The Rt Hon Lord Hurd of Westwell

Chair of CEDR's Advisory Council

The Rt Hon Lord Hurd of Westwell - Chair of CEDR's Advisory Council

Douglas Hurd was appointed CEDR Chairman in November 2000 and became Chairman of CEDR’s Advisory Council earlier this year. Formerly he was Deputy Chairman of NatWest Markets and a main Board director of NatWest Group, retiring from the Board in April 1999 and leaving the group in 2000. In early 1998 he became Deputy Chairman of Coutts & Co and Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Hawkpoint Partners Limited. He is also Chairman of the German-British Forum.

Lord Hurd, retired as Foreign Secretary in July 1995, after a distinguished career in Government spanning 16 years.

After positions as Minster of State in the Foreign Office and the Home Office, he served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1984-1985, Home Secretary from 1985-1989 and Foreign Secretary from 1989-1995.

Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, Lord Hurd obtained a first class degree in history and was President of the Cambridge Union in 1952. After joining the Diplomatic Service, he went on to serve at the Foreign Office in Peking, New York (UN) and Rome. He ran Edward Heath's private office from 1968-1970 and acted as his Political Secretary at Downing Street from 1970-1974. He was MP for Mid-Oxfordshire (later Witney) from 1974-1997. He was created a Life Peer in 1997.

Lord Hurd was Chairman of British Invisibles from 1997 until April 2000. He was Chairman of the Prison Reform Trust Charity from 1998 until January 2001. He was Chairman of the 1998 Booker Prize for Fiction. He became a Member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords in February 1999 and a member of the Appointments Committee in 2000. In September 1999 he was appointed as the High Steward of Westminster Abbey.

Lord Hurd lives in Oxfordshire with his wife Judy and their son and daughter. He has three grown-up sons from his first marriage. His other pursuits include writing, walking and reading. His latest books are The Search for Peace (with the 1997 BBC TV series), The Shape of Ice (a novel, 1998) and Ten Minutes to Turn the Devil (a collection of short stories, 1999).

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