Jacqueline Perkins

Jacqueline Louise "Jacky" Perkins is a British diplomat who was the British Ambassador to Belarus from 2019 until 2024. Previous to that, she was the deputy head of mission in Kuwait.

Consular career Perkins joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1989 as an Assistant Desk Officer for the East Africa Department. In 1990, she underwent full-time Arabic language training courses and after two years was posted to the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. She was announced as the new UK Ambassador to Belarus and the successor to Fionna Gibb in June 2019, and took up her post in August.

In October 2019, Perkins called on Belarus to drop the death penalty as part of International Day Against the Death Penalty. In February 2020, Perkins said she was trying to "maintain momentum" in increased international trade and does not expect any changes after Brexit. In October 2020, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab temporarily recalled Perkins amid civil unrest in Belarus triggered by allegations of electoral fraud against President Alexander Lukashenko. In March 2023, Perkins attended commemorative events for the 80th anniversary of the Khatyn massacre.

Perkins was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to British foreign policy.

Personal life Perkins has a degree in Modern Languages from Cambridge University and a MA in International Relations from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. She has two children.