Andrew Wood (diplomat)

Sir Andrew Marley Wood GCMG (born 2 January 1940) is a former British diplomat.

Sir Andrew Wood
Wood in 2012
British Ambassador to Russia
In office
1995–2000
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Tony Blair
Preceded bySir Brian Fall
Succeeded bySir Roderic Lyne
British Ambassador to Yugoslavia
In office
1985–1989
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded bySir Kenneth Scott
Succeeded bySir Peter Hall
Personal details
Born (1940-01-02) 2 January 1940 (age 84)
Gibraltar
NationalityBritish
EducationArdingly College
Alma materKing's College, Cambridge

Born in Gibraltar, Wood was educated at Ardingly College and King's College, Cambridge. In 1964, he was posted to Moscow by the British Diplomatic Service. Following a range of diplomatic posts he served as British Ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1985 to 1989. From 1995 to 2000 Wood served as British Ambassador to Russia and Moldova before retiring from diplomatic service.[1]

In addition to diplomatic service, Wood has served on the boards or executive councils of several institutions, including the PBN Company, the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust, for which he was director, and the Britain Russia Centre, which he chaired. He has been Senior Advisor to or on the advisory boards of the PBN Company, Ernst & Young, Renaissance Capital, and the British Consultants' Bureau. He also advised then British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Russian investment issues. He was made GCMG in 2000, having been made KCMG in 1995 and CMG in 1986.[2]

In January 2017, Wood was revealed by The Independent to be the British diplomat who had played a key role in unsubstantiated claims that Donald Trump was involved in a sex scandal being used as "Kompromat" by Russia to control Trump.[3] When questioned by the newspaper, Wood admitted his role but said "My view is that these are serious matters and that they should be investigated. I don't think I have done anything wrong at all in what I have done."[3]

Honours edit

References edit

  1. ^ 'WOOD, Sir Andrew (Marley)', Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
  2. ^ "BBC News - New Years Honours - Diplomatic and Overseas". 31 December 1999. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  3. ^ a b Kim Sengupta (12 January 2017). "Revealed: former British ambassador Sir Andrew Wood's key role in Trump investigation - Exclusive: 'Yes, I did meet Senator McCain and his aides at the conference,' Sir Andrew Wood tells The Independent". Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.