John Leahy (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Sir John Leahy, KCMG (born 7 February 1928) is a former senior British diplomat. He later became Chairman of Lonrho. John has a wife (Anne) and 4 children: 2 girls and 2 boys. (Emma, Peter, Jamie, Alice) All of which, now, have fully grown up.
, Cambridge
and Yale
Universities. After National Service in the R.A.F., Leahy joined the Foreign Office in 1952 at the age of 24.
, Minister of State, who later became Foreign Secretary during the Suez crisis
. Leahy also served as Foreign Office spokesman and was later seconded for a time to the Northern Ireland Office
as Under-Secretary of State.
Back at the Foreign Office, Leahy was appointed ambassador to South Africa
and subsequently became the FCO
's Deputy Under-Secretary of State (DUSS) for Africa and the Middle East. His last diplomatic appointment was as High Commissioner
to Australia
.
. At the time, Savimbi's UNITA
guerrilla movement was financed and supported militarily by the apartheid regime in South Africa
.The mission was successful and Leahy brought the captives back to London.Angola
.
newspaper, before joining Lonrho as a non-executive director in October 1993. He became Chairman in November 1994. On 2 March 1995, after many internal upheavals, the company board dismissed the controversial businessman (Tiny Rowland
), one of the Joint Chief Executives. In 1997 Leahy was succeeded by Sir John Craven
.
Early career
Educated at Tonbridge SchoolTonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
Universities. After National Service in the R.A.F., Leahy joined the Foreign Office in 1952 at the age of 24.
Diplomat
In a series of diplomatic appointments, Leahy became assistant private secretary to Selwyn LloydSelwyn Lloyd
John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd CH PC CBE TD , known for most of his career as Selwyn Lloyd, was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1960, then as Chancellor of the Exchequer until 1962...
, Minister of State, who later became Foreign Secretary during the Suez crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
. Leahy also served as Foreign Office spokesman and was later seconded for a time to the Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and is based in Northern Ireland at Stormont House.-Role:...
as Under-Secretary of State.
Back at the Foreign Office, Leahy was appointed ambassador to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and subsequently became the FCO
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
's Deputy Under-Secretary of State (DUSS) for Africa and the Middle East. His last diplomatic appointment was as High Commissioner
High Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Sensitive assignments
Regarded as having "a safe pair of hands", Leahy carried out a number of sensitive assignments on behalf of the British government, and came face to face with leading political figures of the day. For example, in April 1984, he was sent to Jamba in Angola to secure the release of 16 Britons who had been taken hostage by the Angolan rebel leader, Jonas SavimbiJonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was an Angolan political leader. He founded and led UNITA, a movement that first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966–1974, then confronted the rival MPLA during the decolonization conflict, 1974/75, and after independence in 1975 fought the ruling...
. At the time, Savimbi's UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
guerrilla movement was financed and supported militarily by the apartheid regime in South Africa
History of South Africa in the apartheid era
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained...
.The mission was successful and Leahy brought the captives back to London.Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
.
Post FCO
After his retirement from HM Diplomatic Service, Leahy held several non-executive appointments, including being a director of the ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper, before joining Lonrho as a non-executive director in October 1993. He became Chairman in November 1994. On 2 March 1995, after many internal upheavals, the company board dismissed the controversial businessman (Tiny Rowland
Tiny Rowland
Roland "Tiny" Rowland was a British businessman and chairman of the Lonrho conglomerate from 1962 to 1994...
), one of the Joint Chief Executives. In 1997 Leahy was succeeded by Sir John Craven
Sir John Craven
Sir John Craven is a director of Reuters and formerly Deutsche Bank and chairman of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group plc....
.