Laurie Bristow
Sir Laurence Stanley Charles Bristow is a British diplomat. Since March 2020 he has been serving as Regional Ambassador for COP 26 - China, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Middle East, North Africa jointly at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Cabinet Office.
Bristow was educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge where he obtained a BA in 1986. He achieved a PhD, awarded by University of Cambridge in 1990, with his thesis called "Ezra Pound: Poetry and Public Speaking". He achieved an MBA, in 2001, awarded by The Open University.
Bristow joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990. In 1992, after attending a year of Romanian language training, he was posted to Bucharest, Romania where he worked for three years as Second Secretary. He then returned to the FCO in London where he worked in the European Union Department. From 1996–1998, he served as Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Europe. After a year of Turkish language training, he worked in Ankara, Turkey as Head of the Political Section from 1999–2002. From 2002–2003 he worked in Rome at the NATO Defence College. In 2003 Bristow worked on the Iraq Policy Unit, FCO.
Bristow become the British Ambassador to Azerbaijan from February 2004 until 2007. He was Minister in Moscow for 2007–10. He then returned to London as Director, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, from 2010 until 2012. He subsequently replaced Thomas Drew as Director, Intelligence and National Security. In 2015, he was succeeded by Jonathan Allen and appointed to be Ambassador to the Russian Federation. He served in the role from January 2016 to January 2020, after which he was succeeded by Deborah Bronnert.
Bristow was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George "for services to British foreign policy interests and national security" in the 2015 New Year Honours.
