John Kerr, Baron Kerr of Kinlochard

The Right Honourable The Lord Kerr of Kinlochard GCMG
British Ambassador to the United States
In office 1995–1997
President	Bill Clinton
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Robin Renwick
Succeeded by	Christopher Meyer
British Representative to the European Union
In office 1990–1995
President	Enrique Barón Crespo Egon Klepsch Klaus Hänsch
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	David Hannay
Succeeded by	Stephen Wall
Personal details
Born	22 February 1942 Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland United Kingdom

John Olav Kerr, Baron Kerr of Kinlochard GCMG (born 22 February 1942), a former diplomat, is Deputy Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and an independent (cross-bench) member of the House of Lords.

Background and education

Born in Grantown-on-Spey, he was educated at Glasgow Academy and at Pembroke College, Oxford (BA modern history 1963). He has Honorary degrees from the Universities of St Andrews, Aston and Glasgow.

Diplomatic career

He served in the British Diplomatic Service from 1966 until 2002. This included postings at the British Embassy in Moscow, and at the High Commission in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He was Private secretary to the Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1974 until 1979, and was on secondment to HM Treasury from 1979 until 1984, during which time he was Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1981 until 1984. He was Head of Chancery at the British Embassy in Washington DC from 1984 until 1987, then Assistant Under Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1987 until 1990.

He was Ambassador and UK Permanent Representative to the European Communities/European Union in Brussels from 1990 until 1995. According to the BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson, during the 1991 discussions leading up to the Maastricht Treaty Kerr hid under a table to listen to the conversations and passed notes to Prime Minister John Major to help him with the negotiations.

He was Ambassador to the United States in Washington from 1995 to 1997. Returning to London in 1997, he was Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service until 2002. After leaving UK Government service he was Secretary General of the European Convention in 2002/3.

He was appointed CMG in 1987, KCMG in 1991, and GCMG in 2001. Three years later, he was created a life peer as Baron Kerr of Kinlochard, of Kinlochard in Perth and Kinross. In the House of Lords he serves in the Law and Institutions Sub-Committee of the EU Select Committee.

Business career

He became a Director of Shell Transport and Trading in 2002, and chaired the group of Directors who brought about the creation in 2005 of Royal Dutch Shell plc, of which he became, and remains, Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director. He has been a Director of the Scottish American Investment Trust since 2002, of Rio Tinto plc since 2003, and of Scottish Power Ltd since 2009.

He is a Trustee of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (since 2005), an executive committee member of the Trilateral Commission, and UK President of the UK/Korea Forum for the Future. He was Chairman of the Court and Council of Imperial College London from January 2005 until July 2011. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and was a Trustee of the National Gallery, London, from 2002 to 2010, and of the Rhodes Trust from 1997 to 2010, and was a Fulbright Commissioner from 2003 to 2009.

He is Chairman of the Centre for European Reform, Vice-President of the European Policy Centre, and a Council member of Business for New Europe.

References

• Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 14 September 2004

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir David Hannay	UK Permanent Representative to the European Union 1990-1995	Succeeded by Sir Stephen Wall
Preceded by Sir Robin Renwick	British Ambassador to the United States 1995-1997	Succeeded by Sir Christopher Meyer
Government offices
Preceded by Sir John Coles	Permanent Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1997-2002	Succeeded by Sir Michael Jay