Michael Harry Tatham (born 2 July 1965) is a British diplomat who has served as British High Commissioner to Cyprus since November 2024.

Early life

Michael Harry Tatham was born on 2 July 1965, the son of fellow diplomat David Tatham.

Career

Tatham joined HMDS and the FCO in the 1980s. In his early career, he served in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

; he also served in ministerial private office for

Jeremy Hanley Sir Jeremy James Hanley, KCMG (born 17 November 1945) is a politician and former chartered accountant from the United Kingdom. He served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1994 to 1995, and as a member of parliament (MP) representi ...

from 1995 to 1996, and for Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

(under the

Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister The private secretary to the prime minister for foreign affairs is a senior official in the British Civil Service who acts as the private secretary for all matters concerning foreign policy and international affairs to the prime minister of the Un ...

, first

John Sawers Sir Robert John Sawers (born 26 July 1955) is a British intelligence officer, diplomat and civil servant. He was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), a position he held from November 2009 until November 2014. He was previously the Bri ...

and then

Francis Campbell Francis Martin-Xavier Campbell (born 20 April 1970) is a British diplomat and academic. Since January 2020, he has been the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia. From 2014 to 2020, he was the Vice-Chancellor of St Mary's U ...

) from 1999 until 2002. Tatham returned to Prague as Deputy Head of Mission from 2002 to 2005, then served as Head of the FCO's Western Balkans Group before serving as British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2008 to 2011. After four years as political counsellor at UKMIS in New York, he became the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

's Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia from 2015 to 2017. From January 2018 to July 2022, Tatham served as the Deputy

British Ambassador to the United States The British ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of A ...

. Following the resignation of

Kim Darroch Nigel Kim Darroch, Baron Darroch of Kew, (; born 30 April 1954) is a former British diplomat. He served as the British Ambassador to the United States between January 2016 and December 2019, and previously as National Security Adviser and U ...

in July 2019, he became interim ''

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

''. He was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to British foreign policy. In November 2024, Tatham began his tenure as British High Commissioner to Cyprus.

Personal life

Tatham is married and has one daughter. He enjoys travelling, skiing, theatre, and cooking. He is a fan of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, and

craft beer Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

References

External links

Michael Tatham
on gov.uk Living people 1965 births British diplomats Alumni of Merton College, Oxford People educated at Oundle School Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George {{UK-diplomat-stub