Benjamin William Elliot (born 11 August 1975) is a British businessman and fund-raiser for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

who served as

Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...

from July 2019 alongside

James Cleverly James Spencer Cleverly (born 4 September 1969) is a British politician and Army Reserve officer who has served as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been ...

(2019–2020),

Amanda Milling Amanda Anne Milling (born 12 March 1975) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cannock Chase since the 2015 general election. She served as Minister without Portfolio in the UK cabinet and, alongside Ben Elliot, as C ...

(2020–2021),

Oliver Dowden Oliver James Dowden (born 1 August 1978) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster since October 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hertsmere since 2015. Dowden served in the Johnson gover ...

(2021–2022), and

Andrew Stephenson Andrew George Stephenson (born 17 February 1981) is a British politician serving as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since October 2022. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Communities from September to Octobe ...

(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 Quintessentially Group is a British concierge company founded in 2000 by Aaron Simpson (entrepreneur), Aaron Simpson, Ben Elliot and Paul Drummond. The company is headquartered in London and operates 60 offices worldwide. Quintessentially is a ...

, a global luxury

concierge service A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the errands of ...

, and the co-founder of Hawthorn Advisors, a communications consultancy based in London. He is the nephew of King Charles and

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the a ...

Early life

Elliot was born and raised in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, England. He is the son of Simon Elliot, a Dorset landowner, and

Annabel Elliot Sonia Annabel Elliot ( Shand; born 2 February 1949) is a British interior designer and antiques dealer. She is the mother of British Conservative politician Ben Elliot, who served as the Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party, and sister of Qu ...

(née Shand), an interior designer and

antiques An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

dealer. He has two sisters. His mother is the sister of

, and

Mark Shand Mark Roland Shand (28 June 1951 – 23 April 2014) was a British travel writer and conservationist and the brother of Queen Camilla. Shand was the author of four travel books and as a BBC conservationist, appeared in documentaries related to hi ...

. His maternal grandparents were Major

Bruce Shand Bruce Middleton Hope Shand (22 January 1917 – 11 June 2006) was an officer in the British Army. He is best known as the father of Queen Camilla. Early life Shand was born in London into an upper class family whose ancestors had moved t ...

and the Hon.

Rosalind Cubitt Rosalind Maud Shand (' Cubitt; 11 August 1921 – 14 July 1994) was a British charity worker and aristocrat, daughter of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe. She was the wife of army officer Major Bruce Shand and the mother of Queen Camilla. Chil ...

. Elliot was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, graduating with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Politics and Economics.

Career

Elliot is the

co-founder An organizational founder is a person who has undertaken some or all of the formational work needed to create a new organization, whether it is a business, a charitable organization, a governing body, a school, a group of entertainers, or any othe ...

, a luxury lifestyle group with a 24-hour global concierge service, which he started in London in December 2000. The company has boasted about how it serves wealthy Russian clients, which includes opening an office in Russia and creating a "dedicated Russian team". After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the company deleted its webpage that boasted about serving Russian elite clients. He is a regular contributor to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

and'' '' Country Life'' amongst other publications. Elliot was included in the '' Evening Standard's'' Progress 1000 list, named as one of 'London's most influential people 2016 - Business Brains'. He was the executive producer of the award-winning documentary ''

Fire in Babylon ''Fire in Babylon'' is a 2010 British documentary film about the record-breaking West Indies cricket team of the 1970s and 1980s. Featuring stock footage and interviews with several former players and officials, including Colin Croft, Deryck Murra ...

''. Elliot was asked to act as treasurer for the Conservative Party's 2016 London mayoral campaign and was responsible for all campaign fundraising efforts. Elliot acts as a trustee for the Eranda Rothschild Foundation and has been Chairman on the Philanthropy Board of the Royal Albert Hall since 2015. In December 2016, he was appointed as a trustee to the board of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

by Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

. The four-year term officially commenced on 1 January 2017. Following October 2017's relaunch of the

Centre for Policy Studies The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a think tank and pressure group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," low tax, national independ ...

, Elliot was asked by Lord Saatchi to join his board as honorary treasurer. In December 2018, Elliot was appointed by Michael Gove, the

secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs The secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, also referred to as the environment secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Department for Environment, Food ...

, as the government's first Food Surplus and Waste Champion. Following Elliot's appointment, Gove commented: "

Food waste Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about o ...

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." In July 2019, Elliot was appointed by incoming

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

as the

co-chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...

, working alongside fellow co-chairman

. 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

. Milling was succeeded by

in the 2021 cabinet reshuffle. Dowden resigned in June 2022. Elliot is a founding trustee of the Quintessentially Foundation charity, which has raised in excess of £13 million for charitable causes since 2008. In 2021, BBC News described Elliot as the "Tories' chief fundraiser". He raised nearly £2 million from donors with links to the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia.

Personal life

Elliot married Mary-Clare Winwood, US-born daughter of the musician Steve Winwood, in Gloucestershire in 2011. They have two sons and live in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...

. Elliot is a member of

5 Hertford Street 5 Hertford Street (5HS) is a private members' club in Mayfair, London, which was described in 2017 as London's most secretive club. It has annual membership costs of £1,800 and is owned by the English businessman Robin Birley. Its interior des ...

, a private members' club in Mayfair, London.

References

External links

*
Interview with Ben Elliot
at the Gentleman's Journal

at the

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, Ben Living people 1975 births

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

Cubitt family

Food waste in the United Kingdom

People from Dorset English philanthropists People educated at Eton College Alumni of the University of Bristol Businesspeople from London English film producers