Foreword

Menna Rawlings Director-General Economic and Global Issues

“Class is as adaptable as it is powerful.” That’s just one of the memorable lines from this fascinating publication, which tells the story of social class at the Foreign Office over the last 240 years.

Each historical period brings its own unique challenges to bear on social diversity of recruitment to the British Diplomatic Service. From the early days of the ‘breedings or feelings of gentlemen’, through decades of ‘all round good chaps’ to the early 21 st century, our understanding of the issue has shifted over time.

And yet this can be a difficult subject. It goes to the heart of our identity and personal matters around our family and ourselves. That means we have struggled to measure or discuss class in the way we do gender or LGBT rights, or to defend ourselves against persistent accusations that we are elitist and drawn from too narrow a range of social backgrounds.

So I am delighted that Dr James Southern has lifted a lid on this most sensitive but important diversity issue. As we increase our efforts to collect data on the socioeconomic background of our staff, his study reminds us of how far we’ve come, and why it matters.

The FCO and social class have a complex historical relationship: it is essential that we understand this past in order to move forward.