Nigel John Dakin CMG (born 28 February 1964^{[citation needed]}) is a British diplomat who served as Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands between 15 July 2019 and 29 March 2023.^[2][3]

Dakin was born on 28 February 1964^{[citation needed]} in Birmingham, England,^{[citation needed]} and is the son of John Frederick Dakin and Dorothy Alice Dakin (née Scott).^{[citation needed]} He grew up in Bournville and was educated at the King Edward VI Five Ways School, a state grammar school in Birmingham, England. Having secured, while at school, an Army Scholarship, Dakin entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1982 and was commissioned into the British Army in 1983. Following service as an Infantry Platoon Commander in Northern Ireland he studied, again on a military scholarship, at the University of Birmingham between 1984 and 1987, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He would later receive a Masters in Business Administration from Kingston University in 1995.^[4]

Following university, Dakin returned to the Army, serving in West Germany and Northern Ireland.^[5] In 1993 he was mentioned in dispatches for gallantry in Northern Ireland^[6] and between 1994 and 1996 served as a Staff Officer in the Ministry of Defence advising the Defence Secretary (Michael Portillo) and Chief of the Defence Staff (Field Marshall Peter Inge) on matters relating to the Irish Peace Process.^[5]

In 1996, Dakin accepted a position within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). He first lead staff groups involved in Russia and later on Counter Terrorism and, promoted to Director; he served on the executive board where he oversaw organisational transformation. Concurrently, he was invited by the then Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, to serve as the civilian Non-Executive Director on both the Army No. 1 Board and the Army Higher Honours Committee, a position he retained until 2019.^[4]

While overseas Dakin served as First Secretary (Political) in Nigeria (1998–99) and India (1999-2001) and then as the Political Counsellor in Pakistan (2007-2010) and Afghanistan (2012-2013). He served twice in the British Embassy in Washington DC: first from 2005 to 2007 working with the US Administration of George W. Bush on Iraq, Afghanistan and Counter Terrorism and again between 2016 and 2019 as the Senior National Security Official to the UK Ambassador to the United States.^[5]

Dakin was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to British foreign policy.^[9]

He married Amanda Dakin (née Johnson) in 1987, in her home country of Barbados. They have two children; Charlotte (known as Charlie) and Fraser.^[10]