Masters of the Bench

Lord Darroch of Kew is a former diplomat and life peer in the House of Lords. His diplomatic career spanned over forty years, primarily focussing on national security issues and European policy.

Most recently, Lord Darroch served as British Ambassador to the United States (2016-2019). From 2012-2015 he was National Security Adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, a period coinciding with the civil wars in Syria and Libya and Russian aggression in Ukraine. Earlier in his career, he specialised in EU policy, including postings as Permanent Representative to the European Union (2007-2011) and as EU Adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair (2004-2007). He also served as Foreign Office Press Spokesman, and Head of the Balkans Department during the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo.

In 1997, he received a CMG in the Birthday Honours and in 2008 a KCMG. In 2019, he was made a life peer. He was a Resident Fellow at Harvard University in 2020.

He was born in 1954 in the village of South Stanley, County Durham. He attended Durham University, where he read Zoology and joined the Diplomatic Service in 1977. He married his wife Vanessa in 1978. They have two children.