UK appoints security and intelligence specialist as ambassador to France

The United Kingdom announced on Monday it was appointing one of the country’s most respected security and intelligence officials, Sir Thomas Drew, as ambassador to France.

It comes as European countries grapple with the largest security shakeup the continent has faced in decades with the new administration in the United States expressing less support for its NATO allies amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Drew, who was formerly the most senior official for defence and intelligence in Britain's Foreign Office — and was tipped as a credible candidate to take the helm at one of its intelligence agencies — was the department’s lead in responding to the Russian invasion and is expected to drive forward the “coalition of the willing” while in Paris.

According to the Foreign Office, Britain and France’s collaborative effort to build this coalition is set to intensify over the coming months. The countries, Europe’s only nuclear powers, have long-lasting bilateral military arrangements and are also jointly pushing forward the Pall Mall Process to tackle the threat posed by the proliferation of commercial hacking tools.

In a message on social media, Drew said he felt “very privileged to be appointed His Majesty's Ambassador to France – such a critical partner for the UK at this time of global change and a country I first lived in over 45 years ago.”

Drew, who is expected to begin his new role in August, added: “My priorities will be working with France to boost trade and grow our economy, to bolster our shared European security and to secure our borders. I look forward to getting to work this summer.”

A list of his career postings shared by the British government show Drew holding senior security positions within both the Foreign Office and the Home Office, as well as a posting to Moscow as a second and then first secretary between 1998 and 2002.

Drew was also the country’s high commissioner in Pakistan between 2016 and 2019, where he is said to have played a central role on Afghanistan, counterterrorism and in behind-the-scenes work on managing wider regional tensions.

As ambassador, Drew will be tasked with improving the United Kingdom's security cooperation with France. Both countries are expected to commit to working more closely together during a U.K.-France Summit due to be held later this year.

It follows the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir Richard Moore, delivering a speech at the British Embassy in Paris last year to mark the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, “when Britain and France resolved to unite our destinies, and stand together against common threats.”

“Britain and France; Britain and the United States. Nations built on the same ideals, creating partnerships through friendship, joint endeavour and historic achievement, transcending the generations,” he said.

“Our secret strength is found in the alliances that we maintain through thick and thin, over decades. Contrasted to the tactical cooperation of others, it is our deep alliances that give us the critical edge we need,” said Moore.