By Robert A. Emmanuel
Arriving with a few suitcases, a diplomatic passport, and a mission to rebuild the diplomatic office of the British High Commission in Antigua and Barbuda five years ago, Lindsy Thompson will soon leave the island with valuable memories.
The Resident British High Commissioner arrived in October 2019 with a wealth of experience gained as Consular Regional Manager for East Africa and the Indian Ocean, postings in Belgium, Sierra Leone, and the UK’s Yemen Office in Saudi Arabia.
She would have seen it all in the nearly 21 years she has worked at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO, the United Kingdom’s foreign affairs department.
And yet as she packs her bags — more accurately the crates filled with memorabilia, she looks back warmly on her final week serving as a diplomat in her “second home”.
“One thing I would say about this posting, yes, it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world and probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever lived, but the thing that’s made this posting so rewarding and the highlight of my 21-year career in diplomacy is its people,” she said in an Observer AM interview yesterday.
In 2019, there was not an official residence for the Resident British High Commissioner; the last one was in 2007, located on Old Parham Road, prior to the 2008 Financial Crisis.
Thompson was among many diplomats deployed to serve in Commonwealth nations following then UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s intention to expand the country’s diplomatic missions.
“He wanted to expand our network, and quite rightly, so when my ministry was looking at where do we expand to, naturally we thought of our friends in the Commonwealth, and Antigua and Barbuda was one of the 12 new missions we opened,” she recalled.
Throughout her tenure, High Commissioner Thompson has overseen many projects financed via the British government.
The Chevening scholarship programme, the ‘Resident British High Commissioner for a Day’ initiative, the UK-Caribbean infrastructure programme and the work with the Ministry of Blue Economy were among the projects she takes most pride in.
“Antigua and Barbuda is the first country to have a Maritime Economy Plan in the region that is UK funded through the Commonwealth.
“So that’s a blueprint of how this great nation can harness its natural treasures and make it work for itself in a sustainable way,” she remarked, noting the rollout of an aquaponics project for persons who are differently abled.
She was immensely impressed by the work done in collaboration with the National Parks Authority, describing their tactful navigation of the murky waters of British bureaucracy as “a fantastic job”.
“We’re very proud to have supported them in a number of initiatives from refurbishment work to their historical archives, the very important 8th March project … and also a pilot project about photovoltaic tiles,” she remarked.
High Commissioner Thompson’s next foreign service deployment is believed to be in April to the Pitcairn Islands — a small volcanic outcrop island in the South Pacific, home to around 50 persons and is a British Overseas Territory.
Meanwhile, her successor John Hamilton has already met with Antigua and Barbuda’s High Commissioner to the UK, Dr Karen Mae-Hill.
Thompson said Hamilton will enter the job with his own ideas for the position.
“This is a long-term relationship that we’re having between our two nations … so my successor, John Hamilton will continue the great work, he will have his own ideas … and it’s always good to have different perspectives, but those core projects and core relationships: respecting democracy, respecting human rights and rule of law will continue,” she said.