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The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.

The head of the FCO is the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly abbreviated to "Foreign Secretary" (currently William Hague). This position is regarded as one of the three most prestigious appointments in the Cabinet, alongside those of Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary. Together with the Prime Minister, these are the Great Offices of State.

The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Head of the Diplomatic Service since the end of August 2010 is Simon Fraser CMG.

Ministers[link]

The FCO Ministers are as follows: ^[2]

William Hague is also First Secretary of State, which implies seniority over all other Secretaries of State.

Lord Green also works at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills ^[3] and is lead minister on the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD).

Gallery[link]

• 

  Entrance to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

• 

  The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, seen from St. James’s Park

History of the department[link]

The Foreign Office[link]

Eighteenth century

The Foreign Office was formed in March 1782 by combining the Southern and Northern Departments of the Secretary of State, each of which covered both foreign and domestic affairs in their parts of the Kingdom. The two departments' foreign affairs responsibilities became the Foreign Office, whilst their domestic affairs responsibilities were assigned to the Home Office. The Home Office is technically the more senior.^[4]

Nineteenth century

During the 19th century, it was not infrequent for the Foreign Office to approach The Times newspaper and ask for continental intelligence, which was often superior to that conveyed by official sources.^[5]

Twentieth century

During World War I the Arab Bureau was set up within the British Foreign Office. It was a section of the Cairo Intelligence Department.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office[link]

The FCO was formed in 1968, from the merger of the short-lived Commonwealth Office and the Foreign Office. The Commonwealth Office had been created only in 1966, by the merger of the Commonwealth Relations Office and the Colonial Office, and the Commonwealth Relations Office had been formed by the merger of the Dominions Office and the India Office in 1947—with the Dominions Office having been split from the Colonial Office in 1925.

Developments[link]

When David Miliband took over as Foreign Secretary in June 2007, he set in hand a review of the FCO’s strategic priorities. One of the key messages of these discussions was the conclusion that the existing framework of ten international strategic priorities, dating from 2003, was no longer appropriate. Although the framework had been useful in helping the FCO plan its work and allocate its resources, there was agreement that it needed a new framework to drive its work forward.

The new strategic framework consists of three core elements:

• A flexible global network of staff and offices, serving the whole of the UK Government.

• Three essential services that support the British economy, British nationals abroad and managed migration for Britain. These services are delivered through UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), consular teams in Britain and overseas, and the UK Border Agency (UKBA).

• Four policy goals:
  • countering terrorism and weapons proliferation and their causes
  • preventing and resolving conflict
  • promoting a low carbon, high-growth, global economy
  • developing effective international institutions, in particular the UN and the EU.

In August 2005, a report by management consultant group Collinson Grant was made public by Andrew Mackinlay. The report severely criticised the FCO's management structure, noting:

• The Foreign Office could be "slow to act".
• Delegation is lacking within the management structure.
• Accountability was poor.
• The FCO could feasibly cut 1200 jobs.
• At least £48 million could be saved annually.

The Foreign Office commissioned the report to highlight areas which would help it achieve its pledge to reduce spending by £87 million pounds over three years. In response to the report being made public, the Foreign Office stated it had already implemented the report's recommendations. [1]

In April 2006 a new executive agency was established, FCO Services, to provide corporate service functions. In April 2008 it moved to Trading Fund status so it had the ability to provide similar services which it already offers to the FCO, to other government departments and even outside businesses.

On 25 April 2010, the department apologised after The Sunday Telegraph obtained a "foolish" document calling for the upcoming September visit of Pope Benedict XVI to be marked by the launch of "Benedict-branded" condoms, the opening of an abortion clinic and the blessing of a same-sex marriage.^[6]

History of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office main building[link]

Ceiling above the Foreign Office's State Stair, 2008

The western or park end of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's building in 1866. It was then occupied by the Foreign and India Offices, while the Home and Colonial Offices occupied the Whitehall end

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office occupies a building which originally provided premises for four separate government departments: the Foreign Office, the India Office, the Colonial Office, and the Home Office. Construction on the building began in 1861 and finished in 1868, and it was designed by the architect George Gilbert Scott.^[7] Its architecture is in the Italianate style; Scott had initially envisaged a Gothic design, but Lord Palmerston, then Prime Minister, insisted on a classical style.^[7] English sculptors Henry Hugh Armstead and John Birnie Philip produced a number of allegorical figures ('Art', 'Law', 'Commerce', etc.) for the exterior.

In 1925, the Foreign Office played host to the signing of the Locarno Treaties, aimed at reducing tension in Europe. The ceremony took place in a suite of rooms that had been designed for banqueting, which subsequently became known as the Locarno Suite.^[8] During the Second World War, the Locarno Suite's fine furnishings were removed or covered up, and it became home to a foreign office code-breaking department.^[8]

Due to increasing numbers of staff, the offices became increasingly cramped and much of the fine Victorian interior was covered over—especially after World War II. In the 1960s, demolition was proposed, as part of major redevelopment plan for the area drawn up by architect Sir Leslie Martin.^[7] A subsequent public outcry prevented these proposals from ever being implemented. Instead, the Foreign Office became a Grade 1 listed building in 1970.^[7] In 1978, the Home office moved to a new building, easing overcrowding.

With a new sense of the building's historical value, it underwent a 17-year, £100 million restoration process, completed in 1997.^[7] The Locarno Suite, used as offices and storage since the Second World War, was fully restored for use in international conferences. The building is now open to the public each year over Open House Weekend. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is now also the main tenant of the Old Admiralty Building, at the opposite end of Horse Guards Parade.

List of Foreign and Commonwealth Office home properties[link]

• FCO Main Building, Whitehall, King Charles St, London (abbreviated to KCS by FCO staff)
• Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, London (abbreviated to OAB by FCO staff)
• Hanslope Park, Hanslope, Milton Keynes (abbreviated to HSP by FCO staff). Location of FCO Services, HMGCC and Technical Security Department of the UK Secret Intelligence Service)

Devolution[link]

International relations are, by necessity, handled centrally from Westminster on behalf of the whole of Britain. However, the devolved administrations also maintain an overseas presence in the European Union and the USA alongside British diplomatic missions:

European Union

• Scotland House (Brussels)
• Wales House (Brussels)
• Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels

USA

• Scottish Affairs Office (Washington DC)
• Welsh Assembly Government External Affairs Department (New York)
• Northern Ireland Bureau (Washington DC)

These offices aim to promote their regional economies and ensure that devolved interests are taken into account in British foreign policy. Devolved ministers can attend international negotiations when permitted by the British Government e.g. EU fisheries negotiations.^[9]

UK and devolved ministers meet at approximately quarterly intervals through the Joint Ministerial Committee (Europe), chaired by the Foreign Secretary to "discuss matters bearing on devolved responsibilities that are under discussion within the European Union."

See also[link]

United Kingdom portal

• Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
• Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs
• Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
• Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
• Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service
• List of heads of missions from the United Kingdom
• Department for International Development
• Stabilisation Unit
• List of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom
• List of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom
• Diplomacy
• Ambassador
• Court of St. James's (to which foreign ambassadors to Britain are accredited)
• Know Before You Go Campaign

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

• Official website
• FCO Blogs
• Britain in the EU (FCO)
• Official website of FCO Services (Executive Agency)
• Official FCO/Immigration Service website
• FCO Flickr site
• FCO YouTube site
• FCO Twitter directory listing all our Twitter sites
• Know Before You Go Campaign Site

Coordinates: 51°30′09.7″N 0°07′39.7″W / 51.502694°N 0.127694°W / 51.502694; -0.127694

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Alistair Burt MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 May 2010
Preceded by	Ivan Lewis
Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party for Development
In office January 2008 – 13 May 2010
Member of Parliament for North East Bedfordshire
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Nicholas Lyell
Majority	18,942 (34.1%)
Member of Parliament for Bury North
In office 9 June 1983 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Succeeded by	David Chaytor
Personal details
Born	(1955-05-25) 25 May 1955 (age 57) Bury, Lancashire, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Eve Alexandra Twite
Residence	Wootton, Bedfordshire
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford
Website	www.alistair-burt.co.uk

Alistair James Hendrie Burt (born 25 May 1955) is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire. Burt is currently Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Early life[link]

Alistair Burt was born in Bury, Lancashire, and was educated at the Bury Grammar School, where he was appointed Head Boy in 1973, and St John's College, Oxford where he was elected president of the Oxford Law Society in 1976 and graduated with a degree in jurisprudence law in 1977. He became an articled clerk with Slater Heelis & Co. of Manchester in 1978, becoming a solicitor with Watts Vallence & Vallence in 1980 where he remained until 1983.

Parliamentary career[link]

He was elected as a councillor to the Haringey Borough Council in 1982 and left the council in 1984. He contested the new seat of Bury North at the 1983 General Election at which he was elected as the Conservative MP for Bury North with a majority of 2,792 votes. He represented the seat until 1997 and returned to parliament again in 2001.

In Parliament Alistair Burt became the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for the Environment Kenneth Baker in 1985, he remained as PPS to Baker in his role as Secretary of State for Education and Science from 1986 and in his role as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1989 until 1990. After the 1992 General Election Burt was promoted to the government of John Major and became the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security where he remained until 1995 when he was promoted further with the rank of Minister of State at the same department. He was one of many ministers who lost their seats at the 1997 General Election when Bury North fell to Labour's David Chaytor by 7,866 votes. From 1997-2001 he worked at executive search firm Whitehead Mann GKR. [1]

Alistair Burt re-entered parliament at the 2001 General Election for the very safe Conservative seat of Bedfordshire North East which had been represented in parliament by the former Attorney General Nicholas Lyell who had retired. Burt was elected with a majority of 8,577, and has remained as an MP since. He was made an opposition spokesman on Education and Skills under William Hague in 2001, before he became the PPS to the Leader of the Opposition Iain Duncan Smith in 2002 and carried on as PPS to the new leader Michael Howard. After the 2005 General Election he rejoined the front bench and was a spokesman on Local Government Affairs and Communities. However in January 2008, Burt was promoted to Assistant Chief Whip and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for Internal Development.

He is a former officer of the Conservative Friends of Israel lobby group, a position which he resigned upon entering government as a Minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In December 2008, he led an all-Party group meeting with the Red Cross to campaign for visiting rights for Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit. [2]. He is also a founder and was the first Chairman of The Enterprise Forum, an organisation set up in 1997 to facilitate discussions on policy between the Business Community and the Conservative Party.^[1]

Personal life[link]

Burt married Eve Alexandra Twite in 1983 in Haringey, and they have a son, Matthew (born August 1987) and a daughter, Hazel (born March 1986). They also have a granddaughter. He is an active Christian. [3] He is a member of the Tory Reform Group and a former member of Conservative Friends of Israel. He enjoys athletics and football. He supports Bury FC and is also a member of Biggleswade Athletics Club. He has run nine London Marathons.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alistair Burt

• Alistair Burt MP official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Alistair Burt MP
• North East Bedfordshire Conservatives
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Alistair Burt MP
• Biggleswade Athletics Club, official site
• BBC Politics page
• Alistair Burt Profile at New Statesman Your democracy

News items[link]

• Bedford Hospital NHS Trust in September 2007
• Yarl's Wood Detention Centre in October 2005
• Tsunami victims in January 2005
• Going back to university in November 2001

Sir Shah Mehmood Qureshi شاه محمود قریشی
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 31 March 2008 – 9 February 2011
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Preceded by	Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri
Succeeded by	Hina Rabbani Khar
Personal details
Born	(1956-06-22) 22 June 1956 (age 56) Murree, Pakistan
Political party	Islami Jamhoori Ithad (1988-1990) Pakistan Peoples Party (1990-2011) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (2011-present)(Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf)
Alma mater	Aitchison College, Forman Christian College University University of Cambridge
Profession	Agriculturist/Politician
Religion	Islam

Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi (Urdu: شاه محمود قریشی; born June 22, 1956) is well-known Politician in Pakistan. He was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government of PPP, MQM, ANP and JUI-F formed after the 2008 general elections.^[1] He was a senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party, where he was the president of PPP Punjab.^[2] However in February 2011 Qureshi fell out with the senior PPP leadaership and by November 2011 joined Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi is also the current Sajjada Nashin and custodian of the Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam^[3] and of the Shrine (Darbar) of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya.^[4] An agriculturalist by trade, Qureshi is also the president of the Farmers Association of Pakistan.

Early life[link]

Family[link]

Qureshi hails from a prominent religious and political family in South Punjab.He has a wife, mehriene qureshi, alongside a son and 2 daughters. He is the eldest son of Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi. Sajjad Qureshi was a Sajjada Nashin for Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam and the Darbar of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya.^[5] The elder Qureshi was also a prominent politician of the Pakistan People's Party under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s. Following the removal and hanging of Bhutto, Sajjad Hussain supported the presidency of General Zia-ul-Haq and served as the Governor of Punjab from December 1985 to December 1988 under Zia.^[6]

Education[link]

Qureshi received his early education from Aitchison College, Lahore. He received a Bachelor's degree in History from Forman Christian College. Qureshi also received a law degree from Cambridge University ^[7]

Political career[link]

Qureshi was first elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from Multan in 1985, which were held on a non-party basis. He joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) under the leadership of Muhammad Khan Junejo in 1986.^[6]

He joined the faction of PML led by Nawaz Sharif, which later became PML (N), when PML split in 1988 after the death of Zia-ul-Haq. He was re-elected to the Punjab Assembly from Multan in 1988. He served as the Minister of Planning and Development in the cabinet of Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif from November 1988 to August 1990.^[6]

Qureshi parted ways with Nawaz Sharif in 1990 and joined the PML (J) faction led by Manzoor Wattoo, and was re-elected to the Punjab Assembly from Multan in 1990. He served as the Minister of Finance in the Punjab cabinet under Chief Minister Watoo from 1990 to June 1993.^[6]

He subsequently joined the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in 1993 under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Multan in the general elections of 1993, and served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs under Prime Minister Bhutto. Qureshi was defeated in the 1997 general election by Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.

Qureshi served as the District Nazim of Multan from 2000 to 2002.^[8] He won subsequent elections to the National Assembly from Multan in 2002 and 2008 as a member of the PPP. Benazir Bhutto made Qureshi the President of PPP in Punjab in 2006.^[2]

Following the general election of 2008, Qureshi was a potential candidate for the Prime Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government headed by the PPP. However, given his political history prior to joining the PPP,^[8] Qureshi was instead given the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani. He lost the portfolio of Foreign Minister in February 2011, following the Raymond Davis affair.^[6] Qureshi opposed the PPP's pact with PML-Q, since he believed PML-Q to be indirectly involved in the killing of Benazir Bhutto.

Qureshi resigned from the PPP, as well as his National Assembly membership, in November 2011.^[9] He has been in contact with both Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to join one of these parties.^[10] In a TV talk show Imran Khan confirmed that Shah Mehmood Qureshi would join the PTI rally on 27 November 2011 at Ghotki.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2008 - 2011)[link]

After taking charge of the office, Qureshi immediately made clear that he was committed to establishing peace in the region and that maintaining friendly ties with neighboring India were amongst his top priorities.^[11] Qureshi went on his first visit as foreign minister to China in October 2008 with Ahmad Mukhtar and President Asif Ali Zardari.^[12] On his arrival back, he was given praise for his work. Qureshi has visited many countries as Foreign Minister and has been very busy explaining Pakistan's stance on the war on terror to the foreign world.

In 2009, Shah Mehmood Qureshi faced criticism in Pakistan when it was discovered that his son, Zain H. Qureshi, was working as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Sen. John Kerry ^[13]

In February 2011, the Government of Pakistan reduced the number of cabinet seats.^[14] During this transition, Shah Mehmood Qureshi was offered the position of Minister of Water and Power. He declined, saying that he was "not interested in water and power ministry in place of foreign affairs."^[15]

Joining Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf[link]

Following the Raymond Allen Davis incident where US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent was released without charge for murdering two men in Lahore, Shah Mehmood Qureshi was appointed to another ministry due to which he subsequently resigned as Federal Minister of Pakistan.^[16] On 27 November 2011 Qureshi announced his joining of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in a rally in Ghotki, Sindh. He was appointed Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and President (Southern Punjab) of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He stated that the cause behind joining PTI was to bring about a revolution in Pakistan.

See also[link]

• Makhdoom

References[link]

External links[link]

Government of Pakistan portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shah Mehmood Qureshi

• Profile of Shah Mahmood Qureshi at Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Two-Minute Bio: Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Time Magazine
• Profile of Shah Mehmood Qureshi