Andrew Griffith (born 23 February 1971) is a British politician and former senior media executive who has been the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Arundel and South Downs Arundel and South Downs () is a constituency in West Sussex created in 1997 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Andrew Griffith of the Conservative Party. Constituency profile This is a mostly rural co ...

since

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. A member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, he has been serving as Economic Secretary to the Treasury since October 2022. He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports in July 2022 and served until September 2022. Griffith previously was Director of the

Number 10 Policy Unit The Number 10 Policy Unit is a body of policymakers based in 10 Downing Street, providing policy advice directly to the British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support Harold Wilson in 1974, it has gone through a series of guises to suit the ...

from February 2022 to July 2022.

Early life and education

Griffith was born in

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. He grew up in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

and attended St Marys & St Josephs, a state comprehensive school, in Sidcup. From 1989 to 1992 he studied law at

Nottingham University The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1996.

Business career

Griffith first worked for

Rothschild & Co Rothschild & Co is a multinational investment bank and financial services company, and the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family. The banking business of the firm covers th ...

and

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

, before joining Sky in 1999 as a financial analyst. By 2008, he rose to become Sky's

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and fina ...

, joining the board of directors, and at the time of his appointment was the youngest financial director in the

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest marke ...

. In March 2016 he also took on the role of group chief operating officer. When

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

acquired Sky in 2018, Griffith earned about £17m from the sale of shares. He is a member of the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

and was co-chairman of its 2017

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

convention. In April 2014, Griffith joined the board of

Just Eat Just Eat (formerly known legally as Just Eat plc) is an online food order and delivery brand of Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com, and a former food delivery company. Just Eat was founded as a separate company in 2001 in Kolding, Denmark ...

as a senior non-executive director, a post which he held in combination with his full-time role at Sky. In 2017, Just Eat was hit by the several challenges, losing its non-executive chairman to poor health, its chief executive officer stepping down and the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...

reviewing Just Eat's acquisition of competitor Hungryhouse. During this period, Griffith took on the role of chairman.

Political career

Griffith stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for the constituency of

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...

in 2001 and 2005 but lost to Labour Party candidates on both occasions. Griffith is a former chairman of the advisory board at the

Centre for Policy Studies The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a think tank and pressure group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," low tax, national independ ...

think tank.

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

used Griffith's £9.5 million townhouse as his leadership election campaign headquarters. In 2019, Griffith stepped down from his roles at Sky and Just Eat to become Johnson's chief business adviser, based in

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along w ...

. He took on the role in July. He was elected as the MP for

at the 2019 general election by a majority of 22,521 votes, following the retirement of previous Conservative

Nick Herbert Nicholas Le Quesne Herbert, Baron Herbert of South Downs, (born 7 April 1963) is a British Conservative Party politician and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arundel and South Downs from 2005 to 2019. He was Minister of State for Police ...

. He stood down from his role as the prime minister's chief business adviser upon election. On 17 November 2020, Griffith was appointed by

to be the UK's Net Zero Business Champion, a role designed to support UK businesses to make plans to be net zero by 2050 in the run up to the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow in November 2021. On 10 November 2020, he was appointed as a member of the Public Service Broadcasting Advisory Panel, to provide independent expertise and advice as part of the government's strategic review of public service broadcasting. On 17 September 2021, Griffith was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the prime minister

, alongside

Sarah Dines Sarah Elizabeth Dines (born 27 May 1965) is a British Conservative Party politician. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Derbyshire Dales since the 2019 general election. She has been serving Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for ...

, during the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry. Griffith is the founder of and, until his appointment as Minister, co-chaired with The Lord Rees of Ludlow,

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post ...

, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Dark Skies. On 3 February 2022, Griffith became Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office (Minister for Policy) director of the

, following the resignation of

Munira Mirza Munira Mirza (born May 1978) is a British political advisor who served as Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit under Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 until she resigned on 3 February 2022, citing Johnson's claim that Labour leader Keir Sta ...

. On 6 June 2022, after a vote of no confidence in the leadership of

was called, Griffith announced that he would be supporting the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. Griffith was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Trade) for the Department for International Trade on 8 July 2022.

Personal life

Griffith married Barbara, a volunteer charity worker, in 1997 and they have a son and daughter. As a businessman, he resided in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

, in the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London borough in southwest London; it forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main named areas are Battersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth Town. The borough border ...

. Griffith has resided in the constituency of Arundel and South Downs for 10 years. His father, an IT salesman named John, died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Andrew 1971 births Living people UK MPs 2019–present Alumni of the University of Nottingham Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister