Pamela Joy Chesters

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 1956) is a former executive of British Petroleum who was later a Camden London Borough Council councillor, a Conservative parliamentary candidate, and an advisor to

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 F ...

. She now serves as Chair of Council at the University of Bath. She is also a Non Executive Director on the Ministerial Board of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Early life

Chesters grew up in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and took a

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

in Mediaeval History at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Career

On her graduation from St Andrews, Chesters joined the British Petroleum group of companies, in which for nearly twenty years she held posts in Britain and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Her last position with BP was as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of its subsidiary Duckhams Oils.Pamela Chesters
at london.gov.uk From 1990 to 2000, she was an elected member of Camden London Borough Council, in which she led the Conservative group from 1998. She served on the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is p ...

's Education Executive from 1997 to 2000 and was also a school governor. She chaired the

Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (formerly the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust) is an NHS foundation trust based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises Royal Free Hospital, Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, as well as clinics run ...

from 2001 to 2009 and the English Churches Housing Group from 2003 to 2009, also serving as a board member of the Riverside Group from 2006 to 2009. She was also a member of Camden's Racial Equality Council. She chaired the Council of Trustees of Action for Children from 2006 to 2012. At the UK general election of 2001, she was the Conservative candidate in

Bristol West Bristol West is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Thangam Debbonaire of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. It mostly covers ...

, gaining 16,040 votes, and in 2006 was added to

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

's A-List of Conservative candidates. From May 2009 to May 2012, Chesters served as Advisor for Health and Youth Opportunities to the Mayor of London,

. During this time she was a member of the

London Health Commission London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

, the

London Poverty Commission London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

, and the

London Skills and Employment Board London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

. She was Chair of Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust 2012 - 2016 and Chair of

Anchor Trust Anchor was England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing, care and support to people over 55 years old up until November 2018 when Anchor merged with Hanover Housing Association to form Anchor Hanover Group, the largest provider of speci ...

from 2013- 2018. More recently she was a member of Court at St Andrews University and chaired their Audit and Risk Committee. She is Chair of Council at the University of Bath and a non-executive director on the Ministerial Board of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.Our Governance
gov.uk, 1 May 2020

Honours

Chesters was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the Birthday Honours, 2013, for services to vulnerable children.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesters, Pamela 1960 births Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Members of the London Assembly Councillors in the London Borough of Camden Living people Politicians from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of St Andrews BP people Women councillors in England Conservative Party (UK) councillors