Menna Rawlings

President of Queens’ College, Cambridge. Former 🇬🇧 Ambassador to France. Mum of 3. Sports fan, esp #ChelseaFC. London Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿.

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

Trust 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and 🇫🇷 to produce A Beautiful Game. Winning was nice (very nice 😊), but the spirit in which the game was played, and the respectful competition tinged with affection, was amazing. The best of @FIFAWorldCup. The best of all of us.

Et…nos gars étaient MAGNIFIQUE ! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🥉

[Matthew Stadlen @MatthewStadlen]

France and England reminding us that football can be a beautiful game.

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

@UKConsularEnvoy Great initiative. Fantastic choice. Good luck in the role @UKConsularEnvoy

[Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron]

La Tapisserie de Bayeux a pris le chemin de Londres. Ce trésor millénaire qui raconte notre histoire commune traverse la Manche. Merci aux équipes qui ont rendu possible ce geste historique de confiance, de culture et d’amitié.

Vive l’Entente cordiale !

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

@JenAndersonFCDO @JillMorrisFCDO Congratulations @JenAndersonFCDO ! From one fabulous woman (@JillMorrisFCDO) to another. 🙌🙌

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

So sad to hear of the passing of David Hockney. An incredible artist of our time, a great 🇫🇷🇬🇧 cultural figure, a relentless innovator. Forever grateful to have seen his last exhibition in Paris, and to have secured this ⬇️ beauty for the 🇬🇧 Residence there. RIP. #davidhockney

[Chelsea FC @ChelseaFC]

We probably deserve another red card for that last post! But in all seriousness, congratulations to @Arsenal on winning the Premier League and a great run in the Champions League.

Looking forward to picking up the battle again with you next season.

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

@Maitre_Eolas Vous ne comprenez pas du tout les Anglais ! La plupart d’entre nous ne pleurent pas…

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

@UKinUSA Ummm, think you’re missing the somewhat tribal nature of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 football!

It’s not 🇫🇷 vs 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿. It’s Paris vs @Arsenal.

And as @ChelseaFC fans we are …

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

@StephenLillieUK @FCDOMJLodge Congratulations @StephenLillieUK - great appointment 👍

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

Congratulations @SarahMacFCDO ! This is a terrific appointment, though I’m sure our Aussie friends will be sad to see you go.

[UK at the UN 🇬🇧🇺🇳 @UKUN_NewYork]

We are pleased to announce that Dame Sarah MacIntosh DCMG @SarahMacFCDO has been appointed UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the @UN in New York.

Dame Sarah will take up her appointment during the summer of 2026.https://t.co/QPeEuw2s4N

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

Enjoyed writing this! Time to reflect on 3.5 decades in diplomacy, with massive shifts on gender and tech.

The progress is real but not irreversible https://t.co/DHZOnbSOCw

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

That's great news. Congratulations @sblhickey ! Thoroughly deserved after all your incredible hard work on the Middle East @FCDOGovUK 👏

[Antonello Guerrera @antoguerrera]

It's official.

Change of His Majesty’s Ambassador to Italy: Stephen Hickey @sblhickey 🇬🇧🇮🇹

Mr Stephen Hickey CMG has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Italian Republic and Non-Resident Ambassador to the Republic of San Marino, in succession to the Rt Hon Lord @EdLlewellynFCDO CVO OBE.

Mr Hickey will take up his appointment during June 2026.

Godspeed to the new ambassador. @UKinItaly

[Heywood Quarterly @HeyQuarterly]

In the first article of our Seventh Edition, @MennaRawlings, former Ambassador to France, reflects on three and a half decades as a diplomat – and on peaks women have yet to scale.

Read the full article here: https://t.co/ppSDkmtkmm

#CivilService #Diplomacy #Equality

[Cambridge University @Cambridge_Uni]

We are delighted to announce that the University of Cambridge has received a commitment of £190 million – the biggest individual donation to a British university in modern times – to establish the Rokos School of Government.

This incredibly generous donation comes from investor and entrepreneur Chris Rokos.

The mission of the new School is to equip future leaders to navigate increasingly complex domestic and global political environments in a challenging and rapidly-changing world.

The Rokos School will build upon Cambridge’s world-leading expertise across the fields of public policy, politics and leadership, helping position us at the forefront of research and teaching in government and public leadership.

Fundamental to the School’s operation will be its direct access to Cambridge’s renowned expertise in technology and the sciences, together with disciplines more usually associated with the social sciences, arts and humanities.

The School will be built in the Cambridge West Innovation District – a vibrant community where outstanding researchers from many academic disciplines sit side by side with global businesses and innovative startups.

Explore more about the Rokos School of Government and this exciting new step for Cambridge: https://t.co/h9r5BeYTvC

#UniversityOfCambridge #CambridgeUniversity #RokosSchoolOfGovernment #ChrisRokos

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

Thanks @Ameer_Kotecha for clarifying and for sticking up for our staff who are working flat out on the Middle East crisis at home and overseas.

I’m all for robust feedback and am not saying that things are perfect @FCDOGovUK . Far from it. I agree that bureaucracy can be excessive, with too many layers and a cultural tendency to overthink. But I don’t perceive an « indulgent focus » on the corporate or the peripheral, and in the eyes of our peer diplomatic services we remain one of the best. So I dislike the tendency to talk us down, extrapolating from small examples to build an entire case.

We can disagree agreeably though and I am sorry if ‘malicious’ was wide of the mark. I recognise that everyone’s experience is/was different. But your article (and the associated reporting) got my goat, because I believe @FCDOGovUK does extraordinary work in turbulent times, with brave and brilliant staff working under the cosh. That’s what I saw.

I will zip it 🤐 now. All the best to you.

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

It’s misleading and malicious. The vast majority of @FCDOGovUK people, home and abroad, work their socks off to deliver for Britain - our people, our prosperity and our security. That might not grab the headlines, but it’s the reality.

I’ve left too, but would rather heed this ⬇️

[Deborah Haynes @haynesdeborah]

Excoriating criticism of @FCDOGovUK & Whitehall from a diplomat who’s just quit

h/t @thetimes

“It’s this constant focus on the peripheral & cuddly rather than a really relentless focus on the core of what the Foreign Office is meant to be there to do”

https://t.co/zpxpyMfG8J

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

Flashback to this one today.

RIP @DiploMog 😔

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

Just seen news of Palmerston’s retirement. I get it but ..... dammit we’ll miss you @DiploMog. Thanks for the memories. 😍😭

[Cambridge University @Cambridge_Uni]

Wishing all our students, staff, alumni and friends around the world a happy and hopeful 2026 🎉

📸 Nick Saffell

#HappyNewYear

[Menna Rawlings @MennaRawlings]

The most deliciously unexpected headline of 2025.

Cricket. Love it.

Well played @englandcricket 👏

https://t.co/NdPNRTkHM2