Defence and security: UK priorities in 2025

Webinar with The Lord Ricketts GCMG GCVO

Peter Ricketts currently serves as the Chair of the House of Lords European Affairs Committee and will be speaking to CEF in his personal capacity. The meeting will be conducted under the Chatham House Rule.

Before joining the House of Lords, Peter was the UK Ambassador to France from 2012 to 2016, where he played a key role in strengthening UK-French defence cooperation, building on the 2010 Lancaster House Treaties.

From 2010 to 2012, Peter served as the UK’s first National Security Adviser, coordinating the 2010 National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Between 2006 and 2010, he was the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Head of the Diplomatic Service. Throughout his distinguished career, Peter focused extensively on politico-military affairs and crisis management, including his tenure as FCO Political Director (2001–2003) and Permanent Representative to NATO (2003–2006).

Peter holds honorary degrees from the Universities of London, Kent, and Bath and is an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford. He is also a Visiting Professor at King’s College London and serves as Honorary President of the Normandy Memorial Trust, which oversees the construction of the British national memorial to those who fell under British command during the 1944 Battle of Normandy.