Edward Llewellyn, Baron Llewellyn of Steep

His Excellency The Right Honourable The Lord Llewellyn of Steep OBE PC
Official portrait, 2017
British Ambassador to Italy
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 April 2022
Monarchs	Elizabeth II Charles III
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak Keir Starmer
Preceded by	Jill Morris
British Ambassador to France
In office 9 November 2016 – 8 August 2021
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Theresa May Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Julian King
Succeeded by	Menna Rawlings
Downing Street Chief of Staff
In office 11 May 2010 – 13 July 2016
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Deputy	Catherine Fall
Preceded by	Jeremy Heywood
Succeeded by	Fiona Hill Nick Timothy
Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Opposition
In office 6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010
Leader	David Cameron
Preceded by	Stephen Sherbourne
Succeeded by	Anna Healy
Members of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 October 2016 Life Peerage
Personal details
Born	(1965-09-23) 23 September 1965 (age 59)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	New College, Oxford

Edward David Gerard Llewellyn, Baron Llewellyn of Steep, OBE, PC (born 23 September 1965)^[1] is a British diplomat and former political adviser serving as the British Ambassador to Italy since 2022. He previously served as the British Ambassador to France from 2016 to 2021^[2] and as the Downing Street Chief of Staff under then prime minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2016.

In February 2022, he was appointed British ambassador to Italy. He presented his credentials to Italian president Sergio Mattarella on 7 April 2022.

Llewellyn was educated at Sunningdale School.^[3] He later attended Eton College, where he was a year above David Cameron. Llewellyn left Eton in 1983 and spent a brief amount of time working at Conservative Central Office, before studying at New College, Oxford, where he was steward (i.e. president) of the College JCR. New College contemporaries included Rageh Omaar, Steve Hilton and Ian Katz.

The UK government website says that Llewellyn spent four years (from 1988 to 1992) working for the Conservative Party's research department, including a year as Private Secretary to Margaret Thatcher.

After leaving Oxford, he was employed as an aide to Governor Chris Patten in Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997, as a member of Patten's 'Cabinet' following Patten's appointment as a European Commissioner from 1999 to 2002, and then as Chief of Staff to the former Liberal Democrat Leader Paddy Ashdown in his role as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2005.^[4][5][6]

Llewellyn was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 Birthday Honours^[7] and promoted to Officer (OBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours.^[8]

Llewellyn was appointed as an Honorary Captain in the Royal Naval Reserve in July 2021.^[9]

Following David Cameron's victory in the Conservative leadership election in December 2005, Llewellyn was hired to be Cameron's personal chief of staff in his capacity as leader of the Opposition. Llewellyn continued in this role until 2010.

He served as part of the Conservative negotiating team, along with George Osborne, William Hague and Oliver Letwin, when they were negotiating a possible deal with the Liberal Democrats after the 2010 general election. Their negotiations were successful and they created the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement leading to the formation of a coalition government.

Cameron became Prime Minister and appointed Llewellyn to the post of Downing Street Chief of Staff. In July 2011, several newspapers reported that Llewellyn asked Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates not to speak to Cameron about the News International phone hacking scandal.^[10]

Following the Conservative Party's election victory at the 2015 general election, Llewellyn was sworn into the Privy Council on 14 May 2015.^[11]

In August 2016, he was nominated for a life peerage in David Cameron's Resignation Honours^[12] and was created Baron Llewellyn of Steep, of Steep in the County of Hampshire, on 20 October.^[13] He took his seat on 31 October, when he was introduced by Chris Patten and William Hague.^[14]

It was announced on 23 September 2016 that he would become British Ambassador to France,^[15] and it was reported that he will not sit in the House of Lords while serving as ambassador.^[16] He took up the post on 9 November 2016, being referred to as Edward Llewellyn.^[17] Llewellyn was succeeded as ambassador by Menna Rawlings in summer 2021, but it was announced he would transfer to another Diplomatic Service appointment.^[18]

On 18 January 2022 it was announced that Llewellyn would succeed Jill Morris as British Ambassador to Italy and Non-Resident Ambassador to San Marino.^[19] He presented his credentials to president Sergio Mattarella on 7 April 2022.