Theo Rycroft CMG LVO
Biography
Theo Rycroft has been the Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Paris since July 2021, working across the whole UK Network in France. Theo joined the Diplomatic Service in 2009.
From 2018 he was the EU Director in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, leading the FCDO’s engagement and policy work on EU Exit and the future relationship negotiations with the EU. He was Head of the EU Exit Strategy Department in the FCO from 2017 to 2018.
Until 2017, he was the Legal Adviser to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, and Head of International and EU Law at the Attorney General’s Office. He was Counsellor at the UK Mission to the United Nations in Geneva between 2011 and 2014, Assistant Legal Adviser at the FCO from 2009 to 2011, and from 2005 to 2009 he was in the National Security Litigation team in the Treasury Solicitor’s Department.
Prior to joining the Civil Service, he practiced as a commercial litigation solicitor at Herbert Smith LLP. He has an LLM in International Law and Jurisprudence from UCL and an MA in Classics from the University of Oxford.
Social media links
Follow Theo Rycroft on Twitter
Deputy Head of Mission, France
The Deputy Head of Mission is a senior diplomat and typically a key advisor to the Ambassador or High Commissioner. The Deputy is responsible for the daily management of an overseas Embassy or High Commission. They will represent the UK’s interests in the absence of the Ambassador as Chargé d’Affaires. A senior ranking Deputy may also take the title Minister. Smaller missions may not have a Deputy Head.