Lord Hannay is Chair of the UN All-Party Parliamentary Group. A career diplomat, he joined the UK Diplomatic Service in 1959, with initial postings to Tehran and Kabul. He was involved in the negotiations that led to the UK’s entry into the European Communities and then served at the UK embassy in Washington DC (1984-5) before becoming Permanent Representative to the European Economic Community (1985-90). From 1990 until 1995 he was UK ambassador to the United Nations.
Between 1996 and 2003, he was UK Special Representative for Cyprus and, in 2004, served on the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which proposed reforms including the Human Rights Council and Peacebuilding Commission. In 2001 he was created a life peer and in 2003 he was made a Companion of Honour. He co-chairs the parliamentary group on global security and non-proliferation and is also a member of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.
Lord Hannay's most recent book "Britain’s Quest for a Role: A Diplomatic Memoir from Europe to the UN" was published in October 2012 and provides frontline information and insights into Britain s complex relations with Washington and Europe. The book has recently been reviewed by The Economist and the New Statesman.