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Thomas Fletcher (diplomat)
British diplomat (born 1975) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Thomas Stuart Francis Fletcher CMG (born 27 March 1975) is a British diplomat and writer who has served as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator since 2024.[1][2]
He was Principal of Hertford College, Oxford, from 2020 to 2024,[3] having previously served as British Ambassador to Lebanon and a foreign affairs policy adviser at 10 Downing Street.[4][5] He is the co-founder of 2020 (a progressive think tank).
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Early life and education
Fletcher was born in Kent and educated at The Harvey Grammar School and Hertford College, Oxford.[citation needed]
Diplomatic career
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Early roles
Fletcher joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and held diplomatic posts in Nairobi and Paris, and is the co-founder of 2020 (a progressive think tank). He was also private secretary to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers Baroness Amos and Chris Mullin.[6] While in Kenya, he took part in a charity boxing match with the mayor of Nairobi, who had t-shirts printed saying "Fletcher goes home on a stretcher".[7]
Between 2007 and 2011, Fletcher was a foreign policy and Northern Ireland adviser to Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.[1] In his memoirs, Brown called him "indispensable and indefatigable."[8] In his book For the Record, Cameron wrote: "There was one man who would prove essential: Tom Fletcher. Tom became my support, sounding board and source of information about virtually every country on Earth".[9]
Ambassador to Lebanon
From 2011 to 2015 Fletcher served as British Ambassador to Lebanon, where he tweeted and wrote blogposts (Dear Lebanon[10] and Yalla Bye[11]). He said: "The smartphone from which I tweet is also the device which terrorists can use to track me. For security reasons I always have to tweet from the car on the way to the next place. If I tweet from the place I am, I have to leave immediately.” The BBC made a documentary, The Naked Diplomat, about his work,[12] which involved initiatives on refugee education, job creation[13] and border security.[14][15]
In partnership with the Banque du Liban, Fletcher led the launch of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub, an international accelerator using London as a platform for Lebanese technology businesses to grow internationally.[16] By December 2018, the hub had helped to grow 91 start-ups, raising more than $64 million in venture funding and creating more than 2,000 jobs in Lebanon and the United Kingdom.[17]
Fletcher donated blood after a terrorist attack against the Iranian embassy in Beirut in 2013.[18]
Arab News described him as "the anti-diplomat" because of his steadfast refusal to live up to the stereotype expected of the ambassadorial profession.[19] He was commended by many commentators for his viral online farewell, which resurrected the old Foreign and Commonwealth Office tradition of the valedictory despatch.[20] In December 2015 he was given the Lovie Special Achievement award[21] for his use of social media while serving in Lebanon.
United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator
In October 2024 Fletcher was nominated by Keir Starmer to succeed Martin Griffiths as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.[2] He was the sixth Briton in a row to hold the role, despite efforts by some countries to have the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, appoint someone of a different nationality.[1]
Fletcher garnered controversy in May 2025 for his erroneous claim on BBC Radio 4 that 14,000 babies would die in 48 hours[22] due to malnutrition caused by Israel withholding aid from the Gaza Strip. This was shown to be false and unsubstantiated—though only after his incorrect claim had gone viral,[23] leading him to face criticism, calls for his resignation and accusations of antisemitism, including claims of blood libel from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.[24][25][26][27]
The UN has since withdrawn his comment, saying that he Fletcher misquoted the 12 May IPC report.[28][29]
Fletcher expressed regret at his lack of “precision” in his erroneous claim, but maintained that Israel is still using food and humanitarian aid as a weapon of war, constituting a war crime.[30]
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Other work
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Writing and broadcasting
Fletcher's first book, The Naked Diplomat: Power and Statecraft in the Digital Age, was published by Harper Collins in 2016.[31] Gordon Brown called it "diplomatic genius", and David Cameron wrote that it was "a great read from a brilliant diplomat". The Times called it "a brilliant, funny polemic ... a cracking read",[32] and The Guardian called it "a call for us all to reconsider our place in society ... to be brave, creative, involved and connected".[33]
He is also the author of Ten Survival Skills for a World in Flux (2022), The Ambassador (2022) and The Assassin (2024), and in 2017 published a report on the future of the United Nations in the digital age.[34] In 2023 he presented a BBC series entitled The Battle for Liberal Democracy.[35]
Academic and other roles
Fletcher was a visiting professor of International Relations at New York University Abu Dhabi,[36] and a visiting professor at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi.[37] He became an Honorary Fellow of Hertford College,[38] and from 2020 to 2024 served as Principal of the college.[39][3]
Fletcher is the project director of Towards Global Learning Goals, a network that aims to create equal opportunities, develop the skills needed to thrive in a new economy, and make it easier for people on the move to adapt.[40]
He chaired the international board of the Creative Industries Federation,[41] and was a founding member of the Global Tech Panel. In 2018 he founded the Foundation for Opportunity to share ideas, skills and experience and support future leaders in delivering positive change.[42]
Personal life
He is married to Louise Fletcher, an Irish counselling psychologist, with whom he has two sons. He collected a book of advice for his sons from world leaders, including American presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, while working for 10 Downing Street.[43] [44]
References
External links
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