Interior of the ornate ceiling in the Locarno Suite at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 6th March 2020 in London, United Kingdom. This room is named after the Locarno Treaties. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office, or British Foreign Office, is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting and promoting British interests worldwide and was created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.