British High Commissioner for Malta Louise Stanton

Ms Louise Stanton was born in Bedfordshire, but her family moved when she was 6 years old to South Africa.  There she attended the Dominican Convent Benoni, where she spent 4 happy years.  On her return to the UK, Ms Stanton attended the Dame Alice Harpur School, Bedford, before going on to study German and Linguistics at Queen Mary, University of London.  As part of her honours degree studies, Ms Stanton spent a year teaching English in Munich, which she found both enjoyable and challenging. 

Upon graduation in 1990, Ms Stanton joined the diplomatic service.  Her first assignment in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was as Desk Officer for Brunei in the SE Asia Department.  Ms Stanton was then selected for Japanese language training, and she spent a year studying the language at the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), and a further year at the British Embassy Language School in Kamakura, Japan.  This proved to be invaluable for her work as Third Secretary Commercial in the Embassy in Tokyo.  After 4 years in Japan, Ms Stanton was selected to be a World-Wide Floater, undertaking short-term assignments covering absences of other officers in visa, consular and management work in Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Syria, Qatar, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the USA.  Additionally, Ms Stanton's Japanese skills took her back to Japan for the Nagano Winter Olympics, where she was the British Liason Officer.

On her return to the FCO in 1999, Ms Stanton was appointed Deputy Head of Peacekeeping in the UN Department.  This proved to be a busy time, as both the Kosovo and East Timor conflicts started.  In 2001, Ms Stanton moved on to the Human Resources Directorate, doing three different jobs in HR over the next 5 years.  During that time, Ms Stanton studied for a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management, and became a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  In 2006, Ms Stanton was appointed Deputy Ambassador to Slovenia.  Highlights of her tour in Slovenia included the Slovenian Presidency of the EU, the State Visit by HM The Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, and an official visit by HRH the Duke of York.  Ms Stanton left Slovenia in November 2008, and became the British High Commissioner for Malta in January 2009 - a role she is delighted to have.

Ms Stanton's interests include slow food, wine, all types of dancing, watching ballet, reading and travelling.