Paul Deighton, Baron Deighton

Paul Clive Deighton, Baron Deighton,[1] KBE (born 18 January 1956) is a British Conservative politician who served as Commercial Secretary to HM Treasury from January 2013 to May 2015. Deighton is a former investment banker who previously served as Chief Executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), the organisation responsible for planning the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Deighton
KBE
Deighton speaking at the Moët Hennessy Financial Times Club dinner in London, 2011
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury
In office
3 January 2013 – 14 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
ChancellorGeorge Osborne
Preceded byThe Lord Sassoon
Succeeded byThe Lord O'Neill of Gatley
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
1 November 2012
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born (1956-01-18) 18 January 1956
Carshalton, Surrey, UK
Political partyConservative
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge

Deighton is now Chairman of The Economist Group.

Early life

Deighton was born in Carshalton, Surrey on 18 January 1956.[2] He was educated at Wallington County Grammar School before going on to Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.[3]

Career

Banking

Deighton began his career at Bank of America and moved on to Security Pacific National Bank, where he specialised in corporate banking.[3] In 1983, he joined investment bank Goldman Sachs, initially based in London.[2] He spent two years at their New York office from 1994, where he was joint Head of Controllers.[4][5] In 1996 he returned to London, where he was promoted to Head of European Operations and became a partner in the firm.[5] In 2000 he became their Chief Operating Officer for Europe.[2][5]

Olympics London 2012

Deighton was appointed CEO of LOCOG, announced on 19 December 2005.[6] Deighton commented that it was "the only job I would have considered leaving Goldman Sachs for".[6] He has been credited with contributing to the success of the London Olympics.[7][8][9] His approach included early winning of sponsorships,[10] and high levels of staff training.[11]

After the Olympics

In September 2012 Deighton was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron as junior minister in HM Government as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, with effect from January 2013.[7] The announcement stated that he would lead on infrastructure and economic delivery, with responsibility for implementing the Government's National Infrastructure Plan and supporting the Culture Secretary with the 2012 Olympics legacy.[12] The delay in his taking up the appointment was necessary to allow him to complete his duties at LOCOG.[7][13]

To make him accountable to Parliament, he was created a life peer on 1 November 2012 as Baron Deighton, of Carshalton in the County of Surrey,[14] and introduced in the House of Lords the same day.[1]

Deighton was succeeded as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury by Jim O'Neill in May 2015.[15]

In March 2016 Deighton was announced as the new Chairman of London Heathrow Airport.[16]

In March 2018 it was announced that Deighton would become chairman of the board of The Economist Group.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 19 April 2020 when it was announced that the death toll in the UK alone of the COVID-19 pandemic had reached 15,000 over the three months precedent, Deighton was appointed "PPE tsar" by Boris Johnson, who himself was recovering from a bout in the intensive care unit with the disease.[17]

Pandora Papers Scandal

Deighton was named in the Pandora Papers scandal as having abused his position as a Tory peer.[18]

Honours

In 2012, Deighton received the Olympic Order from Count Jacques Rogge, and received the Paralympic Order from the International Paralympic Committee.[19][20]

Deighton was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Years Honours for services to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.[21][22]

Personal life

Deighton and his wife met whilst working at Goldman Sachs.[23] They have two adult sons. Deighton supports Arsenal F.C.[10]

References
  1. House of Lords Minutes of Proceedings for Thursday 1 November 2012
  2. Hubbard, Alan (2 July 2006). "Paul Deighton: 'The date 27 July 2012 is tattooed inside and outside my head'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 June 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  3. O'Connor, Ashling (2 March 2009). "Ex-banker Paul Deighton stays bullish about staging the Olympics". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011.
  4. Baker, Stephanie; Rossingh, Danielle (8 June 2012). "Ex-Goldman Olympics Boss Tackles Terror to Toilets". Bloomberg Markets. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  5. "Paul Deighton, Esq". Debrett's People of Today. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  6. "Deighton handed top Olympic role". BBC News Online. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  7. "London Olympics chief executive lands government job". Agence France-Presse. 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  8. "PM reshuffle aimed to quell unrest". Press Association. 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  9. Gibson, Owen (4 September 2012). "Olympics CEO Paul Deighton to take on Treasury role". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  10. "Ex-banker Paul Deighton stays bullish about staging the Olympics - Times Online". Archived from the original on 11 June 2011.
  11. "Security briefing: Paul Deighton, Chief Executive Officer of LOCOG". YouTube.
  12. Downing Street statement on Paul Deighton appointment, PoliticsHome, 4 September 2012, archived from the original on 11 August 2014, retrieved 6 September 2012
  13. William, Helen (1 November 2012). "Olympics chief Paul Deighton takes seat in House of Lords". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  14. "No. 60320". The London Gazette. 6 November 2012. p. 21265.
  15. Fedor, Lauren (15 May 2015). "George Osborne gives Goldman Sachs alum Jim O'Neill top Treasury job". City A.M. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  16. "Heathrow Airport announces Lord Deighton as new Chairman Ferrovial".
  17. "Boris Johnson starts to take back control". Telegraph Media Group Limited. 19 April 2020.
  18. "Tory peer did not declare secret offshore investments, leak suggests". the Guardian. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  19. "Thank you, London!". Olympic.org. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  20. "The Paralympic Order". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  21. "Knights Bachelor" (PDF). Cabinet Office. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  22. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 7.
  23. Milmo, Cahal (15 September 2014). "The Treasury minister's wife and the green resort in Puglia". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
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