Former Brexit negotiator will lead the Foreign Office.
LONDON — Olly Robbins, the senior civil servant who led Brexit talks for Theresa May and attracted the near-constant fury of Eurosceptics, is back in a top British government job.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced Wednesday that Robbins — who had been in the running for Britain’s top civil service job — will lead the department, which heads up overseas diplomacy and represents Britain’s interests on the world stage.
The comeback for Robbins, praised by Foreign Secretary David Lammy Wednesday for his « extensive experience of economic and security issues » across Whitehall, follows a five-year stint out of government, including with consultancy Hakluyt.
Prior to Brexit, Robbins had long been regarded by fellow officials in Whitehall as a high performer primed for a top job in Britain’s impartial civil service. But he returns bearing battle scars from serving as then-Prime Minister Theresa May’s Europe Adviser and the country’s chief Brexit negotiator from 2017 to 2019, the high watermark of the country’s fraught Brexit process.
He was the frequent target of angry briefings from Brexiteers who accused him of pro-EU bias. It forced a rare public intervention from then-Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, who said those attacking Robbins “should be ashamed of themselves » and leapt to the defense of Robbins’ “extraordinary dedication and professionalism. »
As his return to the Foreign Office was announced Wednesday, Robbins praised the « extraordinary diplomatic and development capabilities » of the U.K.’s Foreign Office.
« After five years out of the civil service I return believing more strongly than ever in the value of those capabilities and the public service principles that underpin them, while convinced that maintaining the U.K.’s lead depends critically on understanding and co-opting the pace of change evident in the U.K. and around the world, » he said in a statement.
Robbins takes over from Philip Barton, who is stepping down after four decades at the Foreign Office. It comes as Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer pursues a « reset » in the U.K.’s ties with the EU.