The coalition has been scouring high and low through Britain’s boardrooms to find a trade minister working at the top level of UK plc. Their entreaties have been turned down by the likes of Sir John Rose, ceo of Rolls-Royce, Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of M&S, and Mervyn Davies, former chair of Standard Chartered.
Now – according to FT columnist Mark Kleinman* – they have found someone: Leon Brittan. (Press release from 10 Downing Street later today).
At least to be their trade adviser. They are still looking for someone to fill the minister slot.
It’s not the Sheffield United footballer. It’s the other one, Lord Brittan, who was European Commissioner for Competition in the 1990s. He will turn 71 next month.
Both Nick Clegg and his wife worked for him while in Brussels. (When he tried to persuade young Nick to join the Tory party….)
He isn’t exactly the corporate executive that David Cameron was looking for but does have business experience on various boardrooms including UBS, Unilever and Total. He was trade and industry secretary in the 1980s, until he resigned in 1986 over the Westland affair. Also he knows huge amounts about trade, having been European Commissioner for Trade at one point.
A Whitehall source tells me that Cameron is still seeking a trade minister alongside Lord Brittan. The failure to find anyone so far is because that job is unpaid and involves giving up all other directorships.
I should also mention that his brother Sam is the FT’s own legendary economics commentator.
* Also City editor at Sky News
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey
