Egypt Will Welcome New UK Ambassador Gareth Bayley in September

The British Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office has announced a new Ambassador to Egypt: step forth, Gareth Bayley.

Bayley will assume responsibilities in September, and will bring a host of regional experience to the post. He will succeed Egypt’s current Ambassador, Sir Geoffrey Adams, who is retiring from his prestigious 42-year diplomatic career. 

It will be Bayley’s first Ambassadorial role, which he described as a “homecoming,” since his first diplomatic posting was in Cairo in 1998. “For now,” Bayley said, “improving Arabic is my main concern.”

Bayley will brush up on his Arabic while completing his current role as Director for South Asia and Afghanistan in the British Foreign, Commonwealth, and Diplomatic Office, as well as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Before that, he previously served as the UK’s Special Representative for Syria from 2014 to 2017.

We can only speculate that Ambassadorial positions in Cairo are striking experiences for diplomats. Ambassador John Casson, who preceded the current British ambassador Sir Adams, is a hugely popular figure who hosted engaging, relaxed livestreams and gained 1.2 million Twitter followers during his time in Egypt.

“My years in Egypt set me hunting for what truly transforms us and our world, Ambassador Casson recently wrote. “It was quite a journey.” It was a journey that led Ambassador Casson to join disability charity, L’Arche, as its UK National Leader in January 2021, while advocating for L’Arche Egypt’s work with NGOs across Egypt’s rural villages.