The Whitehall Group welcomed Lord Ricketts GCMG GCVO as guest speaker on Thursday, 2nd May 2024. During lunch, Lord Ricketts discussed “European security and in particular the Israel – Gaza conflict”.
The Lord Ricketts GCMG, GCVO is a retired British senior diplomat and a life peer. He has sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords since 2016.
Ricketts served as chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) under Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was the UK government’s first national security adviser from 2010 from 2012, serving under Prime Minister David Cameron.
Ricketts began his career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1974 and served as the Assistant Private Secretary to former Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe. He later served as the Permanent Representative to NATO in Brussels. Apart from Brussels, he has been posted to Singapore, Washington DC and Paris.
He served under Prime Minister Tony Blair as Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, leading him to give evidence to The Iraq Inquiry (“The Chilcot Report“) in November 2009. From 2006 to 2010, Ricketts served under Blair and Prime Minister Gordon Brown as the Permanent Secretary for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
He served under Prime Minister David Cameron as the UK National Security Adviser from 2010 to 2012. He replaced Peter Westmacott as HM Ambassador to France effective January 2012, with Kim Darroch taking Ricketts’s old role as National Security Adviser.
In January 2016, he stepped down as the UK Ambassador to France and retired from the Diplomatic Service.
He was nominated for a life peerage in the 2016 Prime Minister’s Resignation Honours and was created Baron Ricketts, of Shortlands in the County of Kent. He now sits as a crossbencher.
He was appointed CMG in the 1999 Birthday Honours, KCMG in 2003, GCMG in the 2011 New Year Honours, and GCVO in 2014.
To find out more about the Whitehall Group events or if you are interested in membership to the Whitehall Group please contact the Group Secretary, Fiona Jones by emailing fionajones.wg@culandsoc.com
The Whitehall Group is a high level policy discussion and thought leadership group whose members are mainly Cambridge alumni or those connected with the University of Cambridge. The Whitehall Group, a forum of the Cambridge University Land Society (CULS) hosts a series of lunches and dinners for approximately 15 – 20 attendees under the Chatham House Rules. The forum allows members and their guests to meet and discuss matters that are outside of their regular business / professional lives. We count amongst our members and supporters current and former Ministers, Diplomats and senior business executives. Past speakers have included Ambassadors, Ministers, Commissioners and leading academics and journalists. Speakers are invited to talk to the group on a current subject of political or economic interest.
