Ian Buist

John Latto Farquharson Buist (30 May 1930 – 27 October 2012), known as Ian Buist, was a British diplomat who worked in Kenya and East Africa during the 1950s, as well as being a member of the British High Commission. From 1976 to 1990, Buist was an Under Secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Overseas Development Administration.

After his retirement, Buist responded to comments in the press regarding post-colonial Kenyan development.

Personal background Buist was born to Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Powrie Buist RAMC, an Army doctor, and Christian Mary Buist, both from Dundee. In a 2008 interview with Malcolm McBain, Buist described his grandfather, Robert Cochrane Buist, as "a brilliant mathematician, physician and obstetrician, but he subscribed to every rebel cause that he could. He was an early socialist, an atheist, a vegetarian, a eugenicist, and a promoter of Dundee's now heavily-used crematorium".

After his retirement, Buist wrote letters to The Guardian criticising the Church of England's attitudes to same-sex civil partnerships and defending Peter Mandelson against homophobic attacks in the press following the events that led to Mandelson's resignation in January 2001.