Pamela Joy Chesters

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 1956) is a former executive of

British Petroleum BP p.l.c. (formerly The British Petroleum Company p.l.c. and BP Amoco p.l.c.; stylised in all lowercase) is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the oil and gas " supermajors" and one of ...

who was later a

Camden London Borough Council Camden London Borough Council, also known as Camden Council, legally The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Camden, is the local authority for the London Borough of Camden in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one o ...

councillor, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

parliamentary candidate, and an advisor to

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

. She now serves as Chair of Council at the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. She is also a non-executive director on the Ministerial Board of the

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 ...

and Chair of the Independent Schools Inspectorate.

Early life

Chesters grew up in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and took a degree in Mediaeval History at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

Career

On her graduation from St Andrews, Chesters joined the

group of companies, in which for nearly twenty years she held posts in Britain and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Her last position with BP was as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of its subsidiary Duckhams Oils.Pamela Chesters
at london.gov.uk From 1990 to 2000, she was an elected member of

, 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 government in England, local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the ...

's Education Executive from 1997 to 2000 and was also a

school governor In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions: *Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction *Holding the headteacher to account for th ...

. 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 and North Middlesex Uni ...

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 Action for Children (formerly National Children's Home) is a United Kingdom, UK children's charity created to help vulnerable children and young people and their families in the UK. The charity has 7,000 staff and volunteers who operate over 4 ...

from 2006 to 2012. At the UK general election of 2001, she was the Conservative candidate in

Bristol West Bristol West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Thangam Debbonaire of the Labour Party. It mostly covered the central and western parts of Bristol. Following t ...

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

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

'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 The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

. During this time she was a member of the London Health Commission, the London Poverty Commission, and the London Skills and Employment Board. 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 spec ...

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

and a non-executive director on the Ministerial Board of the

.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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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