Michael Gifford


Michael John Gifford is a British diplomat who has been the United Kingdom's ambassador to Kazakhstan since January 2018.

Career

Gifford joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1981. From 2004 until 2007 he served as the British Ambassador to Yemen. He was then the Deputy Head of Mission in Cairo. He became the Ambassador to North Korea in October 2012. He left that appointment in December 2015 and was succeeded by Alastair Morgan. After full-time Russian language training he was appointed to be ambassador to Kazakhstan from early 2018.

Personal life

Gifford is married to his wife, Patricia, and the couple have one son and one daughter.