British businessman (born 1975)
Sir Benjamin William Elliot
[1]
(born 11 August 1975) is a British businessman and fund-raiser for the
Conservative Party
who served as
Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party
from July 2019 alongside
James Cleverly
(2019?2020),
Amanda Milling
(2020?2021),
Oliver Dowden
(2021?2022), and
Andrew Stephenson
(2022) before resigning on 5 September 2022. In 2018, Elliot was appointed by
Michael Gove
, the
Secretary of State for the Environment
, as the UK government's first Food Surplus and Waste Champion. Elliot is the co-founder of the
Quintessentially Group
, a global luxury
concierge service
, and the co-founder of Hawthorn Advisors, a communications consultancy based in London.
[2]
[3]
He is a nephew of
Queen Camilla
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Elliot was born and raised in
Dorset
, England. He is the son of Simon Elliot, a Dorset landowner, and
Annabel Elliot
(nee Shand), an interior designer and
antiques
dealer.
[4]
He has two sisters. His mother is the sister of
Queen Camilla
[5]
and
Mark Shand
.
[6]
His paternal grandparents were
Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot
and Rosemary Chancellor, daughter of
Sir John Chancellor
.
[7]
His maternal grandparents were Major
Bruce Shand
and
the Hon.
Rosalind Cubitt
.
[8]
Elliot was educated at
Eton College
and the
University of Bristol
, graduating with a
BSc
in Politics and Economics.
[9]
Career
[
edit
]
Elliot is the
co-founder
of
Quintessentially Group
, a luxury lifestyle group with a 24-hour global concierge service, which he started in London in December 2000.
[10]
The company has boasted about how it serves wealthy Russian clients, which includes opening an office in Russia and creating a "dedicated Russian team".
[11]
After
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022
, the company deleted its webpage that boasted about serving Russian elite clients.
[12]
He is a regular contributor to the
Financial Times
,
The New York Times
and
Country Life
amongst other publications.
[13]
[14]
Elliot was included in the
Evening Standard's
Progress 1000 list, named as one of 'London's most influential people 2016 - Business Brains'.
[15]
He was the executive producer of the award-winning documentary
Fire in Babylon
.
[16]
Elliot was asked to act as treasurer for the Conservative Party's
2016 London mayoral
campaign and was responsible for all campaign fundraising efforts.
[17]
Elliot acts as a trustee for the Eranda Rothschild Foundation
[18]
and has been Chairman of the Philanthropy Board of the
Royal Albert Hall
[19]
[20]
since 2015. In December 2016, he was appointed as a trustee to the board of the
Victoria and Albert Museum
by Prime Minister
Theresa May
. The four-year term officially commenced on 1 January 2017.
[21]
Following October 2017's relaunch of the
Centre for Policy Studies
, Elliot was asked by
Lord Saatchi
to join his board as honorary treasurer.
[22]
In December 2018, Elliot was appointed by
Michael Gove
, the
secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs
, as the government's first Food Surplus and Waste Champion. Following Elliot's appointment, Gove commented: "
Food waste
is an economic, environmental and moral scandal. We must end it. That's why I am delighted Ben Elliot is taking up this position and know he will bring the enthusiasm and skills this important role needs. His first task will be to help ensure our £15 million food waste fund redistributes surplus food that would otherwise be wasted to those most in need."
[23]
In July 2019, Elliot was appointed by incoming
Prime Minister
Boris Johnson
as the
co-chairman of the Conservative Party
, working alongside fellow co-chairman
James Cleverly
.
[24]
Cleverly was demoted to become a joint
Foreign Office
and
Department for International Development
minister in the
2020 cabinet reshuffle
and was replaced as Chairman by
Amanda Milling
. Milling was succeeded by
Oliver Dowden
in the
2021 cabinet reshuffle
. Dowden resigned in June 2022.
Elliot is a founding trustee of the Quintessentially Foundation charity,
[25]
which has raised in excess of £13 million for charitable causes since 2008.
[26]
[27]
[23]
In 2021, BBC News described Elliot as the "Tories' chief fundraiser".
[28]
He raised nearly £2 million from donors with links to the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia.
[11]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Elliot married Mary-Clare Winwood, US-born daughter of the musician
Steve Winwood
, in Gloucestershire in 2011.
[4]
They have two sons and live in
West London
.
[4]
Elliot is a member of
5 Hertford Street
, a private members' club in
Mayfair
, London.
[29]
His son Arthur was a
page of honour
to his great aunt,
Queen Camilla
, at
her coronation
on 6 May 2023.
[30]
Honours
[
edit
]
Elliot was appointed a
Knight Bachelor
on 9 June 2023 as part of the
2022 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
.
[31]
[32]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Boris Johnson's resignation honours list in full"
.
The Independent
. 9 June 2023
. Retrieved
9 June
2023
.
- ^
"Our People"
.
Hawthorn Advisors
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
.
- ^
Owen, Jonathan (10 August 2021).
"Hawthorn Advisors distances itself from co-founder amid lobbying row"
.
PR Week
. Retrieved
7 February
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"My perfect weekend: Ben Elliot"
.
The Telegraph
. 19 October 2011
. Retrieved
7 May
2014
.
- ^
Addley, Esther (8 August 2001).
"Mr society"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
1 March
2021
.
- ^
Cumming, Ed (19 October 2017).
"Travels to my Elephant: charity aims to raise £1m to protect Asian elephants with rally across Rajasthan"
.
The Independent
. Retrieved
1 March
2021
.
- ^
'ELLIOT, Air Chief Marshal Sir William', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920?2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012
accessed 4 Oct 2013
- ^
Colacello, Bob (December 2005).
"Charles and Camilla, Together at Last"
.
Vanity Fair | The Complete Archive
. Retrieved
1 March
2021
.
- ^
"StartUp Summer: Ben Elliot"
.
UCL
. 18 August 2011
. Retrieved
6 July
2014
.
- ^
"Board of Directors"
.
Quintessentially
. Archived from
the original
on 27 November 2012
. Retrieved
12 May
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Pickard, Jim; Kinder, Tabby; Thomas, Daniel (3 March 2022).
"Johnson under pressure to sack Tory fundraiser over Russia links"
.
Financial Times
. Retrieved
4 March
2022
.
- ^
Stone, Jon (3 March 2022).
"Tory party chairman's company deletes webpage about Russia 'elite' connections"
.
The Independent
. Retrieved
4 March
2022
.
- ^
"Ben Elliot"
.
Financial Times
. Archived from
the original
on 15 December 2014
. Retrieved
13 December
2014
.
- ^
"Posts published by Ben Elliot"
.
The New York Times
. 4 April 2008
. Retrieved
13 December
2014
.
- ^
"The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2016 - Business Brains"
.
Evening Standard
. 7 September 2016
. Retrieved
7 September
2016
.
- ^
Ramachandran, Naman (8 February 2011).
"Revolver sets Fire in Babylon"
.
Cineuropa
. Retrieved
12 December
2014
.
- ^
Edwardes, Charlotte (25 April 2016).
"Everything you need to know about Zac Goldsmith"
.
Tatler
. Retrieved
25 April
2016
.
- ^
"THE ERANDA ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION :: OpenCharities"
.
opencharities.org
.
- ^
"YouGov - Board of Directors"
.
YouGov
.
- ^
"Royal Albert Hall"
.
www.royalalberthall.com
. Retrieved
14 September
2022
.
- ^
"Prime Minister appoints four new trustees to the Board of the Victoria & Albert Museum"
.
GOV.UK
. 1 December 2016
. Retrieved
5 March
2022
.
- ^
"Ben Elliot"
.
The Centre for Policy Studies
. Retrieved
9 January
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"Gove appoints Food Waste Champion"
.
GOV.UK
(Press release). 31 December 2018
. Retrieved
5 March
2022
.
- ^
White, Nadine (26 July 2019).
"These New Conservative Party Ministers Have Just Been Revealed"
.
HuffPost UK
.
- ^
"Quintessentially Foundation"
.
Register of Charities
. Charity Commission
. Retrieved
4 March
2022
.
- ^
"Quintessentially Foundation"
.
CharityStars
.
- ^
Fletcher, Daisy (23 February 2018).
"Entrepreneur Ben Elliot explains why he'll take 400-mile cycle challenge to help feed hungry children"
.
Evening Standard
. Retrieved
16 March
2018
.
- ^
"Ben Elliot: Conservative Party money man with A-list connections"
.
BBC News
. 12 August 2021
. Retrieved
4 March
2022
.
- ^
Williams, Christopher (8 September 2019).
"Ben Elliot, friend to the rich and influential, aims to make his mark in politics"
.
The Telegraph
. Retrieved
2 December
2019
.
- ^
"A new photograph of The King and The Queen Consort"
.
The Royal Family
. 4 April 2023. Archived from
the original
on 5 April 2023
. Retrieved
5 April
2023
.
- ^
"Resignation Honours 2023"
(PDF)
.
GOV.UK
. 9 June 2023
. Retrieved
9 June
2023
.
- ^
"No. 64120"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 21 July 2023. p. 14502.
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