His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, dealing with

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, which deals with domestic affairs. It employs around 14,000 people, roughly one-third of whom are crown servants working directly for the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

, either in London or abroad. The remaining two-thirds are employed locally by one of nearly 270 British diplomatic missions abroad (such as embassies, consulates and high commissions)."Working for FCO", Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, retrieved 28/12/2016
/ref> The

Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (and its predecessors) since 1790. Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State f ...

is also the Head of the Diplomatic Service. Entry into the Diplomatic Service is highly competitive. In 2018, 12,266 applicants sought to join the Diplomatic Service fast stream. Seventy-one were successful, representing 0.6% of those who applied. This compares to the general

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

fast stream, also highly competitive, in which 9.1% of candidates were successful. Until around 2009 members of the Diplomatic Service could also formally receive a Royal Commission, signed by the Foreign Secretary and by the monarch, as members of a Crown service. The Foreign Service, which originally provided

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

s to staff the Foreign Office, was once a separate service, but it amalgamated with the Diplomatic Service in 1918. The Diplomatic Service also absorbed the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

in the late 1960s. Women were not allowed to join the Diplomatic Service until 1946. In 1936, an advisory committee on allowing women into the diplomatic service concluded that the admission of women would harm the service (the female members of the committee disagreed). Until 1973, they were required to leave when they married. The first female ambassador to be appointed was Barbara Salt, to Israel in 1962, but ill-health prevented her from taking up the post. Eleanor Emery was British High Commissioner to Botswana from 1973 to 1977, corresponding to an ambassador but within the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. The first woman to serve as an ambassador as such was Anne Warburton, appointed to Denmark in 1976."The women who serve in danger zones", BBC News, 9 July 2014
/ref>

Footnotes

{{Reflist

External links

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office website
Diplomatic Service Diplomatic Service Diplomacy

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Diplomatic security

See also

Footnotes

External links