Lord Frost: Diplomat who became Brexit talisman and right-hand man to Boris Johnson

He has enjoyed a colourful political and diplomatic career so far

Lord David Frost has resigned from his position as Brexit minister with “immediate effect,” but how did the cabinet minister become popular among grassroots Tories and why did he step down from Boris Johnson’s government at a crucial stage in discussions over the Northern Ireland protocol?

Johnson’s government

Lord Frost successfully negotiated a free trade agreement in the Brexit adjustment period (via REUTERS)

Most recently, the 56-year-old led the UK’s negotiations over the EU Withdrawal Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol and was one of 100 Tory MPs who opposed the Government’s decision to implement Plan B in terms of Covid-19 restrictions last week.

Before becoming a minister of state in February this year, Lord Frost was the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator from July 2019, when he helped to negotiate a free trade agreement during the Brexit transition period.

He became a cabinet minister in February 2021, when he was appointed as the UK Representative for Brexit and International Policy. His first action as Brexit minister was to exempt British companies from certain regulations when shipping food to Northern Ireland.

In September 2020, Lord Forst was appointed a life peer in the House of Lords by the Prime Minister.

Before Johnson

David Frost left the diplomatic service to become chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)

Lord Frost had returned to politics in 2016 to become Boris Johnson’s - who was then the Foreign Secretary - special adviser, following a five-year stint heading the Scotch Whisky Association.

Before that, the Oxford University graduate had a long diplomatic career from 1987 up until 2008.

His first government role was for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, when he was posted to the British High Commission in Cyprus where he worked on Greek Cypriot politics and the Cyprus problem.

In 1993, he was posted to the UK Representation to the EU in Brussels as first secretary for economic and financial affairs. Later, he worked in New York where he covered Human Rights and Social and Economic Affairs at the United Nations.

He also worked as the Private Secretary to Sir John Kerr, who was the Head of the Diplomatic Service and as the Economic Counsellor to the British Embassy in Paris in 2001. He then became Head of the EU (Internal) Department and then Director for the European Union in the Foreign Office before working as the UK’s ambassador to Denmark from 2006 to 2008.

Why did Lord Frost resign?

Lord Frost was one of 99 Tory MPs who voted against the Government’s decision to implement Plan B Covid measures (AP)

Lord Frost resigned from his post as the UK’s Brexit minister following the Government’s decision to go ahead with Plan B Covid restrictions in the face of the new Omicron variant,

The Mail on Sunday, which broke the story, said Lord Frost was also concerned over the government’s manifesto-busting decision to hike national insurance in order to address the crisis in social care.