News story

Campaign hub: UK nominee for Director-General of the WTO

This page provides information on Dr Liam Fox’s campaign to become Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

• From: Department for International Trade
• Published: 14 August 2020

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

This news article was withdrawn on 26 October 2020

Liam Fox is no longer in the running for role of Director-General of the WTO. See the WTO 2020 selection process.

Dr Liam Fox speaking at the WTO in July

On Wednesday 8 July, the Prime Minister nominated former International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox as the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

This follows an announcement earlier this year that the WTO’s current Director-General, Roberto Azevedo would step down from his post in August, following 7 years in charge.

Dr Fox has significant political and diplomatic experience in the field of global trade. This page provides an overview of his campaign.

Follow Dr Fox on Twitter and on Linkedin.

About Dr Liam Fox:

Read Dr Fox’s campaign brochure and CV:

• Dr Fox in his own words - Round 2 campaign brochure (PDF, 2.53 MB, 10 pages)
• Campaign brochure for Round 1: Dr Liam Fox - Candidate for Director-General of the WTO (PDF, 2.65 MB, 14 pages)
• CV: Dr Liam Fox - Candidate for Director-General of the WTO (PDF, 388 KB, 3 pages)

The campaign brochure has also been translated into the following languages:

• Le très honorable Dr. Liam Fox, MP Candidat au poste de Directeur général de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (French) (PDF, 693 KB, 12 pages)
• El Muy Honorable Dr. Liam Fox MP Candidato a Director General de la Organización Mundial del Comercio (Spanish) (PDF, 693 KB, 12 pages)
• د. ليام فوكس مرشح لمنصب مدير عام منظمة التجارة العالمية (Arabic) (PDF, 720 KB, 12 pages)
• 尊敬的利亚姆·福克斯医生议员阁下 世界贸易组织总干事候选人 (Mandarin) (PDF, 841 KB, 12 pages)
• Достопочтенный д-р Лиам Фокс - Кандидат на пост генерального директора ВТО (PDF, 725 KB, 12 pages)

Watch Dr Fox’s campaign update on 8 October

Watch Dr Fox’s campaign update as he enters the 2nd round of the WTO DG contest

Watch Dr Fox’s campaign video

Watch Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s endorsement message for the campaign

Watch Dr Fox’s campaign address in Spanish

On 13 July 2020 Dr Fox outlined his vision for the WTO in an article for The Daily Telegraph: The WTO needs political momentum at the top, not better technocrats

You might also be interested in Dr Fox’s interview at Chatham House on 10 August 2020:

• read the article
• watch the video

You can also watch Dr Fox’s recent interview with the World Free Zones Organization here

News Updates

17 August - read Dr Fox’s op-ed for Live Mint in India by following this link.

19 August - Dr Fox pledges half his team will be women if he is the WTO DG

28 August - read Dr Fox’s op-ed on gender and the WTO for Front Page Africa by following this link

3 September - read Dr Fox’s piece for The Business Standard on making the case for global trade at the WTO by following this link

11 September - read Dr Fox’s op-ed for City A.M. on why the WTO must halt its march into irrelevance by following this link

18 September - Dr Liam Fox through to 2nd round in WTO Director General contest

23 September - Dr Liam Fox makes SMEs his priority as WTO contest continues

23 September - Read Dr Fox’s op-ed for CapX on how the WTO needs a reality check by following this link

5 October - Read Dr Fox’s interview with Mint Live on the many challenges facing the WTO and his plans to get it working for all members

Published 14 August 2020