Nigel Philip Casey (born 29 May 1969) is a British diplomat, who has been His Majesty's Ambassador to the Russian Federation since November 2023. He served as the British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from September 2011 until 2013, and then as the British High Commissioner to South Africa from April 2017 until April 2021. From May 2021 to 2023, was concurrently the Foreign Office's Director for Afghanistan and as the Prime Minister's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Early life

Nigel Philip Casey was born on 29 May 1969 in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

to Michael Casey and Josephine Casey. Casey was educated at

Rockport School Rockport School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls from 2.5 years to 18 years in the British Public School tradition. It is situated in of woodland on the shore of Belfast Lough in Craigavad, near Holywood, County D ...

, an

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

in Holywood,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, and at Blundell’s School, an

in Tiverton,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. From 1987 to 1990, he studied modern history at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree.

Career

Casey is a career diplomat who has worked for the

Foreign and Commonwealth 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 ...

since 1991. His career to date has been divided between the FCDO in London and six overseas postings. In addition to Sarajevo, he has been posted in Pretoria, Washington D.C, Moscow, and New Delhi. Casey was appointed the British Ambassador to

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in September 2011. Casey left this appointment in 2014. Casey worked as the Private Secretary to the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2016., serving Prime Ministers

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

and

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

. Casey was appointed the British High Commissioner to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in April 2017. In August 2019, Casey said that

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

would present opportunities for South Africa, and that he was confident South Africa would be on the list of post-Brexit business partners. Casey left this appointment in April 2021. Casey was appointed to the Prime Minister's Special Representative for Afghanistan in May 2021 and Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the FCDO. On 2 August 2023, he was announced as the next British Ambassador to Russia, in succession to Dame Deborah Bronnert. He took up the appointment in November 2023. President Vladimir Putin received his

letter of credence A letter of credence (, ) is a formal Diplomatic correspondence, diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to an ...

during a ceremony at the Grand Kremlin Palace on 4 December 2023.

Personal life

Casey married Clare Crocker in 2002. They have two children, a son and a daughter.

Honours

On 21 March 1995, Casey was appointed a

Member of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(MVO). In the 2017 New Year Honours, he was appointed a

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) "for services to British foreign policy". Casey was granted the

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in May 2018.

References

External links