Matthew Lodge was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Marines on leaving school in 1986. He was sponsored through Birmingham University from where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Modern Languages (French and Russian). Subsequent duties with the Royal Marines included service in Norway and the United States, and a secondment to the Army which included an operational tour in Northern Ireland and service in Kenya.

Matthew joined the Foreign and Commonwealth office in 1996. His early diplomatic career included work on the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, service in Georgia and Armenia, and postings to Athens (1998-2000), Paris (2001) and the UK Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels (2001-2003). From 2004 to 2007 he was Private Secretary to the FCO Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service. In March 2007 Matthew was appointed as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Baghdad. On his return from Iraq, Matthew attended the Higher Command and Staff Course (2008) at the UK Defence Academy before being appointed as Head of the FCO’s Afghanistan Group.

From 2010 to 2013, Matthew was Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Finland and from August 2014 to summer 2017 Matthew was Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the State of Kuwait. In spring 2017, Matthew was appointed as Minister at the British Embassy in Paris, serving concurrently as Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO (2017-2021). In August 2021 Matthew was appointed as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic.

Matthew is married to Alexia and they have twin boys.