Liam Booth-Smith is a British political adviser who has served as the Downing Street Chief of Staff since October 2022. He previously served as ''de facto'' chief of staff to then-

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...

as head of the Joint Economic Unit.

Early life and education

Booth-Smith was born in 1987 to Mr. Smith and Mrs. Booth in

Stoke on Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

. He read politics and social policy at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

Career

Booth-Smith served as chief executive of the

Localis Localis is an independent think tank that promotes neo-localist ideas. It was founded in 2001 and is currently based in Westminster, United Kingdom. Its research programme is guided by the concept of neo-localism which it describes as giving plac ...

think tank between 2016 and 2018, before serving as a special adviser to James Brokenshire as

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, also referred to as the levelling up secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction o ...

between 2018 and 2019, where

was a junior minister. In July 2019, Booth-Smith became a senior adviser to prime minister

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 ...

upon his accession as prime minister. He had previously worked at the Policy Exchange think tank with a specialism in housing policy. In February 2020, Booth-Smith became then-

Sunak's ''de facto'' chief of staff as head of the Joint Economic Unit between

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

and

11 Downing Street 11 Downing Street (sometimes referred to as just Number 11) is the official residence of Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer (who traditionally also has the title of Second Lord of the Treasury). The residence, in Downing Street in London, wa ...

, overseeing the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Booth-Smith led

's leadership campaign during the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, and again during the

October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election The October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Liz Truss's announcement that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, amid an economic and political crisis. Rishi ...

Downing Street Chief of Staff

Booth-Smith was appointed as Downing Street Chief of Staff in October 2022 after

's accession as prime minister. He succeeded

Mark Fullbrook Mark Stephen Fullbrook (born June 1962) is a British political strategist and lobbyist who served as Downing Street Chief of Staff from September to October 2022. Early life and education Fullbrook was born in June 1962. He read management scienc ...

Personal life

Booth-Smith is engaged to special adviser Olivia Oates.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth-Smith, Liam Living people Downing Street Chiefs of Staff British political consultants British special advisers Conservative Party (UK) people Alumni of Loughborough University People from Stoke-on-Trent 1987 births