John Leahy (diplomat)
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Sir John Leahy KCMG (born February 7, 1928) is a former senior British diplomat. Until recently, Leahy was Chairman of Lonrho. He was succeeded as Chairman by Sir John Craven.
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[edit] Early career
Educated at Tonbridge School from 1941-46[1], Leahy was aged 24 when he joined the Foreign Office in 1952.
[edit] Diplomat
In a series of diplomatic appointments, Leahy became private secretary to Selwyn Lloyd, who was foreign secretary from 1955-60 during the Suez crisis. Leahy then served as Foreign Office spokesman before being seconded to the Northern Ireland Office as Under-Secretary of State.
Back at the Foreign Office, Leahy was appointed ambassador to South Africa and subsequently became the FCO's Deputy Under-Secretary of State (DUSS) for Africa and the Middle East. His last diplomatic appointment was as High Commissioner to Australia.
[edit] Sensitive assignments
Regarded as having "a safe pair of hands", Leahy carried out a number of sensitive assignments on behalf of the British government, and came face to face with leading political figures of the day. In April 1984, prime minister Margaret Thatcher sent Leahy to negotiate the release of 16 Britons who had been taken hostage by the Angolan rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi. At the time, Savimbi's UNITA guerrilla movement was financed and supported militarily by the apartheid regime in South Africa. On April 26, 1984 Leahy succeeded in securing the release of the British hostages at the UNITA base in Jamba, Angola.[2]
[edit] Post FCO
After his retirement from HM Diplomatic Service, Sir John Leahy held several non-executive appointments – including being a director of the Observer newspaper – before joining Lonrho. In agreeing to step down from Lonrho in October 1993, the controversial businessman, Tiny Rowland, nominated Leahy to take over as Chairman.[3] The Lonrho board unanimously approved Leahy's appointment.
[edit] Publications
A Life of Spice, John Leahy's account of the events leading up to the dismissal of Tiny Rowland. Published 12/12/2006 (£12.50).
