Andrew Scott Norman Wightman was a senior

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

civil servant and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. Before his appointment as Director for External Affairs in the Scottish Government, Wightman was High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Singapore from 2015 to 2019, succeeding

Antony Phillipson Antony John Phillipson, (born 13 January 1971) is a British diplomat, and as of 2021, British High Commissioner to South Africa. He was High Commissioner to Singapore from 2011 to April 2015, and from 2017 to June 2021 was the British Consu ...

.FCO announcement of Wightman as Singapore High Commissioner Prior to this, Wightman was

British Ambassador to South Korea The British ambassador to South Korea is in charge of the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to South Korea. The official title is His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (ROK). History Under the Imperial Chinese tributar ...

between 2011 and January 2015.Wightman's FCO official biography He studied French at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Career

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Wightman joined 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 ...

in 1983. He has had several posts in China and Europe. He was FCO Director for Global and Economic Issues between 2006 and 2008, then Director for Asia Pacific until his first post as Ambassador to South Korea in 2011. Wightman 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 III ...

in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. t ...

. In February 2015, it was announced that Wightman would assume the post of the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Singapore in May 2015. Wightman's term as High Commissioner ended in July 2019, and he was succeeded by Kara Owen .

Scottish Civil Service

Wightman was appointed Director for External Affairs for the Scottish government in June 2019. He announced his departure from this post in April 2024.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George British diplomats in East Asia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to South Korea High commissioners of the United Kingdom to Singapore {{UK-diplomat-stub