Lord Peter Ricketts

Lord Peter Ricketts retired from the Diplomatic Service in January 2016.

He was British Ambassador to France between February 2012 and January 2016. Before this posting, he was the British Government’s first National Security Adviser and, from 2006 until 2010, the Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Head of H.M. Diplomatic Service.

Peter attended Pembroke College, Oxford where he read English Literature. Peter began his career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1974 and served as the Assistant Private Secretary to former Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe. In addition to France, he has been posted to Singapore and Washington D.C.

He is now a cross-bench member of the House of Lords, Vice-Chairman of the Royal United Services Institute and a Visiting Professor at King's College London.