Career
Ricketts replaced Peter Westmacott as United Kingdom Ambassador to France effective January 2012, with Kim Darroch taking Ricketts"s old role as National Security Adviser. As of 2015, Ricketts was paid a salary of between £170,000 and £174,999 by the Foreign Office, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. In December 2015 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced that he was to retire from the Diplomatic Service in January 2016.
Prior to his appointment as National Security Adviser, Sir Peter had been the Permanent Secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Before he took over that position in July 2006, he served as the Permanent Representative to North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels. He was also previously the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, leading him to give evidence to The Iraq Inquiry in November 2009.
Sir Peter began his career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1974 and served as the Assistant Private Secretary to former Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe. Apart from Brussels, he has been posted to Singapore, Washington District of Columbia and Paris.
Ricketts retired from Her Majesty Diplomatic Service in January 2016.