Statement
My passion is fair and inclusive leadership which gives everyone, no matter
what their background or the personal challenges they face an equal chance
to participate and to succeed. I have seen the civil service make huge efforts
to improve diversity and inclusion in recent years, but not always get it right –
and sometimes get it badly wrong. I believe we all have a responsibility to
continue striving for a fairer, more equal society where everyone can achieve
their full potential and feel valued.
One of the things that attracted me to joining the Result CIC advisory panel
was not only the impressive support Jane and Hormoz offer to people who
feel excluded or marginalised, but also how they work with senior managers
and leaders who want to driver change in their organisations but don’t have
the personal experiences or tools to know where to start. This support for
business is critical to continuing to make progress towards greater inclusion
and opportunity for all. I am delighted to be able to play a small part in Result
CIC’s essential work.
Biography
In an almost 25 year career at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Patrick
held a range of senior roles in London and around the world. In his first job in
London, Patrick worked on Thailand and Cambodia before being posted to the
British Embassy in Morocco as Political and Press Officer. On his return to
London, he worked on EU foreign policy, travelling regularly to Brussels to
negotiate with the (then) 14 other member states on everything from Africa
policy to the Middle East.
From 2000-2003, Patrick was Private Secretary (Deputy Chief of Staff) to two
successive Foreign Secretaries, Robin Cook and Jack Straw, during a
tumultuous period that included the end of hostilities in the Balkans, the 9/11
attacks in New York and the subsequent start of hostilities in Afghanistan and
Iraq.
In 2004, just after Poland joined the EU, Patrick was sent to the British
Embassy in Warsaw for four years as Deputy Head of Mission (where he first
met Jane). In 2009, Patrick was posted to Iran to be Deputy Head of Mission
in Tehran. He was the Embassy’s lead crisis manager in the aftermath of the
2009 presidential elections when tens of thousands of people took to the
streets to contest the election outcome and were brutally suppressed, and
when Britain was blamed by the Iranian regime for fomenting the unrest.
Patrick then returned again to London and led the Foreign Office department
covering the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria.
Most recently, Patrick was Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy in
Washington DC from 2013-18 where he was responsible for running the
British government’s network of 14 offices and 750 staff across the US, as
well as leading the embassy’s policy teams covering the last years of the
Obama Administration, the 2016 election and the first year of President
Trump’s term in office.
In recognition of his record of service, The Queen awarded Patrick the Order
of the British Empire (OBE) in 2012.
Patrick took a Career Break from the Civil Service in 2018 and has been
writing a book about the US.