Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many and what proportion of UK diplomats posted outside of the UK are (a) male and (b) female.

The FCDO's ambition is to be a truly inclusive organisation that reflects the diversity of the population we serve and we are proud to have almost closed the gender gap in overseas posts. 48 percent of FCDO staff currently posted overseas are women and 52 percent are men. We endeavour to close the gap with greater numbers of women joining the Senior Civil Service. Understanding any remaining barriers to progression for women and improving the representation of women in senior roles is a focus for FCDO this year.