Tony Kay OBE
Biography
Tony Kay is a career British diplomat who has served in Hong Kong, Eastern Europe, Canada and across North Africa and the Middle East. His previous role was Deputy Director for the Middle east in the FCDO, focussed on the Gulf Cooperation Council. His last overseas role was Deputy Ambassador to Israel. Tony started as Deputy Ambassador to Brazil in July 2024. He has extensive crisis response experience, most acutely as Consular Regional Director to the Middle East in 2009-2012, covering the Arab Spring.
Tony helped to coordinate evacuations from Yemen, Libya, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Bahrain, work for which he received an OBE. Tony has just completed a Masters Degree at King’s College London on Global Strategy and Security, and is a visiting professor at Chichester University.
Tony is accompanied in Brazil by his partner Dehenna Davison, a former UK Member of Parliament and Minister, who is way cleverer than Tony, and in the school holidays by his fantastic kids Maia and Luca, who are also way smarter than him. Tony’s hobbies are cooking, eating, travelling, and enduring watching Manchester United. He also collects shoes.
Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy Brasilia
The Deputy Head of Mission is a senior diplomat and typically a key advisor to the Ambassador or High Commissioner. The Deputy is responsible for the daily management of an overseas Embassy or High Commission. They will represent the UK’s interests in the absence of the Ambassador as Chargé d’Affaires.