Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary

Policy Fellow Alumna, Centre for Science and Policy

Rachel King joined the Civil Service in 2008 and has spent most of her career to date at the centre of government. She is currently Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary.

Earlier in her career, Rachel worked in the Prime Minister’s Office as private secretary to Sir Jeremy Heywood and assistant private secretary to David Cameron, and at HM Treasury as Programme Manager for the Budget and Spending Review. She then spent three years in Tokyo and three years in Berlin in senior diplomatic roles focused on economic and trade policy, and the implications of Brexit.

Rachel has a particular interest in history and policy making, and her work in this area includes a website about the history of 10 Downing Street, and a series of seminars and workshops taking a long-term view of episodes of economic crisis. Before joining the Civil Service, Rachel completed a BA in Classics at Cambridge University and an MA and PhD in Archaeology and Ancient History at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.