About Simon

After graduating from Cambridge with a BA (Hons.) in Natural Sciences in 1995, I worked for two years as a volunteer Chemistry teacher in a Government School in Tanzania, on the Voluntary Services Overseas programme.

In 1998 I returned to the UK to join the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Throughout my career I have held a variety of positions in London and around the world. I was in the Strategic Planning Unit of the Resource Budgeting Department in London. After that I was selected for my first posting as a political officer in the British Embassy, Tehran. I worked in Iran for three years from May 2000, having first been taught Farsi to an operational level.

On leaving Iran in July 2003, I spent a short period in the Iraq unit in London, before deploying to Baghdad in September 2003 as the Private Secretary to Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the Prime Minister's Special Representative for Iraq. I was awarded the Order of the British Empire for my work in Iraq.

I returned to London in May 2004 to work in the FCO Press Office, as a spokesman for Iran and Iraq issues. After a year, I was promoted to be the Chief Press Officer for the FCO. Then in quick succession I was given the acting roles of first Deputy Director of Communications, and then Director of Communications and Press Secretary for the Foreign Secretary.

I arrived in Washington as a First Secretary working on Counter Proliferation issues, with a focus on Iran, in November 2006. I spent three months as a political officer on Temporary Duty in the British Embassy in Kabul between November 2007 and February 2008. I now cover Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran issues at the British Embassy in Washington