David Leakey

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

CBE
Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod
In office
1 February 2011 – 13 February 2018
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded bySir Freddie Viggers
Succeeded bySarah Clarke
Personal details
Born
Arundell David Leakey

(1952-05-18) 18 May 1952 (age 71)
Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service

CBE (born 18 May 1952)[3] is a former British Army officer. He was Director General of the European Union Military Staff in the Council of the European Union, Brussels. In 2010 he was appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, a role he held until February 2018.[4]

Early life and family

Main article: Leakey family

Leakey is the son of Major General Rea Leakey and nephew of Victoria Cross recipient Nigel Leakey. Leakey was educated at Sherborne School.[5] He is also related to the Victoria Cross recipient Joshua Leakey.[6]

Military career

After attending the

Chieftain and Challenger).[5]

Having attended the

Commanding Officer of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.[5]

Leakey was promoted to colonel on 31 December 1993 with seniority from 30 June 1993.[14] He was then posted to the Ministry of Defence as a Colonel Military Operations. In that role, he was responsible for Operational planning and policy affecting Eastern and Western Europe. In early 1995, he attended the Higher Command and Staff Course. In late 1995, he was the UK's Military Representative at the peace negotiations to end the Bosnian War held in the United States. The successful negotiations resulted in the signing of the Dayton Agreement and an end to the three-and-a-half-year-long war.[5]

Leakey was promoted to

former Yugoslavia from 21 December 1996 to 20 June 1997.[2] He returned to the Ministry of Defence as Director of Military Operations from July 1997 to December 1999.[16]

In 2000, Leakey attended the

Bosnia and Herzegovina.[5] He was promoted to lieutenant general on 28 February 2007.[19] From 1 March 2007[20] until 2010, he was Director General of the European Union Military Staff in Brussels.[5]

Leakey retired from the military on 22 September 2010.[21]

Later life

Leakey was appointed as

Member of Parliament Diane Abbott has defended Bercow, stating that as a military man, Leakey was "unlikely to have been bullied by Bercow".[24]

Since retiring as Black Rod, Leakey has undertaken public speaking engagements including media appearances on radio and TV. He mentors senior executives and holds appointments in a number of business enterprises: Chief Strategy Officer of Scopeworker (a business management software service), Advisory Member of 2M Holdings Board (Chemicals and Gas Industry), a number of consultancy roles, and ambassador for the Hollie Gazzard Trust.

Personal life

Leakey was chairman of the

National Children's Orchestra
, but he resigned in June 2014.

He was appointed a Governor of Sherborne School and Sherborne School Group in 2018 and chairman in July 2020. He is also a trustee of numerous other Charitable and not for profit organisations.

He is an amateur piano player and singer. He is married with two sons. He enjoys classical music, playing squash, tennis, golf, most field sports, and chain sawing.[5]


Honours and awards

Leakey was

Dorset Yeomanry
and Dorset Army Cadet Force as well as Colonel of Cadet Force Music.

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
(CMG)		 24 March 2006, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the former Yugoslavia during the period 1st April to 30th September 2005".[28]
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
(CVO)		 2018 New Year Honours
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE)		 5 December 1997, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in former Yugoslavia during the period 21st December 1996 to 20th June 1997".[2]
United Nations Medal for UNFICYP United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
NATO Former Republic of Yugoslavia Medal With clasp ' Former Yugoslavia '
General Service Medal With oak leaves for
Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service awarded on 19 April 2002, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Northern Ireland during period 1st April 2001 to 30th September 2001".[29]
Western European Union Mission Service Medal With "ALTHEA" Clasp
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal 2002
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal 2012

References

  1. ^ "No. 57936". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 March 2006. p. 4194.
  2. ^ a b c "No. 54969". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 December 1997. p. 13691.
  3. ^ "Birthday's today". The Telegraph. 18 May 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2014. Lt Gen David Leakey, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, 59
  4. ^ "New appointment as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "LIEUTENANT GENERAL A D LEAKEY CMG CBE" (PDF). European Parliament. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  6. ^ Farmer, Ben (26 February 2015). "Heroism runs in the family for VC Para". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  7. ^ "No. 45331". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 March 1971. p. 2938.
  8. ^ "No. 45493". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 October 1971. p. 10969.
  9. ^ "No. 46403". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 November 1974. p. 11370.
  10. ^ "Fitzwilliam College Alumni News". Fitzwilliam College. 2011. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  11. ^ a b "No. 46495". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 February 1975. p. 2223.
  12. ^ "No. 47289". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 August 1977. p. 9974.
  13. ^ "No. 49897". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 October 1984. p. 13947.
  14. ^ "No. 53537". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1993. p. 20680.
  15. ^ "No. 54265". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1995. p. 61.
  16. ^ a b c Colin Mackie. "Army Commands 1900–2011 – Senior Army Appointments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  17. ^ "No. 56419". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 December 2001. p. 14897.
  18. ^ "No. 57453". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 November 2004. p. 13817.
  19. ^ "No. 58264". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 March 2007. p. 3233.
  20. ^ "Press Briefing for Handover Ceremony" (PDF). COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. 23 February 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  21. ^ "No. 59559". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 September 2010. p. 18725.
  22. ^ "New Black Rod starts". Parliament. 2 February 2011. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019.
  23. ^ Procter, Kate. "Giving Bercow Peerage would be scandal, says former Black Rod". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  24. ^ Giordano, Chiara. "Diane Abbott criticised after suggesting former military commander could not have been Bercow bullying victim". The Independent. No. 5 Feb 2020. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  25. ^ "No. 58113". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 October 2006. p. 13441.
  26. ^ "No. 59531". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 August 2010. p. 16755.
  27. ^ "No. 55627". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 October 1999. p. 10613.
  28. ^ "No. 57936". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 March 2006. p. 4194.
  29. ^ "No. 56541". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 April 2002. p. 4810.

External links

Government offices
Preceded by Black Rod
2011–2018 		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Director General of the European Union Military Staff
2007–2010 		Succeeded by
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