Chris Campbell (diplomat) explained

Chris Campbell
Office:British Ambassador to Ecuador
Term Start:November 2020
Term End:23 November 2023
Primeminister:Boris Johnson
Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Predecessor:Katherine Ward
Office1:British Ambassador to the Dominican Republic
Monarch1:Elizabeth II
Term Start1:2015
Term End1:2019
Predecessor1:Steven Fisher
Successor1:Mockbul Ali
Primeminister1:David Cameron
Theresa May
Boris Johnson
Office2:British Ambassador to Nicaragua
Monarch2:Elizabeth II
Primeminister2:David Cameron
Term Start2:2011
Term End2:2 June 2015[1]
Predecessor2:Thomas Kennedy
Successor2:Ross Denny
Birthname:Christopher John Campbell
Nationality:British
Spouse:Sharon Campbell
Occupation:Diplomat

Christopher John Campbell is a British diplomat who has served as the United Kingdom's ambassador to Ecuador since 13 October 2020.[2] [3] He also served as the ambassador to Nicaragua between 2011 and 2015 and the ambassador to the Dominican Republic between 2015 and 2020.

Consular career

Campbell joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1982 and started in the North America Department. In 1984, he moved to the Secretary of State's Private Office and the next year was placed to the UK Embassy in Khartoum as an economist. From 1988 he worked at the embassy in Dhaka and from 1992 at the embassy in Jakarta.[4]

Campbell served as the Ambassador to Nicaragua from 2011 to 2015. During the same period, his wife, Sharon Campbell, was the Ambassador to Costa Rica, making them one of the only married couples to ever be ambassadors to neighbouring countries.[5] [6] Because the UK did not have an embassy in Nicaragua, the post was non-residential and Campbell worked from San José.

He served as the British Ambassador to the Dominican Republic from 2015 to 2020.[7] In 2020, Campbell said that Brexit would not impact trade with the Dominican Republic thanks to the CARIFORUM-UK Agreement, but pushed the Dominican Congress to ratify the agreement as quickly as possible.[8]

On 13 October 2020, he was recognised as British Ambassador to Ecuador. In a 2021 interview, Campbell called himself a "trade-focused ambassador" and said he would seek to increase the trade relation between the UK and Ecuador.[9] He expressed support for Trade Minister Jose Julio Prado's plan to boost competitiveness and increase exports and for initiatives to make mining in Ecuador more responsible and transparent.[10] In July 2022, Niels Olsen, Ecuador's tourism minister, credited the work of Campbell and Ecuador's foreign minister Juan Carlos Holguin after the UK Foreign Office announced Ecuador would be moved to the green list for travel;[11] Campbell had previously been sent a public letter by four of Ecuador's largest tourism organisations asking for the country's travel advisory to be reviewed.[12] Upon the death of Elizabeth II, Campbell said that people would be missing her "all around the world".[13]

Personal life

Campbell met his wife Sharon while working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and they married in 1989.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Departing British ambassadors reflect on four-year tenure in Costa Rica . . 4 January 2020 . 23 May 2015.
  2. Web site: Change of Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador - November 2020. GOV.UK. en. 2020-01-02.
  3. Web site: El Gobierno Nacional pagó USD 285 millones a proveedores del Estado – Secretaría General de Comunicación de la Presidencia. 2020-10-14. www.comunicacion.gob.ec.
  4. Web site: Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Dominican Republic . WiredGov . 4 January 2020 . 21 April 2015.
  5. News: A very diplomatic marriage. Adewunmi. Bim. 2011-07-03. The Guardian. 2020-01-02. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  6. News: Appointment: Ambassador to Costa Rica and Non Resident Ambassador to Nicaragua. 2011-06-25. The Times. 2020-01-02. en. 0140-0460.
  7. Web site: Chris Campbell - GOV.UK. 2020-01-02. www.gov.uk. en.
  8. Web site: Dolores Vicioso . Ambassador Chris Campbell says Brexit opens opportunities for UK and DR . DR1.com . 28 October 2023 . 4 February 2020.
  9. Web site: Interview with Chris Campbell, HM Ambassador to Ecuador . LatAm Investor . 28 October 2023 . 7 January 2021.
  10. Web site: Special report: Ecuador is back on the map . British Ecuadorian Society . LatAm Investor . 28 October 2023 . 32–33.
  11. Web site: UK Foreign Office Eases Travel Warnings for Ecuador . Northern Ireland Travel News . 28 October 2023 . 11 July 2022.
  12. Web site: Chris Moss . It is beginning to feel like we may never visit Latin America again . . 28 October 2023 . 22 September 2021.
  13. Web site: Live updates: Charles back in London as king; queen mourned . . 28 October 2023 . 9 September 2022.