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The high commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom is New Zealand's foremost diplomatic representative in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and in charge of New Zealand's diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom.

History

The High Commission of New Zealand is located in London, the United Kingdom's capital city. New Zealand has maintained a resident high commissioner in the United Kingdom since 1905, and a resident Agent-General since 1871. The high commissioner to the United Kingdom is concurrently accredited as high commissioner to Nigeria.

The high commissioner was formerly accredited as ambassador of New Zealand to Ireland, which is now a resident mission in Dublin since 2018.

As New Zealand was created as a part of the British Empire, its diplomatic relationship with the United Kingdom is its longest-standing; the position of high commissioner in London pre-dates New Zealand's Dominion status by two years, the Balfour Declaration of 1926 by 21 years, and the adoption of the Statute of Westminster of 1931 by 42 years. New Zealand appointed a high commissioner to Canada in 1942, and a high commissioner to Australia in 1943.

As fellow members of the Commonwealth of Nations, diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the United Kingdom are at governmental level, rather than between heads of state, with member countries exchanging high commissioners, rather than ambassadors.

List of heads of mission

The following individuals have held the office:^[1]

	Name	Term of office		Monarch
1	Isaac Featherston^{[nb 1]}	March 1871	September 1876	Victoria
2	Julius Vogel	September 1876	December 1880
3	Dillon Bell	December 1880	September 1891
4	Westby Perceval	September 1891	December 1895
5	William Pember Reeves^{[nb 2]}	December 1895	December 1908
5	William Pember Reeves^{[nb 2]}	December 1895	December 1908	Edward VII
6	William Hall-Jones	December 1908	August 1912	Edward VII
6	William Hall-Jones	December 1908	August 1912	George V
7	Thomas Mackenzie	August 1912	19 June 1920
8	James Allen	19 June 1920	1 July 1926
9	James Parr	1 July 1926	9 January 1930
10	Thomas Wilford	9 January 1930	25 January 1934
(9)	James Parr	25 January 1934	3 September 1936
(9)	James Parr	25 January 1934	3 September 1936	Edward VIII
11	Bill Jordan	3 September 1936	17 September 1951	Edward VIII
11	Bill Jordan	3 September 1936	17 September 1951	George VI
12	Frederick Doidge	17 September 1951	26 May 1954†	George VI
12	Frederick Doidge	17 September 1951	26 May 1954†	Elizabeth II
13	Clifton Webb	4 January 1955	31 March 1958
-	Dick Campbell (acting)	1 April 1958	30 September 1958
-	George Laking (acting)	30 September 1958	20 March 1961
14	Thomas Macdonald	20 March 1961	31 March 1968
-	Hunter Wade (acting)	31 March 1968	11 May 1968
15	Denis Blundell	11 May 1968	22 August 1972
-	Merv Norrish (acting)	22 August 1972	15 March 1973
16	Terry McCombs	15 March 1973	22 March 1975
17	Hugh Watt	22 March 1975	21 June 1976
18	Douglas Carter	21 June 1976	16 July 1979
19	Les Gandar	16 July 1979	27 September 1982
20	Bill Young	27 September 1982	21 February 1985
21	Joe Walding	21 February 1985	5 June 1985†
22	Bryce Harland	15 October 1985	3 June 1991
23	George Gair	3 June 1991	April 1994
24	John Collinge	April 1994	1 May 1997
25	Richard Grant	1 May 1997	4 January 1999
26	Paul East	4 January 1999	4 January 2002
27	Russell Marshall	4 January 2002	4 January 2005
28	Jonathan Hunt	April 2005	March 2008
29	Derek Leask	March 2008	February 2013
30	Lockwood Smith	25 March 2013	24 March 2017
31	Jerry Mateparae	24 March 2017	April 2020
32	Bede Corry	April 2020	8 September 2022
-	Shannon Austin (acting)	8 September 2022	January 2023
-	Shannon Austin (acting)	8 September 2022	January 2023	Charles III
33	Phil Goff^[2]	January 2023	Present	Charles III

Table footnotes:

^ the first Agent-General for the Colony of New Zealand
^ the last Agent-General and the first High Commissioner for the Dominion of New Zealand

References

^ "Heads of Missions List: U". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 8 July 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2006.
^ Mahuta, Nanaia. "Next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom". Beehive.govt.nz. New Zealand Government. Retrieved 21 January 2023.