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His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is thediplomatic service of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing withforeign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to theCivil Service, which deals with domestic affairs. It employs around 14,000 people, roughly one-third of whom arecrown servants working directly for theForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office, either in London or abroad. The remaining two-thirds are employed locally by one of nearly 270British diplomatic missions abroad (such as embassies, consulates andhigh commissions).[1] ThePermanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is also the Head of the Diplomatic Service.[1]
Entry into the Diplomatic Service is highly competitive. In 2018, 12,266 applicants sought to join the Diplomatic Service fast stream. Seventy-one were successful, representing 0.6% of those who applied. This compares to the generalcivil service fast stream, also highly competitive, in which 9.1% of candidates were successful. Until around 2009 members of the Diplomatic Service could also formally receive a Royal Commission,[clarification needed] signed by theForeign Secretary and by the monarch, as members of a Crown service.
The Foreign Service, which originally providedcivil servants to staff the Foreign Office, was once a separate service, but it amalgamated with the Diplomatic Service in 1918. The Diplomatic Service also absorbed theColonial Service in the late 1960s.
Women were not allowed to join the Diplomatic Service until 1946. In 1936, an advisory committee on allowing women into the diplomatic service concluded that the admission of women would harm the service (the female members of the committee disagreed).[2] Until 1973, they were required to leave when they married. The first female ambassador to be appointed wasBarbara Salt, to Israel in 1962, but ill-health prevented her from taking up the post.Eleanor Emery wasBritish High Commissioner to Botswana from 1973 to 1977, corresponding to an ambassador but within theCommonwealth. The first woman to serve as an ambassador as such wasAnne Warburton, appointed to Denmark in 1976.[3]
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