UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has appointed former British diplomat Tom Fletcher as the new humanitarian chief.

Mr Fletcher, who is currently principal of Hertford College, Oxford, and vice chair of Oxford University’s Conference of Colleges, succeeds fellow Briton Martin Griffiths, who stepped down for health reasons as undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the end of June.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq ,who announced the appointment, said acting UN humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya will remain in the job until Mr Fletcher takes over at a future date.

Mr Haq called Mr Fletcher “an internationally recognised communicator, through his books and media work across the fields of development, diplomacy, technology and democracy, with a blend of technocratic expertise and public diplomacy”.

He previously served as global strategy director of the Global Business Coalition for Education from 2015-2019, served as the UK’s ambassador to Lebanon from 2011-2015 and as foreign and development policy adviser to three UK prime ministers from 2007-2011.

He was also a mediator on Northern Ireland and held diplomatic posts in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.