Malcolm Offord Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Offord of Garvel
Honorific-Suffix:CVO
Office:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports
Primeminister:Rishi Sunak
Term Start:24 April 2023
Term End:5 July 2024
Predecessor:Andrew Bowie
Successor:Gareth Thomas
Office1:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
Alongside1:Iain Stewart (2021–2022)
David Duguid (Sept–Oct 2022)
John Lamont (2022–2024)
Term Start1:4 October 2021
Term End1:29 February 2024
Predecessor1:David Duguid
Successor1:The Lord Cameron of Lochiel
Office2:Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Term Start2:14 October 2021
Life Peerage
Birth Date:5 September 1964
Birth Place:Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland
Party:Conservative
Alma Mater:University of Edinburgh

Malcolm Ian Offord, Baron Offord of Garvel, (born 5 September 1964) is a Scottish financier and Conservative Party politician in the House of Lords. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports until his party lost the 2024 General Election.

Early life and career

Offord was born in Greenock,[1] in September 1964.[2] [3] He was educated at Ardgowan Primary School and Greenock Academy, and graduated in Law from the University of Edinburgh.[4]

Offord worked at the merchant bank Lazard from 1987 until 1993, in the corporate finance department, specialising in mergers and acquisitions. In 1994, he began his private equity investing career with 3i plc, followed by two years at Bankers Trust of New York, where he was managing director of European Acquisition Finance.[5]

In 1998, he joined Charterhouse Capital Partners as a partner and remained there for sixteen years, investing in four European private equity funds before retiring as senior partner in December 2013.

Offord is the founder and chair of Edinburgh-based private equity company, Badenoch and Co.[6] He has donated £147,500 to the Conservative Party.[7]

Political career

Offord was a member of the Advisory Board at the Centre for Social Justice,[8] a right-wing think-tank established by former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. In 2009, he wrote a paper called "Bankrupt Britain" in which he called for reforms to public spending.[9]

During the campaign leading up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum Offord was one of the directors (between 18 March 2014 and 1 January 2015) of an astroturfed[10] [11] campaign group called Vote No Borders Campaign[12] that spent £147,510 (just short of the £150,000 limit).[13] The group attracted controversy when it created an advert claiming that after independence Scots would struggle to get treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital; the hospital objected that they hadn't been consulted, the claim wasn't true and asked for the advert to be withdrawn.[14] [15] Four years after the referendum the group received further attention as it missed a deadline to file accounts with Companies House. The Vote No Borders Campaign was dissolved 7 June 2016.[16]

At the May 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Offord stood as a Scottish Conservatives list candidate for the Lothian electoral region, but having been placed fifth on the list he failed to gain a seat.[17] [18] His selection had been criticised by other Conservatives as "cronyism".[19] One Conservative told the Edinburgh Evening News: "It seems all you need to get an endorsement is to have deep pockets."[20] The article also mentioned that Offord’s support of the Conservatives goes back at least 14 years, with the businessman donating £15,000 as recently as November 2019.

During the 2021 election campaign, Offord wrote a series of essays entitled "The United Kingdom: Why Scotland Should Remain",[21] some of which were published by Reform Scotland,[22] Policy Exchange[23] and The Spectator.[24] One of Offord's essays published on the Reform Scotland think tank website cited the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report in which he proposed that "It should be a matter of principle and pride for any Scottish government, Unionist or Nationalist, to reduce the gap between expenditure and revenue in Scotland. I do not want the case for the Union in Scotland to be built on the idea of dependency; I want our Union to be constructed on the idea of mutual benefit and reciprocity where England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all do their best to raise and share resources for the common good. Whether pro-Union or pro-Independence, this is a goal we should all unite around."[25]

On 30 September 2021, it was announced that he would be made a life peer upon his appointment as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.[26] He was chosen instead of two Scottish Conservative MPs, Andrew Bowie and John Lamont. He was appointed on 4 October 2021.[27] He was created Baron Offord of Garvel, of Greenock in the County of Renfrewshire, on 14 October and introduced to the House of Lords the next day.[28] [29] He should have made his maiden speech as a Lord in December 2021. However, he could not do so because he was self-isolating and gave the speech on 20 January 2022 instead.[30] [31]

Offord was reappointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Scotland Office by both Liz Truss[32] [33] and Rishi Sunak.[34] In April 2023 he was appointed by Rishi Sunak as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business and Trade, in addition to his role as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Scotland Office.[35] He stepped down from the Scotland Office upon Donald Cameron's appointment to the House of Lords and as Parliamentary Under Secretary for Scotland.[36]

He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services as a trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lord Offord of Garvel . 2022-09-04 . GOV.UK . en.
  2. News: Offord . Ian . Seven essays on the value of the United Kingdom to Scotland, her people and our future. . 9 October 2021 . badenoch.scot . 1 June 2021 . 30 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930202236/https://badenoch.scot/Downloads/The%20United%20Kingdom%20Why%20Scotland%20Should%20Remain_for_web.pdf . live .
  3. Web site: Malcolm Offord . api.parliament.uk . 29 June 2022.
  4. Web site: Lord Offord of Garvel . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930184350/https://badenoch.scot/people/malcolm-offord/ . 30 September 2021 . 4 September 2022 . Badenoch & Co.
  5. Web site: 4 September 2022 . Our People . 2 September 2022 . Badenoch & Co.
  6. Web site: Our People - Lord Offord of garvel . 4 September 2022 . badenoch.scot.
  7. Web site: Walker . Peter . 30 September 2021 . Tory donor made life peer and appointed as government minister . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930164835/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/30/tory-donor-made-life-peer-and-appointed-as-government-minister . 30 September 2021 . 4 September 2022 . The Guardian.
  8. Web site: Carrell . Severin . 1 May 2014 . Financier launches 'No Borders', a referendum campaign for 'unpolished' voters who back the union . 4 September 2022 . The Guardian.
  9. Web site: Offord . Malcolm . February 2009 . Bankrupt Britain . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20090306063220/https://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/files/BankruptBritain10.pdf . 6 March 2009 . 4 September 2022 . Conservative Home..
  10. Web site: Harris . Graham . 2 May 2014 . Astroturf Democracy . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140507071025/https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2014/05/02/astroturf-democracy/ . 2014-05-07 . 4 September 2022 . Bella Caledonia.
  11. Book: Gardiner, Michael . 19 July 2015 . Time and Action in the Scottish Independence Referendum London Palgrave Macmillan p 2013 ISBN 9781137545947 . Springer . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211015003359/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Time_and_Action_in_the_Scottish_Independ/Vk8zCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Vote+No+Borders%22+astroturf&pg=PA2013&printsec=frontcover . 15 October 2021 . 3 October 2021 . 9781137545947 .
  12. Web site: No Borders Campaign overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK . 2022-09-04 . find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk . en.
  13. Web site: Gordon . Tom . 10 January 2016 . Big-spending No campaigner fined for failing to produce accounts . live . https://archive.today/20211003171950/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14193991.big-spending-no-campaigner-fined-failing-produce-accounts/ . 3 October 2021 . 4 September 2022 . The Herald (Glasgow).
  14. News: 2014-05-30 . Scottish independence: Vote No Borders advert pulled over child hospital claim . en-GB . BBC News . 2022-09-04.
  15. Web site: Johnson . Simon . 29 May 2014 . Anti-Scottish independence group withdraws cinema advert . live . https://archive.today/20140529200221/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/10863869/Anti-Scottish-independence-group-withdraws-cinema-advert.html . 29 May 2014 . 2022-09-04 . www.telegraph.co.uk.
  16. Web site: No Borders Campaign filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK . 2022-09-04 . find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk . en.
  17. Web site: Walker . Peter . 2021-09-30 . Tory donor made life peer and appointed as government minister . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930164835/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/30/tory-donor-made-life-peer-and-appointed-as-government-minister . 30 September 2021 . 2022-09-04 . The Guardian . en.
  18. Web site: Matchett . Connor . 30 September 2021 . Unelected millionaire dogged by 'cronyism' accusations given peerage and Scottish ministerial role by UK Government . live . https://archive.today/20211003182809/https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/unelected-millionaire-dogged-by-cronyism-accusations-given-peerage-and-scottish-ministerial-role-by-uk-government-3403116 . 3 October 2021 . 4 September 2022 . www.scotsman.com . en.
  19. Web site: Matchett . Connor . 2021-02-09 . Scottish Tories face 'cronyism' accusations after £150,000 donor wins Lothians list seat endorsement . live . https://archive.today/20211003181833/https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/scottish-tories-face-cronyism-accusations-after-ps150000-donor-wins-lothians-list-seat-endorsement-3128233 . 3 October 2021 . 2022-09-04 . www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com . en.
  20. Web site: Matchett . Connor . 2021-02-09 . Scottish Tories face 'cronyism' accusations after £150,000 donor wins Lothians list seat endorsement . live . https://archive.today/20211003182809/https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/unelected-millionaire-dogged-by-cronyism-accusations-given-peerage-and-scottish-ministerial-role-by-uk-government-3403116 . 3 October 2021 . 2022-09-04 . www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com . en.
  21. Web site: Offord . Malcolm . 1 June 2021 . Seven essays on the value of the United Kingdom to Scotland, her people and our future . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930164835/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/30/tory-donor-made-life-peer-and-appointed-as-government-minister . 30 September 2021 . 4 September 2022 . badenoch.scot.
  22. Web site: Offord . Malcolm . 2021-04-06 . How to turbo-charge Scotland's economy - Malcolm Offord - Reform Scotland . 2022-09-04 . reformscotland.com . en-GB.
  23. Web site: Offord . Malcolm . 2021-04-08 . Why Sterling is the UK's silver bullet . 2022-09-04 . Policy Exchange . en-GB.
  24. Web site: Offord . Malcolm . 8 April 2021 . A sterling plan to save the Union The Spectator . 2022-09-04 . www.spectator.co.uk . en-GB.
  25. Web site: Offord . Malcolm . 2021-04-06 . How to turbo-charge Scotland's economy - Malcolm Offord - Reform Scotland . 2022-09-04 . reformscotland.com . en-GB.
  26. Web site: Walker . Peter . 2021-09-30 . Tory donor made life peer and appointed as government minister . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930164835/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/30/tory-donor-made-life-peer-and-appointed-as-government-minister . 30 September 2021 . 2022-09-04 . the Guardian . en.
  27. Web site: Parliamentlive.tv . 2022-09-04 . parliamentlive.tv.
  28. Web site: Webster . Laura . 13 October 2021 . New Scotland Office minister Malcolm Offord given official Lords title . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211013131953/https://www.thenational.scot/news/19644355.new-scotland-office-minister-malcolm-offord-given-official-lords-title/ . 13 October 2021 . 13 October 2021 . The National.
  29. Web site: Gordon . Tom . 14 October 2021 . Millionaire Tory donor Malcolm Offord takes seat in Lords . 2022-09-04 . HeraldScotland . en.
  30. Web site: Lord Offord of Garvel makes maiden speech in House of Lords . 2022-09-04 . GOV.UK . en.
  31. Web site: 9 December 2021 . Scotland: Economic Recovery and Renewal . 4 September 2022 . hansard.parliament.uk.
  32. Web site: 6 September 2022 . Ministerial Appointments: September 2022 . 21 September 2022 . gov.uk.
  33. Web site: 21 September 2022 . Secretary of State for Scotland The Rt Hon Alister Jack MP . 21 September 2022 . gov.uk.
  34. Web site: Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022 . 2022-10-30 . GOV.UK . en.
  35. Web site: Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street . Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street . 21 April 2023 . Press release: Ministerial Appointments: April 2023. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street . www.gov.uk.
  36. Web site: 2024-02-09 . Tory MSP Donald Cameron quits Holyrood to take up peerage and Scotland Office job . 2024-02-16 . The Herald . en.

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