Christopher Tugendhat, then vice-president of the EEC, and as head successively of the UN, Defence, and Security Policy departments in the FCO. He was head of the UK delegation to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna, with the rank of Ambassador, 1990–92; assistant Under-Secretary at the FCO 1992–94; chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee 1994–96; Director for EU and Economic Affairs at the FCO 1996–97; and Ambassador to Germany 1997–2003.[1]

Lever retired from the Diplomatic Service in 2003 and was Global Development Director, RWE Thames Water, 2003–06 and Chairman of the Royal United Services Institute 2004–09.[1]

Honours

Lever was appointed CMG in 1991[2] and knighted KCMG in the 1998 New Year Honours.[3] He was awarded an honorary LLD degree by Birmingham University in 2001[4] and an honorary fellowship of his alma mater, The Queen’s College, Oxford, in 2006.[1]

Works

• Europa in zehn Jahren: wie wird es aussehen?. Vortrag. Hamburg : Übersee-Club, 2002
• Berlin Rules: Europe and the German Way. Tauris, 2017 ISBN 9781784539290

References

1. LEVER, Sir Paul’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013
2. "No. 52563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1991. p. 4.
3. "No. 54993". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1997. p. 3.
4. List of Honorary Graduates since 2000, University of Birmingham

External links

• Interview with Sir Paul Lever, British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 7 November 2011

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Michael Edes	Head of Delegation to the CSCE 1990–1992	Succeeded by Terence Wood
Preceded by Christopher Meyer	Ambassador to Germany 1997–2003	Succeeded by Sir Peter Torry
Government offices
Preceded by Dame Pauline Neville-Jones	Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee 1994–1996	Succeeded by Sir Colin Budd