David Brighty CMG CVO (born 7 February 1939) is a retired British diplomat who was ambassador to several countries.
He joined the Foreign Office in 1961, served in Brussels and Havana, then in 1969 resigned and spent two years working for S. G. Warburg & Co.
He rejoined the Foreign Office in 1971 and served at Saigon and at the UK mission to the United Nations in New York, then attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1979.
He was head of the Personnel Operations Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1980–83, Counsellor at Lisbon 1983–86, and Director of the Cabinet of the Secretary General of NATO (Lord Carrington) 1986–87.
After retiring from the Diplomatic Service, Brighty has been a non-executive director of EFG Private Bank and of Henderson EuroMicro Investment Trust.