Timothy Torlot Explained

Tim Torlot
Office:British Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Primeminister:Boris Johnson
Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Term Start:August 2019
Term End:July 2023
Predecessor:Christopher Allan
Successor:Timothy Smart
Office1:British Ambassador to Yemen
Monarch1:Elizabeth II
Primeminister1:Gordon Brown
David Cameron
Term Start1:July 2007
Term End1:2010
Predecessor1:Michael Gifford
Successor1:Jonathan Wilks
Spouse:Bridie Morton
Jennifer Florence Steil
Children:Two daughters

Timothy Achille Torlot (born 17 September 1957) is a British diplomat serving as the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan since August 2019.[1]

Education

He attended Worcester College, Oxford and gained a BA (Hons) degree in modern languages.

Diplomatic career

Tim Torlot joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1981. Following Arabic language training at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, he was posted as Third Secretary to Muscat in 1984 and to Wellington as Second Secretary in 1987.[2] Returning to the FCO in 1992, he served in Personnel Management Department until 1995 and in South East Asian Department until 1997. He was posted to Santiago from 1997 to 2001. He spent a year in the FCO's Counter Terrorism Department before being appointed Director, Advanced Technologies, UK Trade & Investment. From 2005 to 2006, he was Deputy Head of Mission in Baghdad. Two short assignments at the FCO followed before he was appointed Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen in July 2007.[3] On 26 April 2010, Timothy Torlot survived a suicide bomber's attack,[4] responsibility for which was claimed by Al-Qaeda's Yemen wing.[5] He was appointed head of the European External Action Service delegation to Bolivia in 2012.[6] He was appointed British Ambassador to Uzbekistan in 2019.[7]

Family

Timothy Torlot married Bridie Morton in 1986. They have one daughter (Eleanor, born 1990). Their marriage was dissolved in 2011. Tim is now married to author and journalist Jennifer Steil (they married in 2012). They have one daughter (Theadora Celeste Steil Torlot, born 2009).

References

  1. Web site: Biography - Tim Torlot. HM Government. 13 September 2020.
  2. The Diplomatic Service List 1989 (page 320), HMSO,
  3. Web site: UK in Yemen: Our Ambassador . https://web.archive.org/web/20100305060015/http://ukinyemen.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/our-embassy/our-ambassador/ . 5 March 2010.
  4. News: UK envoy in Yemen escapes 'suicide bomb' . BBC News . 26 April 2010.
  5. News: Yemen al Qaeda arm claims attack on UK ambassador . . 12 May 2010.
  6. Web site: Timothy Torlot es el nuevo Jefe de la Delegación de la Unión Europea en Bolivia . 5 November 2012. (in Spanish)
  7. Web site: Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Uzbekistan - Summer 2019 . 6 September 2018.