The Cambridge Society of Paris is pleased to welcome all alumni of Cambridge University and their guests to its Annual Dinner on 14^th October. Our Guest Speaker is Leigh Turner (Downing).

Leigh Turner (Downing) is a writer and inspirational speaker based in London. He was UK Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna from September 2016 to September 2021. Leigh's previous roles were as HM Consul General Istanbul and Director General for Trade and Investment Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus; HM Ambassador in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Director of Overseas Territories in London, responsible for territories including St Helena, the Falklands and Bermuda.

Leigh grew up in Nigeria, Exeter and Lesotho, before education in Swaziland, Manchester and Cambridge. After hitch-hiking around 27 of the United States in 1979, Leigh had a 42-year diplomatic career, lessons from which he draws in his September 2024 book “Lessons in Diplomacy”. He is the author of three thrillers and “Seven Hotel Stories”, a collection of feminist black comedies, and is a former writer for the Financial Times. He lectures at the Oxford University Diplomatic Studies Programme, the LSE, Vienna University and the Danube University Krems, and is a Visiting Professor at Graz University.

Dress: Black tie (or lounge suits if preferred).