{{Short description|British civil servant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Defense.gov News Photo 011207-D-9880W-055.jpg|thumb|Kevin Tebbit (left) in the Pentagon, December, 2001]] '''Sir Kevin Reginald Tebbit''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|CMG}} (born 18 October 1946)<ref name="deb">"TEBBIT, Sir Kevin Reginald (1946 - )", ''Debrett's People of Today'', 2004</ref> is a former British civil servant.
==Career== He was educated at the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys and was a senior history scholar at St John's College, Cambridge.<ref name="deb"/><ref name=GuardAug03>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/aug/20/huttoninquiry.hutton2|title=Profile: Sir Kevin Tebbit|date=20 August 2003|publisher=The Guardian|author=Press Association|accessdate=13 April 2014}}</ref> Tebbit joined the Ministry of Defence in 1969 and in 1972 became assistant private secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence.<ref name=GuardAug03/> At the Ministry of Defence Tebbit was concerned with defence plans and policy for Britain's nuclear forces. Tebbit served as the first secretary to the United Kingdom's delegation to NATO, in Brussels between 1979 and 1982.<ref name=GuardAug03/> A second posting abroad saw Tebbit join the Foreign Office's East European and Soviet Department, and serve as the head of chancery at the British Embassy in Turkey.<ref name=GuardAug03/> From 1987 to 1988 Tebbit was the director of cabinet to the then Secretary General of NATO, Lord Carrington and served as the politico-military counsellor at the British Embassy, Washington from 1988 to 1991.<ref name=GuardAug03/>
Upon his return to the United Kingdom in 1992 Tebbit served in a variety of roles at the Foreign Office, including as the head of the economic relations department, director of resources and the chief inspector responsible for finance and organisational planning.<ref name=GuardAug03/>
From January to July 1998, Tebbit was Director of the Government Communications Headquarters, the British intelligence agency specialising in signals intelligence and cyber security.<ref name=GuardAug03/>
Following this he became the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence before retiring in November 2005 to take up posts in industry and academia.<ref>[http://www.smiths-group.com/page.aspx?pointerid=9B24743C61104F0FB7161B94011BB509 Smith's Group]</ref>
He is a governor of the conference-organising Ditchley Foundation, based at Chipping Norton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ditchley.co.uk/page/64/the-governors.htm |title=The Ditchley Foundation: The Governors |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926002401/http://www.ditchley.co.uk/page/64/the-governors.htm |archivedate=2006-09-26 }}</ref> He is also Visiting Professor at The Policy Institute at King's College London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/policy-institute/visiting-professors-fellows/tebbit|title=King's College London - Tebbit, Sir Kevin|website=www.kcl.ac.uk|access-date=2019-03-04|archive-date=6 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306042615/https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/policy-institute/visiting-professors-fellows/tebbit|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a non-executive director of private intelligence company the Smiths Group from 2006 to 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smiths.com/news-and-media/2018/07/sir-kevin-tebbit-to-retire-from-smiths-group-board-of-directors |title=Sir Kevin Tebbet to Retire from Smiths Group Board of Directors |publisher=Smiths Group |date=2018-07-26 |accessdate=2023-01-09}}</ref>
Tebbit gave evidence to The Iraq Inquiry on both 3 December 2009<ref name="BBC VII">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8392344.stm|title=The US 'assumed' UK participation in Iraq, inquiry told|date=3 December 2009|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|accessdate=28 January 2010}}</ref> and 3 February 2010.<ref name="Iraq Inquiry II">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8378559.stm|title=Gordon Brown denies 'guillotining' UK defence budget|date=3 February 2010|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 February 2010}}</ref>
Tebbit is a supporter of West Ham United, his hobbies include music and archeology.<ref name=GuardAug03/> He is married with two children.<ref name=GuardAug03/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/video/2009/dec/03/iraq-war-inquiry Video: Tebbit's evidence to the Iraq Inquiry in 2009]
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box | before= Sir Richard Mottram | title=Permanent Secretary of the<br />Ministry of Defence | years= 1998–2005 | after= Sir William (Bill) Jeffrey }} {{succession box | before=Sir David Omand | title=Director of GCHQ | years=January – July 1998 | after=Sir Francis Richards| }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tebbit, Kevin}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:Civil servants in the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Directors of the Government Communications Headquarters Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Permanent under-secretaries of state for defence Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:People educated at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys