Mark Sedwill

Mark Sedwill
CMG

Mark Sedwill
Permanent Secretary at the Home Office
Assumed office
1 February 2013
Prime Minister David Cameron
Theresa May
Preceded by Helen Ghosh
Director-General, Political of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
In office
2012–2013
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Geoffrey Adams
Succeeded by Simon Gass
Director, Afghanistan & Pakistan of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
In office
2010–2012
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Karen Pierce
NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan
In office
January 2010  June 2010
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
David Cameron
Preceded by Fernando Gentilini
Succeeded by Simon Gass
Personal details
Born (1964-10-21) 21 October 1964
Ealing
Nationality British
Alma mater University of St Andrews
St Edmund Hall, Oxford

Mark Philip Sedwill CMG[1][2] (born 21 October 1964 in Ealing) is a British diplomat and civil servant, who served as the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010 and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan in 2010. He has been the Permanent Secretary at the UK Home Office since 1 February 2013.[3]

Early life and education

Sedwill attended Bourne Grammar School in Bourne, Lincolnshire, becoming the Head Boy. He went to the University of St Andrews, where he gained a Bachelor of Science (BSc), and later gained a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from St Edmund Hall, Oxford.[2]

Career

Sedwill joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1989 and he served in the Security Coordination Department and the Gulf War Emergency Unit until 1991.

He was then posted in Cairo, Egypt, from 1991 to 1994 as a Second Secretary, then First Secretary in Iraq from 1996 to 1997 whilst serving as a United Nations weapons inspector, then in Nicosia, Cyprus, as First Secretary for Political-Military Affairs and Counterterrorism from 1997 to 1999. He was the Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Robin Cook and Jack Straw) from 2000 to 2002 in the runup to and preparations for the 2003 Iraq invasion.[2]

He then served as the Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan, based in Islamabad from 2003 to 2005, then the Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Department of the Foreign Office. From 2006 to 2008, he served as International Director of the UK Border Agency.[2][4]

Afghanistan ambassador and NATO roles

In April 2009, Sedwill became the Ambassador to Afghanistan, succeeding Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles. In January 2010, he was additionally appointed as NATO's Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan,[5][6] to be the civilian counterpart to the ISAF Commander, U.S. General Stanley A. McChrystal and then U.S. General David H. Petraeus. He was succeeded as ambassador temporarily by his predecessor, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, and then by Sir William Patey, formerly British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.[2]

In May 2011, Sedwill took over as the FCO's Director-General for Afghanistan and Pakistan (and thus as the UK's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan) from Karen Pierce CMG. He additionally became the FCO's Director-General, Political in Autumn 2012, replacing Sir Geoffrey Adams.

Home Office

On 9 January 2013, it was announced that Sedwill was to become the next Permanent Secretary at the Home Office filling the vacancy left by Dame Helen Ghosh from 1 February 2013.[3] As of 2015, Sedwill was paid a salary of between £180,000 and £184,999 by the department, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[7]

Personal life

Sedwill married in 1999 and has one daughter. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 2008.[1] He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS) and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (FIoD).[2]

References

  1. 1 2 The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58729. p. 3. 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "SEDWILL, Mark Philip". Who's Who 2013. A & C Black. December 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  3. 1 2 "New permanent secretary for the Home Office". Home Office website. Her Majesty's Government. 2013-01-09. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  4. "300,000 UK visas 'wrongly issued'". BBC News. 18 November 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  5. "Ambassador Mark Sedwill". NATO. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  6. Foreign & Commonwealth Office (26 January 2010). "NATO names Mark Sedwill as Senior Civilian Representative". Her Majesty's Government. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  7. "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles
British Ambassador to Afghanistan
2009–10
Succeeded by
Sir William Patey
Preceded by
Fernando Gentilini
NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan
January–June 2010
Succeeded by
Sir Simon Gass
Preceded by
Karen Pierce
Director, Afghanistan & Pakistan of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office

2010–2012
Succeeded by
Richard Crompton
as Director, South Asia and Afghanistan
Preceded by
Sir Geoffrey Adams
Director-General, Political of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office

2012–2013
Succeeded by
Sir Simon Gass
Government offices
Preceded by
Dame Helen Ghosh
Permanent Secretary of the
Home Office

2013–
Incumbent
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