Working with Ministers: Reflections from a Former Permanent Secretary
Author WIG Date 6 Mar 2023
WIG was delighted to welcome The Lord McDonald of Salford GCMG KCVO, Master of Christ's College, University of Cambridge, Former Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
This virtual briefing offers the opportunity to hear directly from Lord McDonald as he shares lessons learnt working alongside four secretaries of state during his time as Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Head of HM Diplomatic Service.
Join us to understand how civil service leaders work with ministers across the political spectrum to deliver on key government priorities of the day.
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To access this resource you must be a WIG member and logged in to our website.
You can register or log-in here.
Speakers at the Event
Simon McDonald was born and educated in Salford, and read History at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he is now an Honorary Fellow.
He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1982 and, early in his career, served in Jeddah, Riyadh, Bonn and Washington, D.C. He was British Ambassador to Israel (2003-2006) and to Germany (2010-15). In September 2015 Simon became Permanent Under-Secretary at the FCO and Head of the Diplomatic Service. After leaving the FCO in Autumn 2020, he was appointed a life peer, taking his seat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher in February 2021.
Simon is a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) and Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).
His first book - Leadership: Lessons from a Life in Diplomacy - was published in November 2022.
Simon became the 39th Master of Christ's College on 1 September 2022. He is married to Olivia and they have four adult children.