{{Short description|English businessman (born 1942)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Lord Chadlington | honorific_suffix = FCIPR FIoD FCIM FRSA | office1 = Member of the House of Lords | status1 = Lord Temporal | term_label1 = Life peerage | term_start1 = 16 October 1996 | term_end1 = 7 March 2026 | birth_name = Peter Selwyn Gummer | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1942|8|24}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | party = Independent (since 2026) | other_party = Conservative (until 2026) | occupation = Businessman, public relations executive at Huntsworth, lobbyist | relatives = John Gummer (brother)<br/> Ben Gummer (nephew) }} '''Peter Selwyn Gummer, Baron Chadlington''' (born 24 August 1942) is an English businessman and former head of Huntsworth, one of the largest lobbying firms in the United Kingdom.<ref name="landc4"/>
He was president of the Witney Conservative constituency association, and is a PR adviser, long-standing supporter and donor to the Conservative Party.<ref name="Doward910">{{cite web |last1=Doward |first1=Jamie |title=Row after Tory peer's daughter is given job in culture secretary Jeremy Hunt's department |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/19/jeremy-hunt-naomi-gummer-chadlington-dcms |website=The Guardian |accessdate=11 September 2020 |date=19 September 2010}}</ref> In 2026, Gummer resigned from the House of Lords and the Conservative Party following an investigation by the Lords Commissioner for Standards into his conduct, which found that he had not acted "on his personal honour".
==Early life and education== Gummer was born on 24 August 1942 to Selwyn Gummer, a Church of England priest, and his wife Margaret Mason. Gummer has two brothers: John Gummer, Baron Deben, former Chairman of the Conservative Party, and Mark Selwyn Gummer.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/apr/20/guardianobituaries|title=Canon Selwyn Gunner|date=20 April 1999|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=1 May 2009 | location=London | first=Alun | last=Chalfont}}</ref> He was educated at The King's School, Rochester. He then studied Moral Science and Theology,<ref name="glos">{{cite web|url=http://resources.glos.ac.uk/faculties/mac/visitingfellows/chadlington.cfm|title=Lord Chadlington of Dean|publisher=University of Gloucestershire|accessdate=1 May 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120217025612/http://resources.glos.ac.uk/faculties/mac/visitingfellows/chadlington.cfm|archivedate=17 February 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> at Selwyn College, Cambridge, with the aim of becoming a priest.<ref name="ind2">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interviewlord-chadlington-lord-what-a-nightmare-at-the-opera-1287658.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interviewlord-chadlington-lord-what-a-nightmare-at-the-opera-1287658.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Interview-lord Chadlington: Lord, what a nightmare at the opera |date=8 December 1997|accessdate=1 May 2009 | work=The Independent | location=London | first=Deborah | last=Ross}}</ref> Reading the works of philosophers such as Albert Camus led him to change his mind,<ref name="ind2"/> and after gaining a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts<ref name="iybsww"/> he instead went into journalism.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Holmes |first1=Paul |title=Lord Chadlington |url=https://www.provokemedia.com/long-reads/article/lord-chadlington |website=PRovoke Media |date=7 April 2009 |access-date=20 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="iybsww"/>
==Career== Gummer's first job after university was at ''Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspaper'', where he worked 1964-65.<ref name="iybsww">"[http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1570-6664_iyb_SIM_person_17878 Chadlington, Lord Peter Selwyn Gummer]" in Jennifer Dilworth (ed.), ''International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who''. Consulted online on 18 January 2023.</ref> Later, while writing for a trade press department Gummer found that he enjoyed the business side of things far more than the journalism, and decided to go into business.<ref name="prj">{{cite web|url=https://pop-pr.blogspot.com/2005/04/pr-face2facelord-chadlington-chief.html|title=Pop! PR Face2Face: Lord Chadlington, Chief Executive, The Huntsworth Group |publisher=PR Jots|accessdate=1 May 2009}}</ref> After several years working for other companies he founded a public relations (PR) firm called Shandwick in 1974, serving as its chairman. Within seven years Shandwick was the largest PR company in the United Kingdom,<ref name="prj"/> and in 1984 it became publicly listed.<ref name="hunt">{{cite web|url=http://www.huntsworth.com/people/ |title=Huntsworth: Group Board |publisher=Huntsworth |accessdate=1 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426121238/http://www.huntsworth.com/people/ |archivedate=26 April 2009 }}</ref> In 1998 it was sold to the Interpublic Group of Companies,<ref name="prj"/> and is now part of Huntsworth.<ref name="hunt"/> Initially chairman of Huntsworth, Gummer was appointed chief executive on 25 September 2005 after the resignation of Richard Nichols, the group's previous chief executive.<ref name="ind3">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2922859/Huntsworth-appoints-Lord-Chadlington.html|title=Huntsworth appoints Lord Chadlington|date=26 September 2005|newspaper=The Telegraph |accessdate=1 May 2009 | location=London | first=Melanie | last=Feisst}}</ref> In 2006, Huntsworth bought Quiller Consultants,<ref>{{cite web |title=Quiller joins Hudson Sandler |url=https://www.investegate.co.uk/huntsworth-plc--hnt-/rns/acquisition/200610190700437016K/ |website=www.investegate.co.uk |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118195906/https://www.investegate.co.uk/huntsworth-plc--hnt-/rns/acquisition/200610190700437016K/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> a lobbying firm that represents major financial, retail and telecoms companies.<ref name="landc4"/> Huntsworth also owns Graylings, which lobbies for some of Britains leading companies, like National Grid and BT,<ref name="moneytotories">{{cite news |title=Top lobbyist denies giving money to Tories – but accounts tell a story|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/top-lobbyist-denies-giving-money-to-tories-but-accounts-tell-a-different-story-6278372.html |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=The Independent |date=17 December 2011 |language=en}}</ref> and has carried out PR work for Belarus.<ref name="belarus"/> At Huntsworth, Gummer personally lobbied for several clients, including the Stock Exchange, Associated British Foods and the Carlyle Group.<ref name="landc4"/> In 2009, ''The Guardian'' reported Lord Chadlington earned "an estimated £30,000 for advising private equity companies on issues currently being examined by the Commons Treasury Select Committee".<ref>{{cite news |title=Peer review: Lords paid by lobbying firms |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jan/27/peer-review-lobbying |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=the Guardian |date=27 January 2009 |language=en}}</ref>
Following falling profits and share prices<ref name="fallingprofits"/> and increasing discontent from shareholders (30 percent of shareholders abstained from voting for Gummer's re-election to the board<ref name="fallingprofits">{{cite news |title=Lord Chadlington to step down as Huntsworth chief |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11024976/Lord-Chadlington-to-step-down-as-Huntsworth-chief.html |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>),<ref name="chinafundat"/><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Evening Standard|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/underfire-lord-chadlington-to-quit-as-huntsworth-boss-9661186.html|date=11 August 2014|title=Under-fire Lord Chadlington to quit as Huntsworth boss}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Huntsworth chief to step down |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/aug/11/huntsworth-chief-executive-step-down-lord-chadlington |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=the Guardian |date=11 August 2014 |language=en}}</ref> Gummer left his position at Huntsworth in April 2015, instead becoming an executive director, and left the company the following year.<ref name="JHarrington416">{{cite web |last1=Harrington |first1=John |title=Lord Chadlington leaves Huntsworth 12 months after stepping down as CEO |url=https://www.prweek.com/article/1391536/lord-chadlington-leaves-huntsworth-12-months-stepping-down-ceo |website=PR Week |accessdate=11 September 2020 |date=19 April 2016 |quote=The Conservative peer announced his intention to stand down as chief executive of Huntsworth in 2014, having held the CEO role since 2000, but remained in an advisory capacity after Taaffe arrived in April 2015. |url-access=registration }}</ref>
As well as his public relations work, Gummer is also a non-executive director of Britax, a former director of Halifax and a visiting fellow at the University of Gloucestershire.<ref name="glos"/> He has been made a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the Institute of Directors, The Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Royal Society of Arts.
Gummer worked for the Arts Council from 1991 to 1996 and was head of the Council's lottery panel,<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1 March 1999 |title=Countdown to Crisis? |magazine=Dance Magazine}}</ref><ref name="iybsww"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Lord Chadlington |url=https://www.nndb.com/people/933/000160453/ |website=www.nndb.com |publisher=Soylent Communications |access-date=20 January 2023}}</ref> deciding how funds should be distributed - for example, issuing £78.5 million to the Royal Opera House<ref name="glaister"/> and £80 million to the British film industry.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gummer's lottery logic |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/gummer-s-lottery-logic-1586260.html |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=The Independent |date=12 June 1995 |language=en}}</ref>
In September 1996 Gummer became chairman of the Royal Opera House.<ref name="report">{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmcumeds/199i/cu0106.htm|title=Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport First Report|publisher=UK Parliament|accessdate=27 June 2011}}</ref> Following a report by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee led by Gerald Kaufman, which described the management of the Royal Opera House as "abysmal" with "incompetence, disastrous financial planning and misjudgement", Gummer resigned in December 1997.<ref name="ind2"/>
==Politics== Chadlington is president of the Witney Conservative constituency association, and is a PR adviser, long-standing supporter and donor to the Conservative Party.<ref name="Doward910"/> His brother, John Gummer, was a Conservative politician and cabinet minister.<ref name="wittstock">{{cite news |last1=Wittstock |first1=Melinda |title=Is this the man to sell the Tories? |url=https://archive.org/details/NewsUK1991UKEnglish/Oct%2009%201991%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2364146%2C%20UK%20%28en%29/page/n15/mode/2up |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=The Times |date=9 October 1991|page=16}}</ref> Chadlington was John Major's most trusted advisor during his premiership<ref name="once"/><ref name="fallingprofits"/> and advised him and the Foreign Office on media relations during the Gulf War.<ref>Prime Ministerial Private Office files. [https://116ae215f57b47bc40bd-32276aa0a4a9ef306defd1327a583a38.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/901023%20fco%20min%20PREM19-3085%20f172.pdf Gulf War: FCO minute to No.10 ("Iraq/Kuwait")]. 23 October 1990. ''(Waldegrave meeting with Charles Jones & Peter Gummer of Shandwick PR firm: note of their advice on state of US public opinion) (declassified Jul 2017)''</ref><ref name="ind2"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Scammell |first1=Margaret |title=Designer Politics: How Elections Are Won |date=1995 |publisher=Palgrave |location=London |page=243}}</ref> Chadlington is an adviser,<ref name="impostersyndrome"/> donor,<ref name="primed">{{cite news |last1=Coates |first1=Sam |last2=Bird |first2=Steve |title=David Cameron ally Lord Chadlington primed private equity leaders before inquiry |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/david-cameron-ally-lord-chadlington-primed-private-equity-leaders-before-inquiry-b7s37wm5kx0 |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=The Times |date=30 January 2009 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The donor list |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/jun/02/conservatives.uk3 |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=the Guardian |date=2 June 2006 |language=en}}</ref> close friend<ref name="landc4"/><ref name="landtelegraph"/><ref name="chinaft"/> and political ally of David Cameron, supporting him during his successful bid to become leader of the Conservative party in 2005, when Cameron was MP of Chadlinton's constituency.<ref name="nepotism"/> Chadlington was also close to Chris Patten when he was chair of the Conservative party.<ref name="wittstock"/>
Chadlington ran the United Kingdom's largest lobbying firm, Huntsworth,<ref name="landc4"/> and, before that, Shandwick,<ref name="once">{{cite news |title=Once is not enough for Chadlington |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2894726/Once-is-not-enough-for-Chadlington.html |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> described by ''The Times'' in 1991<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wittstock |first1=Melinda |title=Is this the man to sell the Tories? |url=https://archive.org/details/NewsUK1991UKEnglish/Oct%2009%201991%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2364146%2C%20UK%20%28en%29/mode/2up |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=The Times |date=9 October 1991|page=1}}</ref> and ''The Independent'' in 1997<ref name="ind2"/> as the world's largest public relations business. On his personal books at Huntsworth were the Stock Exchange, Associated British Foods and the Carlyle Group, among others.<ref name="landc4"/> Chadlington and Huntsworth are major donors to the Conservative party:<ref name="moneytotories"/> for instance, the peer and his company donated £77,000 to the party between 2005 and 2010.<ref name="belarus">{{cite news |title=Tory peer's PR firm lobbies as Lukashenko crushes dissent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tory-peer-s-pr-firm-lobbies-as-lukashenko-crushes-dissent-2248934.html |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=The Independent |date=22 March 2011 |language=en}}</ref>
Chadlington and his PR firms have been instrumental in devising Conservative election campaigns, including those in 1992 and 1997.<ref>{{cite news |title=The worst job in Britain |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-worst-job-in-britain-1273405.html |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=The Independent |date=17 March 1997 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=David |last2=Kavanagh |first2=Dennis |title=The British General Election of 1997 |date=1997 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |pages=31–32}}</ref><ref name="wittstock"/>
On 16 October 1996, Gummer was created a Conservative working peer, with the title of Baron Chadlington, of Dean in the County of Oxfordshire.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{London Gazette|issue=54558|page=13993|date=22 October 1996}}</ref>
== Charitable work == From 1999 until 2007, Gummer was a Director of the original Action on Addiction in London, a charity and addiction research centre investigating drug and alcohol dependence. He also served on their board of trustees.<ref>[http://companycheck.co.uk/director/900835321/THE-RT-HON-THE-LORD-PETER-SELWYN-GUMMER Company Check, List of Directors of UK Companies and Organizations: Peter Selwyn Gummer, Director, Action on Addiction]. (Retrieved 24 July 2013).</ref> In 2007, the original Action on Addiction (established in 1989) merged with The Chemical Dependency Centre (established in 1985) and Clouds (established in 1987). The single charity, dedicated to the research and treatment of drug and alcohol dependence, took on the name Action on Addiction.<ref>[http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/search-for-a-charity/?txt=action+on+addiction UK Government Charity Commission website, Action on Addiction listing]. (Retrieved 1 May 2013).</ref> He also founded the charity Action Against Gambling Harms,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wise |first1=Jacqui |title=Gambling: Academics call for statutory levy to reduce harm |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2600.full |access-date=20 January 2023 |journal=BMJ |date=1 July 2020 |pages=m2600 |language=en |doi=10.1136/bmj.m2600}}</ref> and lobbied the UK government to tighten gambling laws.<ref>{{cite news |title=Social reform in the digital age |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46483557 |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=BBC News |date=7 December 2018}}</ref>
==Personal life== He married Lucy Dudley-Hill on 23 October 1982. They met after she came to his PR firm Shandwick for a job interview, and after five days they were engaged.<ref name="ind2"/> They have four children:<ref name="once"/> Naomi, Chloe, Eleanor and James.<ref name="ind2"/>
On 16 October 1996, Gummer was created a Conservative working peer, with the title of Baron Chadlington, of Dean in the County of Oxfordshire.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
Gummer is an adviser,<ref name="impostersyndrome">{{cite news |title=Lord Chadlington: 'I've had imposter syndrome all my life' |url=https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/lord-chadlington-ive-imposter-syndrome-life/leadership-lessons/article/1412143 |access-date=17 January 2023 |work=www.managementtoday.co.uk |language=en}}</ref> neighbour,<ref>{{cite news |title=Dave new world |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/dave-new-world-0rx0z66gl7r |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=The Times |date=22 April 2007 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="landc4"/><ref name="landtelegraph"/> and longstanding friend of politician David Cameron.<ref name="landc4"/><ref name="landtelegraph"/><ref name="chinaft">{{cite news |title=Cameron faces scrutiny on UK-China fund |url=https://www.ft.com/content/b558418a-43ee-11e8-803a-295c97e6fd0b |access-date=17 January 2023 |work=Financial Times |date=22 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="timesprofile">{{cite news |last=Zeffman |first=Henry |title=Lord Chadlington, the loyal peer with eye for a rising star|newspaper=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/lord-chadlington-the-loyal-peer-with-eye-for-a-rising-star-mnvxrj5zk |url-access=subscription|date=10 November 2017 |language=en}}</ref> While prime minister, Cameron attended the 2012 wedding of Gummer's daughter Naomi to Henry Allsop,<ref name="mylondonwedding"/><ref name="ngweddingtele">{{cite news |title=David Cameron dresses down for society wedding |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9293401/David-Cameron-dresses-down-for-society-wedding.html |access-date=17 January 2023 |work=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> son of Charles Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip. Allsop's godmother, the then Duchess of Cornwall, and Jeremy Hunt, then Culture Secretary and Naomi's former boss, also attended.<ref name="ngweddingtele"/><ref name="mylondonwedding">{{cite news |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Sylvie |title=Kirstie Allsopp's famous family, partner and connection to royal family |url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/tv/channel-4-kirstie-phils-love-23121034 |access-date=18 January 2023 |work=MyLondon |date=16 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
==Controversies== ===Mismanagement of the Royal Opera House=== In September 1996 Gummer became chairman of the Royal Opera House (RHO).<ref name="report"/> He had previously chaired the Arts Council's lottery panel, which had issued £78.5 million to the ROH. According to Dan Glaister, arts editor at ''The Guardian'', public perception was that Chadlington had "written a cheque, walked around the table and pocketed it".<ref name="glaister">{{cite news |last1=Glaister |first1=Dan |title=No more soap opera |url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,252162,00.html |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=www.theguardian.com |date=26 November 1999}}</ref> Under Chadlington's leadership, there was also a turnover of senior staff, including Jeremy Isaacs being replaced as house director by Genista McIntosh, who left after four months<ref name="glaister"/> citing ill-health, although there were rumours that she had been driven out by Chadlington and another board member, Vivien Duffield, because she wanted to lower ticket prices to attract new audiences.<ref name="indyopera">{{cite news |title=Arts: Why Chris Smith found the opera too much |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/arts-why-chris-smith-found-the-opera-too-much-1292199.html |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=The Independent |date=5 November 1997 |language=en}}</ref> It later emerged that McIntosh objected to liberties members of the board were taking, using their privilege to, for instance, rearrange the casting for the ballet for the nights when they were bringing guests.<ref name="indyopera"/> Chadlington appointed his friend and former colleague at the Arts Council Mary Allen as McIntosh's replacement, but the position had not been advertised.<ref name="indyopera"/> When secretary-general of the Arts Council, Allen had authorised the award of £78 million of lottery money to the RHO.<ref name="indyopera"/> The RHO made £750,000 deficit in two months of its 1997 touring programme.<ref name="glaister"/> A number of reports commented on outdated practices and poor management at the RHO.<ref name="indyopera"/> Chadlington didn't appoint a financial director for a year and the RHO did not keep regular accounts; the RHO was in £7 million of debt.<ref name="ind2"/> In July 1997, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, led by Gerald Kaufman, opened an investigation into the management of the RHO. The committee released its report in December 1997, describing the management of the Royal Opera House as "abysmal" with "incompetence, disastrous financial planning and misjudgement". Gummer resigned that month.<ref name="ind2"/>
===Priming private equity leaders before parliamentary inquiry=== In 2007, Chadlington helped senior figures from several large private equity firms prepare for an appearance before the Treasury Select Committee, which was investigating the activities of the private equity industry. The peer, a PR expert, did not lodge a contact with the House of Lords for this work for Permira, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, 3i and the Carlyle Group, which was in breach of the Lords Code of Conduct.<ref name="primed"/>
===Daughter's appointment to Whitehall=== In 2010, then culture secretary Jeremy Hunt gave Chadlington's daughter, Naomi, a civil service post in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Doing so was considered by people in Whitehall as "highly unusual" and "not normal" and Hunt was criticized for giving the role to a close business associate (between 2000 and 2004, Chadlington was director of Hotcourses, a company Hunt founded), a major donor to the Tory party (Chadlington having given more than £77,000 to the Tories between 2005 and 2010), and one of prime minister David Cameron's political allies (as president of Witney Conservative association, Cameron's constituency, Chadlington was a major supporter of Cameron's campaign to become Tory leader in 2005). The appointment came weeks after the government announced there would be a freeze on hiring in the civil service. Mark Serwotka, the leader of the PCS union, which represents civil servants, questioned whether the appointment was made because of "nepotism and privilege".<ref name="nepotism">{{cite news|title=Row after Tory peer's daughter is given job in culture secretary Jeremy Hunt's department | date=19 September 2010| newspaper=The Guardian| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/19/jeremy-hunt-naomi-gummer-chadlington-dcms}}</ref>
===Sale of land to the prime minister=== In 2011, Chadlington sold land to the then prime minister David Cameron. The previous year, Chadlington had bought a property adjoining Cameron's constituency home and the property remained empty.<ref name="landtelegraph">{{cite news |title=David Cameron should have declared land deal with party donor, says former watchdog |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/8911520/David-Cameron-should-have-declared-land-deal-with-party-donor-says-former-watchdog.html |access-date=17 January 2023 |work=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref><ref name="moneytotories"/> Initially, Chadlington offered the land to Cameron<ref name="timesprofile"/> but then sold land to him for £137,000, the market rate plus extra to allow for the increase in value the land would bring to Cameron's home.<ref name="landtelegraph"/><ref name="landindy">{{cite news |title=Cameron accused over £140,000 land payment |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-accused-over-ps140-000-land-payment-6267116.html |access-date=17 January 2023 |work=The Independent |date=24 November 2011 |language=en}}</ref> The newly bought land increased the value of Cameron's property by approximately £250,000.<ref name="landtelegraph"/> In the opinion of Sir Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee of Standards in Public Life, Cameron should have declared the transaction to parliament's registry of interest as Chadlington was the head of one of the largest lobbying firms in the country.<ref name="landtelegraph"/><ref name="landc4"/> The year before the transaction, Cameron's government had pledged to crack down on lobbying, with Cameron making a speech that it was time to shine "the light of transparency onto lobbying in our country" and force "our politics to come clean about who is buying power and influence".<ref name="landtelegraph"/><ref name="landc4"/> Downing Street said there was no need for the sale to be listed in the registry of interests because there was a land registry record from the transaction that already put it into the public public domain.<ref name="landc4">{{cite news |title=PM's private land deal with lobbyist raises questions |url=https://www.channel4.com/news/pm-s-private-land-deal-with-lobbyist-raises-questions |access-date=17 January 2023 |work=Channel 4 News |date=23 November 2011}}</ref> Chadlington said, "To avoid any perception of a conflict, we instructed an independent surveyor to value the garages and land. We did not negotiate on price – the Prime Minister paid the market rate as recommended by the surveyor."<ref name="landc4"/>
===UK-China investment fund=== In 2017, David Cameron lobbied the Chinese government on behalf of Chadlington in order to establish a £500 million private investment fund.<ref name="chinaft"/> Chadlington, who initiated<ref>{{cite news |title=Cameron set to give up on UK-China investment fund |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4c9822a9-09b8-4a2c-a302-f9014adff2d7 |access-date=20 January 2023 |work=Financial Times |date=3 May 2021}}</ref> and was the main driver behind the fund,<ref name="chinafundat">{{cite news |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |title=Remember me? David Cameron rides again on China's Belt and Road |url=https://asiatimes.com/2017/12/remember-david-cameron-rides-chinas-belt-road/ |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=Asia Times |date=20 December 2017}}</ref> had been working on the fund for three years and travelled to China with Cameron,<ref name="chinafundtelegraph"/> where the former prime minister met with Ma Kai, a Chinese vice-premier who headed Beijing's finance ministry, to discuss the proposal.<ref name="chinafundtelegraph"/><ref>{{cite news| title=David Cameron lobbies for £500m deal with China|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/david-cameron-lobbies-for-500m-deal-with-china-db70k5xg5|date=10 November 2017|newspaper=The Times}}</ref> Cameron had also lobbied the then British chancellor, Philip Hammond, about setting up the fund.<ref name="chinafundbij">{{cite news |last1=Ball |first1=James |last2=Wild |first2=Franz |title=Cameron exploited lobbying loophole to discuss $1bn China fund with Treasury |url=https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2021-04-24/cameron-exploited-lobbying-loophole-to-discuss-1bn-china-fund-with-treasury |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (en-GB) |date=24 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Cameron's meetings with Ma and Hammond did not break any parliamentary rules and did not have to be cleared with the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments because the fund had not yet been set up.<ref name="chinafundtelegraph">{{cite news| title=David Cameron lobbied Beijing for £500m investment fund on behalf of Tory peer|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/10/david-cameron-lobbied-beijing-500m-investment-fund-behalf-tory/|date=10 November 2017|newspaper=The Telegraph}}</ref><ref name="chinafundbij"/> They did, however, raise questions about the robustness of parliamentary lobbying rules, which usually ban former ministers from lobbying for two years,<ref name="chinafundat"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ball |first1=James |last2=Wild |first2=Franz |title=Revealed: David Cameron met Philip Hammond to discuss UK-China fund |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/apr/24/david-cameron-never-lobbied-over-uk-china-business-venture |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=the Guardian |date=24 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> with Peter Dowd, then shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, commenting, "it appears the former prime minister's status and personal relationships have allowed him ministerial contact without having to go through adequate motions of transparency".<ref name="chinafundbij"/>
===COVID-19 PPE contact=== In 2020, Chadlington gave SG Recruitment chief executive and owner David Sumner the email address of Lord Andrew Feldman, who was advisor to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) during the early stages of the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Feldman referred the company, which recruited nurses for the NHS from countries overseas,<ref>{{cite news|title=Tory peer helped secure £50m PPE deal for firm linked to fellow Tory|url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/23236901.peer-helped-secure-50m-ppe-deal-firm-linked-fellow-tory/|newspaper=The National|date=9 January 2023}}</ref> to the "VIP lane" that gave priority to politically connected firms offering personal protective equipment (PPE). SG Recruitment (later renamed Sumner Group Health Limited<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/conservative-uk-ppe-contracts-feldman-audit/|title=Ex-Conservative chair helped multiple firms get UK PPE contracts |date=16 November 2021|newspaper=Politico}}</ref>) was awarded two government contracts, worth £50 million, to supply PPE. Chadlington, listed by the DHSC as the "source of referral" for SG Recruitment's referral to the government,<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Conn |first1=David |last2=Evans |first2=Rob |title=Call for watchdog to reinvestigate Tory peer over possible PPE lobbying breach |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/31/call-for-watchdog-to-reinvestigate-tory-peer-lord-chadlington-over-possible-ppe-lobbying-breach-peter-gummer |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=31 July 2023}}</ref> was also a director and shareholder of SG Recruitment's parent company, Sumner Group Holdings, registered in Jersey.<ref name="watchdog"/><ref>{{cite news | title=Conservative peer helped land £50m PPE contract for firm linked to fellow Tory | date=19 January 2023| newspaper=The Guardian| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/09/conservative-peer-helped-land-50m-ppe-contract-for-firm-linked-to-fellow-tory}}</ref> At the time of Chadlington's referral, SG Recruitment was "a small, loss-making company that supplied healthcare workers to the NHS, and appears to have had no experience providing PPE", with its parent company having faced recent financial difficulties (it liquidated in October 2022).<ref name="DCER">{{cite news |last1=Conn |first1=David |last2=Evans |first2=Rob |title=Government likely to lose millions in dispute over PPE contract awarded via 'VIP lane' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/26/government-millions-ppe-sg-recruitment-uk-lord-chadlington |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=26 July 2023}}</ref>
In January 2022, following a challenge from the Good Law Project, the "VIP lane" was ruled unlawful as it gave unequal treatment to companies by the government.<ref name="watchdog"/> In May 2022, the House of Lords Commissioners for Standards announced an investigation into Chadlington for "alleged involvement in procuring contracts for SG Recruitment UK", leading to potential breaches of two rules in peers' code of conduct: that peers must not accept or agree to accept "payment or other incentive or reward in return for providing parliamentary advice or services", and that peers "must not seek by parliamentary means to confer exclusive benefit" on a company in which they have a financial interest.<ref name="watchdog">{{cite news|title=Lords standards watchdog investigates Tory peer over 'VIP' PPE contracts|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/31/lords-standards-watchdog-investigates-tory-peer-over-vip-ppe-contracts|date=31 May 2022|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> In July 2022, Akbar Khan, who was then one of the Commissioners for Standards, cleared Chadlington of lobbying for the contracts on the basis that he had not directly approached the government about SG Recruitment. Following the ruling, the Labour party called for a review of the Lords watchdog's rules, Labour peer George Foulkes commenting that the ruling "indicates that the code needs revision to take account of more subtle approaches."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/19/questions-raised-about-lords-standards-rules-after-tory-peer-cleared-of-lobbying|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Questions raised about Lords standards rules after Tory peer cleared of lobbying|date=19 July 2022}}</ref>
In July 2023, the Lords standards committee opened a second inquiry into the peer, reinvestigating potential breaches of lobbying rules, following potential discrepancies between accounts from Chadlington and from his lawyers regarding the extent of Chadlington's involvement in government procurement of PPE through SG Recruitment.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dyer |first1=Henry |title=Watchdog opens fresh inquiry into Tory peer over possible PPE lobbying breach |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/aug/03/watchdog-opens-fresh-inquiry-into-tory-peer-over-possible-ppe-lobbying-breach |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=3 August 2023}}</ref> Foulkes, who called for the reinvestigation, said the Commissioner for Standards should also investigate whether Chadlington had misled the watchdog.<ref name="The Guardian"/> However, Chadlington was cleared again after he told the Lords Commissioner in writing in August 2023 that he did not “facilitate an introduction” of SG Recruitment’s majority owner, David Sumner, to Feldman.
By the end of 2023 Sumner Group Health, as SG Recruitment was now known, was in liquidation owing unpaid taxes. The government was in a dispute over one of the SG Recruitment contracts, a source telling ''The Guardian'' that some of the PPE had allegedly not been supplied and some was substandard.<ref name="DCER"/> With the parent company having gone into liquidation earlier, media reports suggested that the government was unlikely to recover any money for the unusable PPE.<ref name=conn/> The government was owed £24m.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Conn |first1=David |title=How a VIP contract introduced by Tory peer left government owed £24m |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/02/lord-chadlington-vip-contract-ppe-tory-peer-government-owed-24m |access-date=22 February 2026 |work=The Guardian |date=2 August 2025}}</ref>
In 2025 the House of Lords launched a third investigation following publication by the UK COVID-19 Inquiry of messages sent by Chadlington introducing SG Recruitment to government. The Lords Commissioner for Standards focused not only on potential rule breaches regarding lobbying and financial interest, but also on whether Chadlington upheld “personal honour” in his parliamentary activities.<ref name=conn>{{cite news| last=Conn | first=David | title=Tory peer investigated for third time by Lords watchdog over 'VIP lane' contracts |newspaper=The Guardian | date=27 March 2025 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/27/lord-chadlington-tory-peer-investigated-third-time-lords-watchdog-vip-lane-contracts}}</ref>
In March 2026 this third investigation concluded that Chadlington’s COVID PPE deals breached standards on five occasions. Separately, it also noted his consistent failure to cooperate with previous inquiries, concluding that Chadlington thus “did not act on his personal honour”.<ref name="DCG">{{Cite news |last=Conn |first=David |date=2026-03-06 |title=Tory peer to leave House of Lords after investigation finds he breached standards over Covid PPE deals |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/06/tory-peer-lord-chadlington-leave-house-of-lords-covid-ppe-deals |access-date=2026-03-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In response, Chadlington announced his retirement from the House of Lords and resignation from the Conservative Party.<ref name="DCG"/>
==Arms== {{Infobox COA wide |image = centre|150pxcentre|200px |escutcheon = Gules a cross potent nowy quadrate Argent between four escallops fukes inwards Or. |crest = A cock wings elevated and addorsed Or beaked combed jelloped and legged Gules grasping in the dexter claws a lily of the valley Argent slipped and leaved Or. |supporters = On either side a falcon reguardant Argent beaked and legged Gules belled Or and holding in the beak a rose Gules barbed seeded slipped and leaved Or. |motto = Never Give Up <ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2000}}</ref>}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}} {{s-start}} {{s-prec|uk}} {{s-bef|before=The Lord Alderdice}} {{s-ttl|title=Gentlemen'''<br />''The Lord Chadlington'' '''}} {{s-fol|after=The Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chadlington, Peter Gummer, Baron}} Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:British businesspeople Chadlington Category:Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Category:People educated at King's School, Rochester Category:British lobbyists Category:English public relations people Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 Category:Conservative Party (UK) donors