James Barbour

James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

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Digital Diplomacy UK in USA

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31st January 2014 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

A whole new world

The following is a guest post by Dean Churm, British Consul and Consular Regional Operations Manager for the eastern and southern United States. The British Vice-Consulate in Orlando first opened its doors in 1994 following the growth in charter holiday packages to the Disney area (or the House of the Mouse as it is sometimes known locally). Over […]

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4th November 2013 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

Remember, remember! The fifth of November….

The following is a guest post from Carole Johnson, First Secretary Asia in the Foreign &  Security Policy Group at the British Embassy, Washington. Returning on the metro from a concert at the Kennedy Center, last Saturday night (and what a fantastic living memorial that arts centre is) I was met with carriages of cartoon […]

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20th March 2013 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

SXSW diplomacy

Over the past year or so a lively community of ‘digital diplomats’ has developed in both Washington and New York, with ‘digital diplomats’ meeting on a monthly basis to share ideas and talk about their latest innovations. Social Media Week this year featured, in both cities, workshops and panels looking specifically at how governments can […]

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14th December 2012 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

GREAT British boxer Amir Khan in Los Angeles

The following is a guest post by Dame Barbara Hay, British Consul-General in Los Angeles. They used to say Amir Khan was the best thing to happen to race relations in Britain. The son of Pakistani immigrants and a practising Muslim, he made all of Britain proud by winning silver at the 2004 Olympics and […]

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30th November 2012 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

Marshalling the Future

The following is a guest post by James Kariuki, Counsellor and Head of Politics, Economics and Communications Group at the British Embassy in Washington. Educational exchange is one of the most powerful forms of cultural diplomacy.  It changes lives—and sometimes it can change history. Had a young Kenyan man not been given the opportunity to […]

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24th July 2012 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

Yellow Jerseys and Gold Medals

Cycling has always been one of the sports that Great Britain has hung its hat on. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, 14 of our 47 medals came on two wheels. The legendary Chris Hoy won three gold medals, making him the first British Olympian to win three gold medals in a single Games […]

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21st May 2012 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

Celebrating Olympic values

The countdown clock in our Embassy tells me that the that the London 2012 opening ceremony is barely two months away. The Olympic Torch has begun its tour of the UK. All around the world, athletes are qualifying for their national teams. Here in the US, the first goosebump-raising, Morgan Freeman-voiced Olympics ad hit the […]

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3rd May 2012 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

World Press Freedom Day

This week marks two auspicious events.  One year ago yesterday, I started work at the Embassy in Washington.  Even aside from the mad dash to the airport in Moscow, the missed flights and unplanned but very pleasant stopover in Copenhagen, it was quite the day to remember. It’s also World Press Freedom Day, the day […]

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26th March 2012 Washington DC, USA

James Barbour

by James Barbour

Press Secretary and Head of Communications

Prime Ministerial March Mayhem

UK in the USA

While most of America may have spent last week focussed on brackets and upsets, we had our own bit of March Madness here in DC: an official visit from Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, as well as the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary. And what a visit it was. I was on the […]

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About James Barbour

James Barbour is the Press Secretary and Head of Communications at the British Embassy in Washington. He joined the FCO in 1997, having studied Politics at the University of Edinburgh.…

James Barbour is the Press Secretary and Head of Communications at the British Embassy in Washington. He joined the FCO in 1997, having studied Politics at the University of Edinburgh. Roughly half of his career has been spent in London, in a range of jobs covering the OSCE and the Balkans, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance, press work and public relations. From 2000 to 2004 James was posted to the British High Commission in Cape Town, and more recently spent 2007 to 2011 in Moscow. In Washington James is responsible for managing and portraying the Embassy’s – and the British Government’s – public presence in the United States, engaging in debates in the US media environment on policy issues of importance to the UK, and contributing presentational perspectives to the Embassy’s policy discussions. James is keen to help the FCO make the most of social media; this is his third blog, and he often dabbles with Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter. James is joined in Washington by his wife Carrie and their two children.

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