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Tom Fletcher (diplomat)

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Tom Fletcher
CMG
Fletcher in 2016
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 October 2024
Appointed byAntónio Guterres
Preceded byMartin Griffiths
British Ambassador to Lebanon
In office
2011–2015
Preceded byFrances Guy
Succeeded byHugo Shorter
Personal details
Born (1975-03-27) 27 March 1975 (age 50)
NationalityBritish
Children2

Thomas Stuart Francis Fletcher CMG (born 27 March 1975) is a British diplomat and writer who has served as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator since 2024.[1][2]

He was Principal of Hertford College, Oxford, from 2020 to 2024,[3] having previously served as British Ambassador to Lebanon and a foreign affairs policy adviser at 10 Downing Street.[4][5] He is the co-founder of 2020 (a progressive think tank).

Early life and education

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Fletcher was born in Kent and educated at The Harvey Grammar School and Hertford College, Oxford.[citation needed]

Diplomatic career

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Early roles

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Fletcher joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and held diplomatic posts in Nairobi and Paris, and is the co-founder of 2020 (a progressive think tank). He was also private secretary to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers Baroness Amos and Chris Mullin.[6] While in Kenya, he took part in a charity boxing match with the mayor of Nairobi, who had t-shirts printed saying "Fletcher goes home on a stretcher".[7]

Between 2007 and 2011, Fletcher was a foreign policy and Northern Ireland adviser to prime ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.[1] In his memoirs, Brown called him "indispensable and indefatigable".[8] In his book For the Record, Cameron wrote: "There was one man who would prove essential: Tom Fletcher. Tom became my support, sounding board and source of information about virtually every country on Earth."[9]

Ambassador to Lebanon

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From 2011 to 2015 Fletcher served as British Ambassador to Lebanon, where he tweeted and wrote blogposts (Dear Lebanon[10] and Yalla Bye[11]). He said: "The smartphone from which I tweet is also the device which terrorists can use to track me. For security reasons I always have to tweet from the car on the way to the next place. If I tweet from the place I am, I have to leave immediately." The BBC made a documentary, The Naked Diplomat, about his work,[12] which involved initiatives on refugee education, job creation[13] and border security.[14][15]

In partnership with the Banque du Liban, Fletcher led the launch of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub, an international accelerator using London as a platform for Lebanese technology businesses to grow internationally.[16] By December 2018, the hub had helped to grow 91 start-ups, raising more than $64 million in venture funding and creating more than 2,000 jobs in Lebanon and the United Kingdom.[17]

Fletcher donated blood after a terrorist attack against the Iranian embassy in Beirut in 2013.[18]

Arab News described him as "the anti-diplomat" because of his steadfast refusal to live up to the stereotype expected of the ambassadorial profession.[19] He was commended by many commentators for his viral online farewell, which resurrected the old Foreign and Commonwealth Office tradition of the valedictory despatch.[20] In December 2015 he was given the Lovie Special Achievement award[21] for his use of social media while serving in Lebanon.

United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator

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In October 2024 Fletcher was nominated by Keir Starmer to succeed Martin Griffiths as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.[2] He was the sixth Briton in a row to hold the role, despite efforts by some countries to have the United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres, appoint someone of a different nationality.[1]

Fletcher garnered controversy in May 2025 for his erroneous claim on BBC Radio 4 that 14,000 babies would die in 48 hours[22] due to malnutrition caused by Israel withholding aid from the Gaza Strip. This was shown to be false and unsubstantiated—though only after his incorrect claim had gone viral,[23] leading him to face criticism, calls for his resignation and accusations of antisemitism, including claims of blood libel from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.[24][25][26][27] The United Nations has since withdrawn his comment, saying that Fletcher misquoted the 12 May IPC report.[28][29] Fletcher expressed regret at his lack of "precision" in his erroneous claim, but maintained that Israel is still using food and humanitarian aid as a weapon of war, constituting a war crime.[30]

Other work

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Writing and broadcasting

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Fletcher's first book, The Naked Diplomat: Power and Statecraft in the Digital Age, was published by Harper Collins in 2016.[31] Gordon Brown called it "diplomatic genius", and David Cameron wrote that it was "a great read from a brilliant diplomat". The Times called it "a brilliant, funny polemic ... a cracking read",[32] and The Guardian called it "a call for us all to reconsider our place in society ... to be brave, creative, involved and connected".[33]

He is also the author of Ten Survival Skills for a World in Flux (2022), The Ambassador (2022) and The Assassin (2024), and in 2017 published a report on the future of the United Nations in the digital age.[34] In 2023 he presented a BBC series entitled The Battle for Liberal Democracy.[35]

Academic and other roles

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Fletcher was a visiting professor of International Relations at New York University Abu Dhabi,[36] and a visiting professor at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi.[37] He became an Honorary Fellow of Hertford College,[38] and from 2020 to 2024 served as Principal of the college.[39][3]

Fletcher is the project director of Towards Global Learning Goals, a network that aims to create equal opportunities, develop the skills needed to thrive in a new economy, and make it easier for people on the move to adapt.[40]

He chaired the international board of the Creative Industries Federation,[41] and was a founding member of the Global Tech Panel. In 2018 he founded the Foundation for Opportunity to share ideas, skills and experience and support future leaders in delivering positive change.[42]

Personal life

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He is married to Louise Fletcher, an Irish counselling psychologist, with whom he has two sons. He collected a book of advice for his sons from world leaders, including American presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, while working for 10 Downing Street.[43][44]

References

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  1. ^ a b c The Guardian, "Former foreign policy adviser to three UK PMs appointed as UN aid chief", 9 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b United Nations, "Mr. Tom Fletcher of the United Kingdom – Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator", 9 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b University of Oxford, Hertford College, "An Announcement from the Principal", 9 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  4. ^ "So…Yalla, Bye". blogs.fco.gov.uk. 31 July 2015.
  5. ^ Meyer, Christopher (6 August 2015). "How to step down as an ambassador – with style". The Daily Telegraph.
  6. ^ "Tom Fletcher". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Kenya's undiplomatic big fight". 14 June 2001. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. ^ Brown, Gordon (2017). My Life, Our Times. National Geographic Books. ISBN 978-1847924971.
  9. ^ "For the Record". Amazon. 2019. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Dear Lebanon: An Open Letter". November 2013.
  11. ^ "So…Yalla, Bye". July 2015.
  12. ^ "On Her Majesty's Service – in a new way". 25 August 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  13. ^ "UK-Lebanon Technology Hub". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  14. ^ Watt, Holly (30 November 2014). "Secret British role in halting Isil 'massacre' in Lebanon". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  15. ^ Wood, Paul (1 December 2014). "The UK's £20m IS fight in Lebanon". BBC News. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Fletcher unveils U.K.-Lebanon technology hub". dailystar.com.lb. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  17. ^ "How is the UK helping to accelerate Lebanese tech startups?". 19 October 2018.
  18. ^ "British Ambassador Tom Fletcher Donated Blood to the Jnah Explosion Victims". 20 November 2013.
  19. ^ "'Naked Diplomat' author Tom Fletcher bares all on life as UK ambassador to Lebanon". Arab News. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  20. ^ Meyer, Christopher (6 August 2015). "How to step down as an ambassador – with style". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  21. ^ https://www.lovieawards.eu/features/top-moments-at-the-5th-annual-lovie-awards/ [dead link]
  22. ^ "UN humanitarian chief: Thousands of Gazan babies will die without aid". BBC News. 20 May 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  23. ^ "How one UN leader's mistaken timeline caused confusion about Gaza children's starvation risk". PBS News. 23 May 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  24. ^ "Debunked: UN official's claim 14,000 Gazan babies could die in 48 hours was untrue". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  25. ^ "The fight over whether 14,000 babies were at risk of dying in 48 hours in Gaza". The Independent. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  26. ^ Garfinkel, Imogen (30 May 2025). "UN chief who made false claim about 14,000 babies dying doubles down on Gaza 'starvation'". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  27. ^ "Hillel Neuer on Sydney Radio: UN Must Remove Tom Fletcher After Scandalous Blood Libel". UN Watch. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  28. ^ "Gaza Strip: Acute Food Insecurity Situation for 1 April - 10 May 2025 and Projection for 11 May - 30 September 2025 | IPC - Integrated Food Security Phase Classification". www.ipcinfo.org. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  29. ^ "BBC, UN admit misleading in '14,000 Gaza babies' claim". 21 May 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  30. ^ "Gaza being subjected to forced starvation, top UN official tells BBC". BBC News. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  31. ^ Fletcher, Tom (23 March 2017). The naked diplomat : understanding power and politics in the digital age (William Collins paperback ed.). London. ISBN 9780008127589. OCLC 953438948.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  32. ^ Boyes, Roger (11 June 2016). "Naked Diplomacy: Power and Statecraft in the Digital Age by Tom Fletcher". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  33. ^ "Naked Diplomacy by Tom Fletcher review – international relations for the digital age". The Guardian. 13 June 2016.
  34. ^ "United Networks". unitednetworks.ae.
  35. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – The Battle for Liberal Democracy". BBC. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  36. ^ Dhabi, NYU Abu. "Thomas Fletcher". New York University Abu Dhabi.
  37. ^ "British diplomat appointed as senior adviser at Emirates Diplomatic Academy". The National. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  38. ^ "Mr Thomas Fletcher". Hertford College | University of Oxford. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  39. ^ "Tom Fletcher CMG elected as Principal". Hertford College | University of Oxford. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  40. ^ "We need a learning revolution – Towards Global Learning Goals". Global Learning Goals. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  41. ^ "Council – Creative Industries Federation". creativeindustriesfederation.com.
  42. ^ "Tom Fletcher".
  43. ^ Fisher, Lucy. "Dream Big Kid, and give Carla a call". The Times.
  44. ^ "JLA / Video from Tom Fletcher".
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