Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera
| The Right Honourable The Baroness Vadera PC |
|
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Shriti Vadera 23 June 1962 Uganda |
| Political party | Labour |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Banker |
Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera, PC (born 23 June 1962) is a British investment banker and politician. Until September 2009, she was a government minister jointly for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office. She has been Chairwoman of Santander UK since March 2015.
Contents
Early life[edit]
She was born in Uganda[1] in 1962 into a family of Indian origin.[2]
She is from a family who owned a small tea plantation but fled to India in 1972 following the Ugandan government's expulsion of Ugandan Asians, and then later to the UK.[3] She was educated at Northwood College before taking a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Somerville College, Oxford.[2]
Private sector career[edit]
For over 14 years Vadera was employed at investment bank UBS Warburg, where her work included advising governments of developing countries, and debt relief and restructuring. She also played a role in the partial privatisation of South African Telecom.[3][4]
Government adviser and minister[edit]
Following his appointment as Prime Minister in June 2007, Gordon Brown appointed her as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for International Development.[5] As she was not a member of either of the Houses of Parliament, she was created a life peer on 11 July 2007 as Baroness Vadera, of Holland Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.[6] The Sunday Times reported that the Cabinet Secretary "flatly refus[ed] to allow her to cross the threshold of No 10 as policy enforcer" and "no Permanent Secretary could stand her" – although the Cabinet Secretary denied making these comments.[7]
Following criticism of her working style, Stephen Alambritis, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “If the Civil Service is complaining about her, then probably more ministers should be like her; she gets things done.” [8]
After six months as a Minister in International Development, she was moved to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (now the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills). In October 2008, she also became a Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office.
On 14 January 2009 she gave an interview on ITV's Lunchtime News, which concluded:
- Alastair Stewart: "Final and briefest thought possible – you're a former banker and business person yourself and now a minister – when will we see the green shoots of recovery?
- Baroness Vadera: "Well, it's a very uncertain world right now globally but I wouldn't want to be the one predicting it. I am seeing a few green shoots but it's a little bit too early to say exactly how they'll grow."[9]
Her reply generated commentary from a number of sources, including shadow chancellor George Osborne and former chancellor Norman Lamont, who first used the phrase "green shoots" in 1991. Lamont said: "It is extremely premature to use a phrase like that."[9]
Later that year London's Evening Standard reported that Vadera was instrumental in the creation of an unprecedented banking rescue package.[10] On 24 September 2009, it was announced that she would be stepping down as minister to take up a new role advising the G20.[11]
Post-Government career[edit]
In April 2010, the Financial Times reported that Vadera had taken up a consultancy to give strategic advice in restructuring Dubai World's US$26 billion debt.[12] In July, the Daily Telegraph reported Vadera had become consultant to Singaporean investment company Temasek.[13]
- "The reason people like Shriti are getting these offers is because there are very few people who understand the international finance world and the geopolitical world at a time when the financial world clearly has some issues with the political world." said Martin Armstrong of recruitment consultants Somerton Partners.[13]
In December 2010, she was appointed to the Boards of BHP Billiton and AstraZeneca as a non-executive director.[14][15]
In December 2014, it was announced that she would become Non-Executive Chairman of Santander UK, replacing Terence Burns. She joined the board in January 2015 and succeeded Burns on 30 March 2015.[16]
References[edit]
- ^ "Shriti Vadera: A profile of the Business Minister nicknamed 'Shriti the Shriek'". The Telegraph. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ a b Helm, Toby; Beckford, Martin (3 November 2007). "Profile: Shriti Vadera". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ a b Teather, David (26 July 2008). "Saturday Interview: Shriti Vadera". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew (15 January 2009). "Profile: Shriti Vadera". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ "Brown unveils new faces". Prime Minister's Office. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 58392. p. 10219. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ Jenkins, Simon (8 July 2007). "Brown's brain and his hand are not always connected". London: The Times. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ Webster, Philip (25 September 2009). "Baroness Vadera Shriti the Shriek has a temper but gets things done". The Times (London).
- ^ a b "'Green shoots' remarks defended". BBC News Online. 14 January 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ^ "How I helped rescue Britain from brink of bank disaster | News". Thisislondon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "UK | UK Politics | Vadera stepping down as minister". BBC News. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Shriti Vadera's new consultancy role in Dubai | Westminster blog | Jim Pickard and Kiran Stacey share their views on the UK's political scene for the Financial Times – FT.com". Blogs.ft.com. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ a b Tyler, Richard (4 July 2010). "Baroness Vadera advises Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "BHP Billiton – Home". Bhp.com.au. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "PLC appoints new Non-Executive Director". AstraZeneca. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ Morris, Stephen (12 December 2014). "Santander U.K. Names Shriti Vadera Chairman Replacing Burns". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
External links[edit]
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