Masters of the Bench

Caroline took up her appointment as British Consul General to Hong Kong and Macao in October 2012.

She qualified as a Barrister before joining the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1995. A speaker of Russian, as well as Chinese, she worked on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia before full time Mandarin study and her first posting to Beijing in 1997.

Her portfolio included the Hong Kong post-1997 handover, and human rights. In 2001 Caroline served as First Secretary in the UK’s Permanent Representation to the European Union, drawing on her Master’s degree in European Community law to advise on UK negotiating tactics in European summits. From 2004-2006 Caroline was Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, where she worked on a wide range of foreign policy issues. She then moved on secondment to the Cabinet Office where as a Deputy Director she coordinated Whitehall policy on EU issues.

Caroline’s most recent job prior to Hong Kong was Moscow, where as Minister Counsellor and Director of UK Trade and Investment Russia she led on commercial, economic, energy, science and climate issues.