I was born and brought up in Bolton, in the north west of England. After university at Cambridge and 2 years teaching English in Japan I joined the UK Foreign Office. My first overseas posting was in West Berlin. I was there when the Wall came down in 1989 – an incredible experience. I hope to join friends and colleagues from those days in Berlin later this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall.

After 2 years back in London, I worked in New York at the UK delegation to the UN, dealing with Security Council issues, including Liberia and Haiti. A posting to Paris followed, including a year on attachment at the French Foreign Ministry. It was in Paris that I married Tricia (whom I had met when we joined the FCO on the same day), and our 2 children Kate and Ben were born there. We moved to Brussels in 2001 where I was political counsellor at the UK delegation to NATO.

From there I returned to London as Head of the FCO’s counter-proliferation department, working in particular on strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. And then to The Hague. It’s been a varied and fascinating career so far. This posting already promises to be the best yet, not least because it’s a great place for me to pursue my interest in cycling and swimming...though my (often painful) pastime of watching Bolton Wanderers football club will have to be put on hold for a while!

Paul Arkwright