What was your highlight of 2008?
There have been many. But the most recent one has to be seeing the embassy in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, win Gus O’Donnell’s overall prize for joined-up government at the civil service’s equivalent of the Oscars: the Civil Service awards. Their bid brought out, in a very striking way, the teamworking with the Department for Internation Development and Ministry of Defence which is essential to delivering in conflict environments, and which is now at the heart of our joint work in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What was your biggest challenge in 2008?
Implementing the FCO’s new strategic framework. This involved moving people and money to support the four policy objectives we identified, and to the parts of the world where our stakeholders inside government and beyond told us they wanted them to be. As a result, we have moved diplomats out of Europe and into countries such as China, India and Brazil, and into jobs focused on issues such as counter-terrorism and climate change. Since prioritising means doing less of some things, we have reduced FCO resources in some areas. That is never an easy operation! We’ve been glad to receive a lot of support from other departments in doing so.

What are your priorities for 2009?
On the policy front we need to keep the focus on our strategic objectives, dealing effectively with crises and conflict (on which we lead the Whitehall public service agreement) and making the most of the opportunities (the Obama administration, the Copenhagen climate change conference) while minimising the risks (conflict, terrorism, proliferation, the economic crisis turning the world away from open markets). And in the afternoons... one personal aim will be to speed up the cultural shift in the FCO towards a more flexible, inclusive organisation in which all our staff, including those hired locally by our embassies, feel part of one team.

How do you intend to achieve them?
On the foreign policy issues, I’m only one of many players. But with the world more unsettled than at any time in my career, I will aim to get the right balance for the FCO between responding to the urgent (whether it’s helping British citizens in a consular emergency or dealing with a foreign policy crisis), and keeping work going on the important – for example, using the financial crisis to drive international institutional reform. Changing the culture of an organisation requires leadership from the whole top team. That requires constant communication from me, given that my leadership team is dispersed around the globe, and it needs me and my board to model the behaviour we want to see throughout the organisation. So that’s what I will try to do.

What would you like for Christmas?
To avoid falling into the fabled trap of a British ambassador to the UN, long ago. He and his peers were asked a question like yours. His French colleague replied by asking for peace in the Middle East; the German, for an easing of east-west tensions. The British ambassador? He said: “A small box of dried fruit would be very nice, thank you...”
Happy Christmas.