Andrew Griffith | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade | |
| Assumed office 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
| Preceded by | Kevin Hollinrake |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology | |
| In office 8 July 2024 – 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Peter Kyle |
| Succeeded by | Alan Mak |
| Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation | |
| In office 13 November 2023 – 5 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | George Freeman |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Vallance of Balham |
| Economic Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 27 October 2022 – 13 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Richard Fuller |
| Succeeded by | Bim Afolami |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 7 September 2022 – 27 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Liz Truss |
| Preceded by | Lucy Frazer |
| Succeeded by | Victoria Atkins |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports | |
| In office 8 July 2022 – 7 September 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Mike Freer |
| Succeeded by | Marcus Fysh |
| Director of theNumber 10 Policy Unit Minister for Policy | |
| In office 3 February 2022 – 8 July 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Munira Mirza |
| Succeeded by | Jamie Hope |
| Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister | |
| In office 17 September 2021 – 3 February 2022 Serving with Sarah Dines | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Alex Burghart Trudy Harrison |
| Succeeded by | Joy Morrissey Lia Nici James Duddridge |
| Member of Parliament forArundel and South Downs | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Nick Herbert |
| Majority | 12,134 (22.2%) |
| Prime Minister's Chief Business Adviser | |
| In office 23 July 2019 – 12 December 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Alex Hickman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1971-02-23)23 February 1971 (age 54) Bexleyheath, London, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Nottingham |
| Website | www |
Andrew John Griffith (born 23 February 1971)[1] is a BritishConservative Party politician and former senior media executive who has beenShadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade since November 2024[2] andMember of Parliament (MP) forArundel and South Downs since2019.[3]
He wasShadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology from July to November 2024.[4] and had previously beenMinister of State for Science, Research and Innovation from November 2023.[5] He served asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports from July 2022 until September 2022,[6][7] as Director of theNumber 10 Policy Unit from February 2022 to July 2022, and asEconomic Secretary to the Treasury from 2022 to 2023.[8][9]
Prior to becoming aMember of Parliament, Griffith served as theChief financial officer andChief operating officer ofSky, as well as Chairman ofJust Eat.
Andrew Griffith was born on 23 February 1971 inBexleyheath. He grew up inBromley and attended St Mary & St Joseph's School, a state comprehensive school inSidcup, with future Shadow Cabinet colleagueGareth Bacon, before studying law at theUniversity of Nottingham from 1989 to 1992.[10] He qualified as achartered accountant in 1996, becomingFCA.
Griffith first worked forRothschild & Co andPwC, before joiningSky in 1999 as a financial analyst.[11] By 2008, he rose to become Sky'schief financial officer, joining the board of directors, and at the time of his appointment was the youngest financial director amongst theFTSE 100.[12] In March 2016 he also took on the role of Sky groupchief operating officer.[13] During his time in this role, he helped set up a free school inHounslow named Bolder Academy, with Sky providing funding and exclusive access to its facilities, including coding classes taught by Sky employees.[14]
WhenComcast acquired Sky in 2018, Griffith earned about £17m from the sale of shares.[15]
In April 2014, Griffith joined the board ofJust Eat 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 several challenges, losing its non-executive chairman to poor health, its chief executive officer stepping down and theCompetition and Markets Authority reviewing Just Eat's acquisition of competitorHungryhouse. During this period, Griffith took on the role of chairman.[16]
In 2018, Griffith wonThe Sunday Times' NED Award for FTSE all-share following his work as senior non-executive director and Chairman at Just Eat.[17]
He is a Fellow of theRoyal Television Society and was co-chairman of its 2017Cambridge convention.[18]
Griffith stood as theConservative candidate inCorby at the2001 general election, coming second with 37.2% of the vote behind the incumbentLabour and Co-operative MPPhil Hope.[19] At the2005 general election, Griffith again stood in Corby, coming second with 40% of the vote again behind Phil Hope.[20]
Griffith is a former chairman of the advisory board at theCentre for Policy Studies think tank.[21]
Boris Johnson used Griffith's £9.5 million townhouse as hisleadership election campaign headquarters.[22][23] In 2019, Griffith stepped down from his roles at Sky and Just Eat to become Johnson's chief business adviser, based at10 Downing Street,[24][25] taking on the role in July 2019.[15]
Griffith was elected as Member of Parliament forArundel and South Downs at the2019 general election with 57.9% of the vote and a majority of 22,521 votes.[26] He stood down from his role as the Prime Minister's chief business adviser upon his election to Parliament.[27][28]
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.[29] A week later, on 17 November 2020, Griffith was appointed byBoris Johnson to be the UK's Net Zero Business Champion, a role designed to support UK businesses to make plans to become net zero by 2050 in the run up to theUN Climate Summit atGlasgow in November 2021.[30]
On 17 September 2021, Griffith was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, alongsideSarah Dines, in thesecond Cabinet reshuffle of thesecond Johnson ministry.[31]
Griffith is the founder of and, until his appointment as Minister, co-chaired withthe Lord Rees of Ludlow,Astronomer Royal, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dark Skies.[32]
On 3 February 2022, Griffith became Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office (Minister for Policy) and Director of theNumber 10 Policy Unit,[33] following the resignation ofMunira Mirza.[34]
On 6 June 2022, after a vote of no confidence in the leadership ofBoris Johnson was called, Griffith announced that he would be supporting thePrime Minister.[35]
Griffith was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Trade) in the Department for International Trade on 8 July 2022.[36]
On 7 September 2022, he was appointedFinancial Secretary to the Treasury.[37]
Following the succession of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, Griffith was appointed asEconomic Secretary to the Treasury on 27 October 2022.[37] In this role, he worked on the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 and was lead Treasury Minister on the rescue of Silicon Valley Bank UK, the emergency acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS, and during the ‘LDI’ crisis.[38]
DuringSunak's November 2023 reshuffle, Griffith was promoted toMinister of State for Science, Research and Innovation in theDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology.[37]
At the2024 general election, Griffith was re-elected as MP for Arundel and South Downs with a decreased vote share of 40.2% and a decreased majority of 12,134.[39]
Following the Conservative Party's defeat in the election and the subsequent formation of theStarmer ministry, Griffith was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology in Rishi Sunak'scaretaker Shadow Cabinet.
Griffith was amongst the first public backers ofKemi Badenoch in the2024 Conservative Party leadership election.[40]
He was appointed asShadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade on 5 November 2024.[41]
In January 2025, Griffith attended the launch of aclimate denying lobby group, which was also attended by former UK prime minister,Liz Truss andNigel Farage. Griffith toldThe Guardian, "In any year, I attend hundreds of external events with business organisations and think tanks, none of which automatically imply my endorsement."[42]
Griffith married Barbara, a volunteer charity worker, in 1997; they have a son and daughter. As a businessman, he resided atPutney, in theLondon Borough of Wandsworth.[10] Griffith also has a residence in his constituency of Arundel and South Downs[43] since 2010. He divides his time between living there and in London.[44]
He has citedLord Young of Graffham, a long-time mentor of his, as one of his heroes[45]
Griffith was admitted as afreeman of the City of London on 3 September 2024 in recognition of his contribution to the UK's financial services sector.[46]
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)Previously No10 Business adviser.
Andrew Griffith is MP for Arundel & South Downs and is the former Chief Business Adviser to Boris Johnson.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forArundel and South Downs 2019–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister 2021–2022 With:Sarah Dines | Succeeded by |
| Office established | Minister for Policy 2022 | Vacant |
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports 2022 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit 2022 | Vacant |