Earlier this week, the British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Her Excellency Janet Douglas, hosted a reception in Bridgetown to collectively welcome the UK’s new Resident British Commissioners to the region.
They were appointed after the UK government announced plans for a major expansion of its global diplomatic network – opening nine new offices across the Commonwealth. Three of these new missions will be based in the Eastern Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Now in place since their arrivals between August and October 2019, the new Resident British Commissioners are in Barbados for a week of cross-government workshops and briefings at the network’s head office. The RBCs will report to the British High Commission in Bridgetown and to Mrs. Douglas, who remains accredited as the British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
These new posts join our pre-existing offices in Barbados and St Lucia, giving the UK physical representation in five of the seven countries covered by the Bridgetown and Eastern Caribbean network.
Speaking from her official residence to the large reception gathering, High Commissioner Janet Douglas said:
“The UK’s work and cooperation across the region will be enhanced by the opening of our new offices in the Eastern Caribbean. Regular regional engagement helps to further our shared objectives and advance the priorities of the 53 Commonwealth member states, particularly in smaller nations like those of the Eastern Caribbean.
I am pleased to introduce our four Resident British Commissioners who will assist the UK, Commonwealth and region with this work.”
The UK-Eastern Caribbean network’s full complement of Resident British Commissioners is now:
• Lindsy Thompson – Antigua and Barbuda
• Wendy Freeman – Grenada
• Steve McCready – St Lucia
• Steve Moore – St Vincent and the Grenadines