Dame Barbara Woodward | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Woodward in 2014 | |
| Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations | |
| In office 6 August 2020 – 3 October 2025 | |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Dame Karen Pierce |
| Succeeded by | Christian Turner |
| British Ambassador to China | |
| In office 19 February 2015 – 6 August 2020 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Sir Sebastian Wood |
| Succeeded by | Caroline Wilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Barbara Janet Woodward (1961-05-29)29 May 1961 (age 64) |
| Alma mater | University of St Andrews Yale University |
Dame Barbara Janet WoodwardDCMG OBE (born 29 May 1961) is a Britishdiplomat andChina expert.[1] She served asPermanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations from 2020 to 2025, having previously been theBritish Ambassador to China from 2015 to 2020, the first woman to hold that position.
Woodward undertook her undergraduate degree at theUniversity of St Andrews, Scotland, before going on to study international relations atYale University. She joined theForeign and Commonwealth Office in 1994 and has worked in China and Russia, and at theEuropean Union and theUnited Nations.[2]
Woodward was born inGipping,Suffolk, to Arthur Claude Woodward (1921–1992) and Rosemary Monica Gabrielle Fenton.[3][4][5][6] Her father, who served inWorld War II as an officer of theSuffolk Regiment and won theMilitary Cross for gallantry,[7] was later elected aFellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors,[3] and her mother taught atIpswich School.[8]
Woodward was educated at South Lee School inBury St Edmunds and atSaint Felix School, a co-educational independent boarding school inSouthwold.[9] In 1983, she took aMA inhistory fromSt Andrews.[3] She taughtEnglish, first atNankai University and then atHubei University, inWuhan,China, between 1986 and 1988.[1] She later learned and masteredChinese. Her teacher inLondon gave her the Chinese nameWu Baina (吴百纳 Wú Bǎinà).[1] In 1988 she went toYale University in theUnited States to further her studies oninternational relations, and obtained apostgraduateMaster of Arts (MA) degree.[2]
Woodward joined theForeign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1994.[2] She served in Russia from 1994 to 1998 as Second (and later First) Secretary, and in China from 2003 to 2009, first as Political Counsellor, then across the whole United Kingdom-China relationship as Deputy Head of Mission, including during the2008 Summer Olympics. From 2011 to 2015 she was Director General for Economic and Consular Affairs at the FCO.[2]
In February 2015 she was appointedBritish Ambassador to China, the first woman to hold the position. She was succeeded in September 2020 byCaroline Wilson.[10] In 2015, in a conversation withLucy D'Orsi,Queen Elizabeth II said thatXi Jinping's officials "were very rude to the ambassador" (referring to Woodward), during an event atLancaster House, London.[11][12][13]
Woodward was appointedPermanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations by theForeign Secretary,Dominic Raab, in 2020,[14] and served in that role until 2025.[15]In 2025 she was a candidate forChief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), which was eventually awarded toBlaise Metreweli.[8]
Woodward's hobbies includesports, particularlycompetitive swimming andtennis. She is a member of the Otter Swimming Club in London and has previously served as its Honorary Secretary.[3]
Woodward was included in the1999 New Year Honours list and made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II when she was serving as the First Secretary to Moscow.[16] In 2011, she was included in theBirthday Honours and made a Companionof the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for services to UK-China relations.[17][18] In 2016, she was included in theBirthday Honours and made aDame Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for services to UK-China relations.[9]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | British Ambassador to China 2015–2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | British Permanent Representative to the United Nations 2020–2025 | Succeeded by |