Andrew Nethercott has been appointed British High Commissioner to Samoa, succeeding Gareth Hoar.

Hoar will be transferring to another diplomatic service appointment. Nethercott will take up his appointment in May 2026.

Nethercott is a British diplomat. Since 2025, he has been Deputy Head of the Central Asia and Eastern Neighbourhood Department at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Before this, he was Political Counsellor at the British High Commission in Accra, Ghana, from 2022 to 2024. From 2021 to 2022, he led the FCDO’s Ukraine response team in London.

From 2019 to 2021, he worked as a conflict adviser in the FCDO’s Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation. He also worked with Conciliation Resources as Caucasus Programme Manager from 2017 to 2019.

Nethercott has experience in humanitarian work with the International Committee of the Red Cross, including as head of office in Khost, Afghanistan (2016–2017) and delegate in Severodonetsk, Ukraine (2015–2016).

Earlier, he worked with the UK Department for International Development (DFID). He managed education programmes in Islamabad, Pakistan (2012–2014) and climate change programmes in Pretoria, South Africa (2011–2012). He joined DFID in 2009 through the Fast Stream programme.