Francis Richards (diplomat)

Viceregal styles of
Sir Francis Richards
(2003–2006)
Viceregal styles of; Sir Francis Richards; (2003–2006)
Reference style	His Excellency
Spoken style	Your Excellency

Sir Francis Richards
Director of the Government Communications Headquarters
Sir Francis Richards Director of the Government Communications Headquarters
	In office; July 1998 – April 2003
Preceded by	Sir Kevin Tebbit
Succeeded by	Sir David Pepper
Personal details
Born	1945 (age 78–79)
Parent	Second Lieutenant;
Unit	Royal Green Jackets
Battles/wars	United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

Sir Francis Neville Richards

Government Communications Headquarters

from 1998 to 2003.

Career

Richards is the son of

commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets, serving with the United Nations Force in Cyprus.^[2]

After Richards' army career was cut short by injury, he entered the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office.^[2] He was the first High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Namibia.^[3]

He was director of the

Intelligence and Security Committee, saying that it was "not a very good idea" for a former Conservative minister to chair the committee.^[5] Richards also questioned whether Rifkind was "well-placed to command confidence."^[5] Richards was the chairman of the trustees of Bletchley Park from 2006 to 2011 and the chairman of the Imperial War Museum from December 2011.^[6]

Richards served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar from 2003 to 2006.^[7]

At the end of his term in Gibraltar on 17 July 2006, Richards handed-over the keys to the fortress of Gibraltar, in the traditional 'Ceremony of the Keys', and departed on HMS Monmouth. He was succeeded as governor in September 2006 by Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fulton, a former Commandant General Royal Marines.^[8]

An honorary senior fellow at the University of Birmingham, Richards was appointed director of its Centre for Studies in Security and Diplomacy in April 2007.^[9] He currently sits on the board of governors at Rendcomb College.^[10]

References

^ Aldrich 2011, p. 504
^ ^a ^b The Governor 11 March 2003
^ "High Commission history". British High Commission in Windhoek. 3 August 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
^ "New chief for GCHQ". BBC News. 19 December 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Snowden leaks: Rifkind's spy scrutiny role questioned". BBC News. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^ "Sir Francis Richards Appointed New Chairman of Imperial War Museum" (PDF). Imperial War Museum. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
^ "Gibraltar Governor takes NSI chair". IFSEC Global. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
^ "Friends of Gibraltar -Welcome" (PDF). Retrieved 18 May 2016.
^ "School of Government and Society". Retrieved 18 May 2016.
^ "Governors". Rendcomb College. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Kevin Tebbitt	Director of the Government Communications Headquarters 1998–2003	Succeeded by Sir David Pepper
Preceded by Sir David Durie	Governor of Gibraltar 2003–2006	Succeeded by Sir Robert Fulton

Career

References

Further reading