Matthew Gould

Matthew Steven Gould (born 20 August 1971) is a British former civil servant and diplomat who is the Chief Executive Officer of international science-led conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London).

After joining the British Foreign Office in 1993, Gould initially served as Assistant Desk Officer (NATO/Bosnia), Security Policy Department until 1994; and then as Second Secretary in Manila in charge of political affairs and press from 1994 to 1997.

In Manila, Gould launched a programme of co-operation between Britain and the Philippines to combat child abuse, which included bringing detectives from the UK to run training courses for Filipino police officers.

He was awarded the MBE for this work in the 1997 New Year's Honours list, at age 26.

Gould was in Manila when Robin Cook visited as Foreign Secretary.

Gould wrote a speech for Cook, and was immediately appointed by him as his speechwriter, continuing until 1999.

During this period, Gould coordinated and led a group of young FCO officials keen to reform the FCO.

Initially known as the Young Turks, the project led to the Foresight Report, a major internal review of how the FCO worked.

The report was widely credited with helping the FCO to modernise itself and develop new and more open working practices.

Gould served as Deputy Head of the FCO's Consular Division from 1999 to 2001.

In this time, he worked with Baroness Scotland, then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, to create a more effective and active approach to the practice of forced marriage.

Gould established a new unit in the FCO tasked with combatting forced marriage and helping its victims.

From 2002 to 2003, he was Political Counsellor in Islamabad.

From 2003 to 2005, Gould was Deputy Head of Mission in Tehran, and Chargé d'Affaires (acting Ambassador) for six months of this time.

In June 2004, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard arrested six Royal Marines and two Royal Navy sailors on the Shaatt al Arab waterway, and held them for three days.

Gould was sent to Khuzestan to negotiate their release, and flew back with them to Tehran.

From 2005 to 2007, Gould was Foreign and Security Policy Counsellor and the Representative of the Joint Intelligence Committee in Washington, DC.

Afterwards, from April to July 2007, Gould was Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister, initially with Tony Blair and then under Gordon Brown.

He was Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary from July 2007 to July 2010, running the office of David Miliband for almost all the latter's time as Foreign Secretary, and then of William Hague for the first few months that he was in office.

In September 2010, Gould took up the post of British ambassador to Israel, and served in that role until 2015.

He was the first Jew in the post, and spoke of his pride in the position on a number of occasions.

In a video message that coincided with his arrival in Israel, Gould outlined his three goals: Explaining Israel to Britain; explaining Britain to Israel and forging a strong partnership between the two.

Gould said, “I need to give a strong message from Britain that as Israel goes down the difficult path to peace, Israel isn't alone.” He also said, “Britain is very clear: We regard Israel as an important strategic partner.” Before he was ambassador, Gould was involved in a number of secret meetings organised by Denis MacShane, involving himself, Liam Fox and Adam Werritty.

The Foreign Office said in response that "The FCO has total confidence that Matthew Gould has acted appropriately at all times and at no stage was he acting independently, or out of line with government policy."

In November 2011, in discussing religious faith and diplomats, Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said that "there is absolutely no reason why our ambassador to Israel should not be Jewish. Any allegations about Matthew Gould's conduct are utterly unsubstantiated. He is a first-class ambassador."

Douglas Alexander, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said: "The faith of any British diplomat is irrelevant to their capability to their job. To make suggestions otherwise is wrong and offensive. On a personal note I know from my time in government Matthew Gould embodies all that is good in British diplomacy."

In 2011, Gould and wife Celia, together with then-Israeli ambassador to London Ron Prosor, launched an appeal in the UK Jewish community to raise money to aid Holocaust survivors in Israel.

Approximately half of the £2 million goal has been raised, and six social clubs for survivors are being set up around Israel.

Gould told the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz in November 2011 that efforts at preventing a nuclear program in Iran are continuing and that "The U.K. and Israel stay in very close touch about the threat from Iran."

Following the passage by the Israeli Knesset in July 2011 of the "Boycott Bill", which allows Israeli citizens to sue organisations or persons calling for a boycott against Israel or parts of Israel, and forbids the government from funding such organisations, Gould told the Israeli daily Maariv newspaper, "We are concerned about the passing of this law, which damages the legitimate right to freedom of speech, and which conflicts with the strong Israeli tradition of lively and vigorous political debate."

In November 2011, he warned Israeli MK Ophir Akunis that the passage of a bill that would limit foreign funding to human rights organisations, would "reflect badly on Israel in the international community".

Gould has also spoken at major conferences to urge Israel to ensure it is living up to its founding vision of a nation for all its citizens, saying that if Israel's prosperity is to be sustainable, it needs to harness the economic potential of all its communities – including the Arab community of Israel.

The first was officially opened in February 2012, in the presence of Israeli Welfare Minister Moshe Kahlon.

He was previously National Director for Digital Transformation in NHS England (2019–2022), Director General for Digital and Media Policy in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2015–19) and Ambassador to Israel (2010–15).

Gould is descended from Polish Jews who immigrated to the United Kingdom before World War II.

His grandfather changed the family name from Goldkorn to Gould.

Gould grew up in Wembley, London and was educated at Orley Farm School, Harrow before moving to St. Paul's School, where he was a contemporary of George Osborne, Patrick Neate, and Ed Vaizey.

After St Paul's he spent a year teaching at Nyarukunda Secondary School in Northern Zimbabwe, with the organisation Project Trust.

He then went to Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read philosophy and divinity.

During this time, he spent a summer in Tanzania with the environmental NGO Frontier, and subsequently published an article on termite feeding preferences in the academic journal Sociobiology.