Brexit veteran

Outgoing head of mission Croisdale-Appleby was intimately involved in Brexit talks, working as U.K. chief negotiator David Frost’s deputy in Downing Street’s Europe taskforce throughout 2020.

Prior to that he was a director general in the Foreign Office from 2017 to 2020, working on European Union and other issues. Before taking up that role he was the British foreign affairs department’s Europe director from 2015 to 2017.

Four people familiar with the situation, including those cited above, said Croisdale-Appleby was due to depart late summer or early autumn 2026.

Earlier this month he was tipped as a possible successor to Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador. Planning for the diplomat’s departure, however, pre-dates a vacancy in Washington and his next job is not yet clear.

The UK Mission to the EU, known as UKMis, replaced the UK Permanent Representation to the EU when Britain left the European Union.

Based in offices on Avenue d’Auderghem just off the Schuman roundabout in Brussels, the body no longer has a formal seat at the table in EU institutions — but does its best to explain and promote British interests to Brussels while feeding back diplomatic intelligence to London.

The politically sensitive nature of discussions around Britain’s relationship with the EU has led successive British prime ministers to bring much work on the topic in house to Downing Street and its government department, the Cabinet Office.

This means that despite being part of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, UKMis works closely with the Cabinet Office, where EU Relations Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds is based. It also works with FCDO Europe Minister Stephen Doughty.