Martin Reynolds (civil servant)

Martin Alexander Baillie Reynolds CB CMG is a British civil servant who served as Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 to 2022. Reynolds previously served as British Ambassador to Libya under Prime Minister Theresa May and as the principal private secretary to Johnson when he served as Foreign Secretary in May's government.

Martin Reynolds
CB CMG
Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
In office
1 October 2019 – 3 February 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byPeter Hill
Succeeded byPeter Wilson
British Ambassador to Libya
In office
April 2019 – September 2019
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byFrank Baker
Succeeded byNicholas Hopton
Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
December 2014 – January 2018
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
Sec. of StatePhilip Hammond
Boris Johnson
Jeremy Hunt
Preceded byThomas Drew
Succeeded byJonathan Sinclair
Personal details
BornOxford, England
Alma materGonville and Caius College, Cambridge

Early life

Reynolds was born in Oxford, England.[1] He was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he gained an undergraduate degree in law.[2]

Career

Before entering government, Reynolds worked as a lawyer in London.[3] From 1997, he worked at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.[4]

Becoming a diplomat, Reynolds served at the British High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa as Deputy High Commissioner between July 2011 and November 2014.[5][6]

From December 2014 to January 2018, he was Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for part of that time while Boris Johnson was Foreign Secretary.[7][8]

Reynolds was Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Libya for five months between April and September 2019.[8][4] In July 2019, Johnson became prime minister, and Peter Hill resigned as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. Reynolds was recalled from his overseas posting and took up that post at 10 Downing Street in October 2019.[3]

2020 lockdown party email
Main article: Partygate

On 10 January 2022, an image leaked to ITV News purported to show an email sent by Reynolds on 20 May 2020 inviting those at 10 Downing Street to "make the most of the lovely weather and have some socially distanced drinks" in the garden.[9] Invitees were asked to "bring your own booze".[10] It was reported that over 100 people were invited to this gathering, and between thirty and forty people attended.[10] Campaigners including the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group called for Reynolds to be dismissed.[11]

On 3 February 2022 he resigned as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister,[12] but was expected to remain in place until a successor had been found.[13] On 8 March 2022, Reynolds was succeeded by Peter Wilson.[14]

In May 2022, following the release of the investigation final report by Sue Gray, it was revealed that Reynolds had boasted he had "got away with" rule-breaking at a "bring-your-own-booze" party in May 2020. In a fragment of a message to a special adviser, he had said: "Best of luck - a complete non-story but better than them focusing on our drinks (which we seem to have got away with)."[15] Reynolds' name was mentioned 24 times in the report.[16]

In the 2023 Channel 4 docudrama Partygate, he was played by Edwin Flay.[17]

Honours

Reynolds was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2018 Birthday Honours, for services to British foreign policy.[18] He was additionally appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2022 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.[19][20]

See also

References
  1. Chorley, Matt (4 February 2022). "The Press Gallery". Red Box Politics Podcast (Podcast). Acast. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  2. "Martin Reynolds". LinkedIn. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. "Martin Reynolds". GOV.UK. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  4. Zaptia, Sami (4 April 2019). "Martin Reynolds appointed new UK ambassador to Libya from April". Libya Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  5. "Deputy High Commissioner Martin Reynolds's speech at C5's Forum on Anti-Corruption - Southern Africa". GOV.UK. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  6. "British High Commission Pretoria". GOV.UK. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  7. "Birthday 2018 Diplomatic Service and Overseas List" (PDF). UK Government. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  8. "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Libya - April 2019". GOV.UK (Press release). Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  9. "'100 invited' to Downing Street garden lockdown drinks". BBC News. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  10. "Boris Johnson 'attended No 10 lockdown-breaking party' with 100 staff invited". The Independent. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  11. McShane, Asher (11 January 2022). "Partygate: Calls grow for PM's top aide Martin Reynolds to be sacked". LBC. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  12. "Four senior aides to Boris Johnson resign from No 10". BBC News. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  13. Stewart, Heather (3 February 2022). "Four Johnson aides quit in fallout from Downing Street parties". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  14. "Peter Wilson appointed Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister". GOV.UK. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  15. Diver, Tony (25 May 2022). "'We got away with it': Downing Street chief Martin Reynolds' messages revealed in Sue Gray report". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  16. "Sue Gray partygate report: Who's in the firing line after inquiry findings?".
  17. "Meet the cast of Partygate on Channel 4". Radio Times. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  18. "No. 62310". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June 2018. p. B4.
  19. "Resignation Honours 2023" (PDF). gov.uk. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  20. "No. 64120". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 July 2023. p. 14502.
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