Richard Hugh Francis Jones (born 28 September 1962) is a British diplomat. He was British Ambassador to Albania from 2003 to 2006. He served as European Union ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein from January 2012 to 2016. Life and career Jones was born on September 28, 1962. In 2003, he studied at Merton College and Dulwich College. In 2012, Richard Jones replaced the first EU ambassador to Switzerland, the Austrian Michael Reiterer. After the 2011 rotation of heads of delegation that included 16 candidates from the diplomatic services of the Member States, seven from the European External Action Service and two from the European Commission. In 2016 Jones left the post of EU ambassador. Arguing that "things would become more difficult" for Switzerland once Britain and the EU formally begin their separation for a British exit or Brexit. In 2019 Jone is the President of Herefordshire for Europe since and a member of the National Council of the European Movement of the United Kingdom at the end of 2021. Jones held European institutional positions at the Foreign Office, during the Maastricht debate he was in charge of the balance of powers between the EU and the United Kingdom. The UK's membership of the European Communities was always a key part of its approach to diplomacy.