Sir Kim Darroch has made international headlines over his shock resignation as British ambassador to the United States.
The news follows the leak of sensitive diplomatic messages from the UK's ambassador to Washington painting a critical picture of the Trump White House.
President Donald Trump called ambassador Sir Kim a "pompous fool" and a "very stupid guy" who had been foisted on the US.
Many people may not know that the senior diplomat is originally from the North East having been born in County Durham .
The 65-year-old was born in the village of South Stanley in April 1954.
He then grew up on a council estate in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, before returning to the North East to study Zoology at Durham University.
Sir Kim joined the diplomatic service in 1977 and is now one of the UK's most senior diplomats.
In a long career he has had two postings to Brussels as well as tours of Tokyo and Rome.
From 2004 to 2007 Sir Kim served as EU Advisor to the Prime Minister and Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat.
Between 2007 and 2011 he served in Brussels as the UK Permanent Representative to the European Union, representing UK interests in areas including the aftermath of the financial crisis and the issues around European integration.
Sir Kim was then secretary of the National Security until September 2015 and led on issues such as the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Russian aggression in Ukraine, the nuclear threat from Iran and the collapse of government authority in Libya.
Prior to taking on the role of UK ambassador to the US in January 2016, he served as national security adviser to former prime minister David Cameron.
Sir Kim married his wife Vanessa in 1978 and they have two grown-up children, Simon and Georgina.
