Peter Westmacott

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Sir

|name = Peter Westmacott

|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCMG|LVO}}

|image = File:Peter Westmacott.jpg

|imagesize =

|order =

|office = British Ambassador to the United States

|monarch = Elizabeth II

|term_start = 28 January 2012

|term_end = 28 January 2016

|predecessor = Sir Nigel Sheinwald

|successor = Sir Kim Darroch

|president = Barack Obama

|primeminister = David Cameron

|office1 = British Ambassador to France

|monarch1 = Elizabeth II

|order1 =

|country1 =

|term_start1 = 2007

|term_end1 = 2012

|predecessor1 = Sir John Holmes

|successor1 = Sir Peter Ricketts

|primeminister1 = Gordon Brown
David Cameron

|office2 = British Ambassador to Turkey

|term_start2 = 2002

|term_end2 = 2006

|predecessor2 = Sir David Logan

|successor2 = Nick Baird

|monarch2 = Elizabeth II

|primeminister2 = Tony Blair

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1950|12|23}}

|birth_place = Edington, Somerset, England

|death_date =

|death_place =

|restingplace =

|birthname = Peter John Westmacott

|nationality = British

|party =

|otherparty =

|spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Angela Lugg|1972}}|{{marriage|Susan Nemazee|2001}}}}

|partner =

|relations = Herbert Westmacott (cousin)

|children = 3

|residence =

|education = Taunton School

|alma_mater = New College, Oxford

|occupation = Diplomat

|profession =

|cabinet =

|committees =

|portfolio =

|signature =

|website =

|footnotes =

}}

Sir Peter John Westmacott {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCMG|LVO}} (born 23 December 1950) is a senior British diplomat, who was British Ambassador to Turkey, then Ambassador to France (2007 to 2011) and finally Ambassador to the United States from January 2012 to January 2016, succeeding Sir Nigel Sheinwald, a posting announced by the Prime Minister's Office on 24 June 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/latest-news/2011/06/senior-diplomatic-appointments-65056|title=Senior Diplomatic Appointments|date=24 June 2011|work=Number 10|access-date=25 June 2011}}

Career

File:StMichaelandStGeorgeInsignia.jpg

Westmacott joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1972, and his first overseas posting was as Second Secretary at Tehran, Iran, in 1974. In 1978, he was sent to the European Commission in Brussels, and from 1980 to 1984 he was in Paris. After a period in London he was in Ankara as Head of Chancery from 1987.

In 1990, he was Deputy Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, and in 1993 was sent to Washington to serve as a Counsellor. Later postings included Director for the Americas in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Deputy Under Secretary of State.

From 2002 to 2006, Westmacott was HM Ambassador to Turkey.{{cite web |title=Peter Westmacott |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/peter-westmacott |access-date=21 December 2021}}

Formerly HM Ambassador to France since 2007, Westmacott took over as HM Ambassador to the United States in January 2012. In 2015, Westmacott was paid a salary of between £170,000 and £174,999 by the Foreign Office, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492289/150K_senior_salaries.csv/preview|title=Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 – Government of the United Kingdom|date=17 December 2015|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|access-date=11 March 2016|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504113001/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492289/150K_senior_salaries.csv/preview|url-status=dead}}

Personal life

Westmacott was educated at Taunton School before going to New College, Oxford. In 1972, Westmacott married Angela Lugg, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. In 2001, he married an American, Susan Nemazee.{{cite book |editor-last=Hume |editor-first=Lucy |date=2017 |title=People of Today |publisher=Debrett's |isbn=9780992934873}}

Westmacott's father was Ian Westmacott, a clergyman, and his mother was named Rosemary (née Watney). His cousin, Captain Herbert Westmacott MC, was killed during a gunfight with the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Belfast in 1980.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ENVOY+EXPERT%3B+TOURISTS+IN+TERROR+BLAST.(News)-a0150430745|title=ENVOY EXPERT; TOURISTS IN TERROR BLAST|date=29 August 2006|work=Daily Mirror|access-date=19 March 2016}}

Honours and awards

40px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) – 2016
40px Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) – 1993
40px Commandeur, Legion of Honour – 2008{{cite web|url=http://www.ceuropeens.org/rencontre/sir-peter-westmacott-218/la-grande-bretagne-et-l-union-europeenne-conceptions-et-priorites|title=Sir Peter Westmacott|website=ceuropeens.org}}

In March 1993 Westmacott was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order.{{London Gazette |issue=53276 |date=16 April 1993 |page=6783}} He was later appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2000 New Year Honours before being promoted to Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 2003 Birthday Honours and Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to diplomacy.{{London Gazette |issue=55710 |date=31 December 1999 |page=4 |supp=y}}{{London Gazette |issue=56963 |date=14 June 2003 |page=3 |supp=y}}{{London Gazette |issue=61608 |date=11 June 2016 |page=B3 |supp=y}}