Simon McDonald (diplomat)

Sir Simon Gerard McDonald KCMG KCVO (born 9 March 1961) is a British diplomat currently serving as the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service.

Sir Simon McDonald KCMG KCVO
Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Head of HM Diplomatic Service
Incumbent
Assumed office September 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson
Sec. of State	Philip Hammond Boris Johnson Jeremy Hunt Dominic Raab
Preceded by	Sir Simon Fraser
British Ambassador to Germany
In office 2010–2015
Monarch	Elizabeth II
President	Christian Wulff Joachim Gauck
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Sir Michael Arthur
Succeeded by	Sir Sebastian Wood
British Ambassador to Israel
In office 2003–2006
Monarch	Elizabeth II
President	Moshe Katzav
British Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Israeli Prime Minister	Sharon, Olmert
Preceded by	Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles
Succeeded by	Sir Tom Phillips
Personal details
Born	(1961-03-09) 9 March 1961 Salford, England
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Olivia Wright
Children	4 (2 sons, 2 daughters)
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Cambridge
Occupation	Diplomat

Career

McDonald was educated at De La Salle College, Salford, and read History at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1982 and served in Jeddah, Riyadh, Bonn and Washington, D.C. as well as in London. He was Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary 2001–03; Ambassador to Israel 2003–06; Director for Iraq at the FCO 2006–07; Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister and Head of the Overseas and Defence Secretariat at the Cabinet Office 2007–10; and was appointed Ambassador to Germany in October 2010.[1][2]

In September 2015, McDonald became Permanent Under-Secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service, replacing Sir Simon Fraser.[3][4][5] As of 2015, McDonald was paid a salary of between £180,000 and £184,999 by the Foreign Office, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[6]

In April 2020, McDonald stated to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee that it was a political decision to opt out of an EU scheme to bulk-buy ventilators and protective equipment for NHS workers to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The comments raised concerns that ministers had put Brexit ahead of responding to the public health crisis.[7]Following comments, Matt Hancock used Downing Street's daily press briefing to state that as far as he knew, they had been no political decision not to participate.[8] McDonald subsequently wrote to the committee chairperson, Tom Tugendhat, stating that he had "inadvertently and wrongly" misadvised the committee "due to a misunderstanding".[8]

In June 2020, it was announced that McDonald would take early retirement in autumn 2020. The move stemmed from the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with the Department for International Development, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson signalling that he wanted a new leader to head up the combined department.[9]

Honours

McDonald was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2004 New Year Honours[10] and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to British foreign policy and British interests in Germany.[11][12] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) during the Queen's state visit to Germany in June 2015.[13]

Family

In 1989 Simon McDonald married Olivia, daughter of Sir Patrick Wright, later Baron Wright of Richmond, who had also been Permanent Under-Secretary at the FCO (1986–1991). Simon and Olivia have two sons and two daughters.[1]

References

1. McDONALD, Simon Gerard, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press Dec 2013
2. Simon McDonald CMG, British Ambassador to Germany, gov.uk
3. "Appointment of new Permanent Under Secretary to the FCO". Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 29 July 2015.
4. Fraser, Simon (29 July 2015). "Simon Fraser on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 31 July 2015. Many congrats to @SMcDonaldFCO on his appointment as my successor @foreignoffice. Great choice.
5. Parker, George (31 July 2015). "Top Foreign Office mandarin cautions on hollowing out UK diplomacy". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
6. "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
7. Wintour, Patrick; Boffey, Daniel (21 April 2020). "Matt Hancock forced to deny 'political' opt-out from EU ventilators". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
8. "Top civil servant 'wrong' about EU equipment claim". BBC News. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
9. "Foreign Office boss Sir Simon McDonald to step down early after department merger plan". Sky News. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
10. "No. 57155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2003. p. 3.
11. "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b4.
12. "Birthday Honours lists 2014". gov.uk. Honours. HM Government. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
13. "No. 2360003". The London Gazette. 30 June 2015. p. 2742.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles	Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary 2001–2003	Succeeded by Sir Geoffrey Adams
Preceded by Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles	British Ambassador to Israel 2003–2006	Succeeded by Sir Tom Phillips
Preceded by Sir Michael Arthur	British Ambassador to Germany 2010–2015	Succeeded by Sir Sebastian Wood
Government offices
Preceded by Sir Simon Fraser	Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2015–present	Incumbent