Lord Ashdown is a former leader of the Liberal Democrats and special representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For 13 years, Paddy Ashdown served as a Royal Marines Officer and saw active service served in Borneo, the Persian Gulf and Northern Ireland. In 1972 he joined the Foreign Office and was posted to the British Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. After leaving the Foreign Office, he worked in local industry in the Yeovil area, before becoming the MP for Yeovil in 1983.

He was Liberal spokesman on Trade and Industry Affairs within the Liberal/SDP Alliance team and then became Education spokesman. He was elected Leader of the Liberal Democrats in July 1988 and served in that post until 1999. He stood down from the Commons in 2001.

He was made a KBE in 2000, a peer in 2001 and a GCMG in the 2006. Lord Ashdown was the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2006.