His Excellency
Leigh Turner
CMG
Leigh Turner in 2015
British Ambassador to Austria
In office
2016–2021
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded bySusan le Jeune d'Allegeershecque
Succeeded byLindsay Skoll
British Ambassador to Ukraine
In office
2008–2012
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
David Cameron
Preceded byTim Barrow
Succeeded bySimon Smith
Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory and the British Antarctic Territory
In office
2006–2008
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Gordon Brown
Preceded byTony Crombie
Succeeded byColin Roberts
Personal details
Born (1958-03-13) 13 March 1958[1]
NationalityBritish
Alma materCambridge University
OccupationWriter

Robert Leigh Turner CMG (born 13 March 1958) is a writer and British former diplomat. His final role was British Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna from August 2016 to September 2021.[2]

Career

From September 2012 to July 2016 Turner was British Consul-General in Istanbul, a post which included responsibility for UK Trade and Investment work in Turkey, South Caucasus, Central Asia and Ukraine. From June 2008 to July 2012 he was British ambassador to Ukraine, resident in Kyiv. From 2006 to 2008 he was Director, Overseas Territories in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory; and Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Born in March 1958, he graduated from Downing College, Cambridge in 1979, joining the Civil Service as an administrative trainee the same year. After working in the Departments of Transport and Environment, and the Treasury, he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1983 and had postings in Austria, Russia, Germany, Ukraine and Turkey before returning to Vienna.[3]

Whilst on unpaid leave, between 2002 and 2006, he wrote travel articles for the Financial Times, The Boston Globe and other newspapers.

Turner was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to British interests in Ukraine and Turkey.[4]

Turner was succeeded as Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna by Lindsay Skoll in September 2021. He then retired from the Diplomatic Service.[5]

As Ambassador, Turner wrote and published fiction under the name Robert Pimm. Since his retirement he continues to write a blog[6] and has published several novels and a collection of short stories[7] under his own name. His latest book (April 2023) is "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Diplomacy - Wie Diplomatie die Welt erklärt", a diplomatic and life handbook published in German by Czernin Verlag, Vienna.

References

  1. ↑ Who's Who: TURNER, (Robert) Leigh
  2. ↑ Change of Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna , accessed 15 March 2016|
  3. ↑ TURNER, (Robert) Leigh', Who's Who 2008, A & C Black, 2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 7 May 2008
  4. ↑ "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 3.
  5. ↑ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the UN in Vienna: Lindsay Skoll" (Press release). GOV.UK. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  6. ↑ rleighturner.com
  7. ↑ Amazon author page
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