I won't dismiss him out of hand as a schmoozer but he's a Nat West Banker by trade (1977-96), joined the FCO in 1999 when Blair was brown nosing the City, moved swiftly through the ranks to the Head of the Communication and Information Centre in the Prime Ministers Office in 2003, then a period at Trade & Investment, back to the FCO in 2008, Ambassador to Thailand 2010.

Nice work if you can get it