Paul Clive Deighton, Baron Deighton, KBE (born 18 January 1956) is a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician who served as Commercial Secretary to HM Treasury from January 2013 to May 2015. Deighton is a former

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

who previously served as Chief Executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), the organisation responsible for planning the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Deighton is now Chairman of

The Economist Group The Economist Group (legally The Economist Newspaper Limited) is a media company headquartered in London, England. It is best known as publisher of ''The Economist'' newspaper and its sister lifestyle magazine, '' 1843''. The Economist Group spe ...

Early life

Deighton was born in

Carshalton Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalto ...

, Surrey on 18 January 1956. He was educated at

Wallington County Grammar School Wallington County Grammar School (WCGS) is a selective state boys' grammar school with a coeducational Sixth Form located in the London Borough of Sutton. From 1968 to the mid-1990s the school was known as Wallington High School for Boys. One ...

before going on to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, graduating in 1978 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

Career

Banking

Deighton began his career at

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

and moved on to

Security Pacific National Bank Security Pacific National Bank (SPNB) was a large U.S. bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was acquired by Bank of America in 1992. History On September 1, 1868, Hellman, Temple and Co. opened their first bank branch in Lo ...

, where he specialised in corporate banking. In 1983, he joined investment bank Goldman Sachs, initially based in London. He spent two years at their New York office from 1994, where he was joint Head of Controllers. In 1996 he returned to London, where he was promoted to Head of European Operations and became a partner in the firm. In 2000 he became their

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

for Europe.

Olympics London 2012

Deighton was appointed CEO of LOCOG, announced on 19 December 2005. Deighton commented that it was "the only job I would have considered leaving Goldman Sachs for". He has been credited with contributing to the success of the London Olympics. His approach included early winning of sponsorships, and high levels of staff training.

After the Olympics

In September 2012 Deighton was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron as junior minister in HM Government as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, with effect from January 2013. The announcement stated that he would lead on infrastructure and economic delivery, with responsibility for implementing the Government's National Infrastructure Plan and supporting the Culture Secretary with the 2012 Olympics legacy. The delay in his taking up the appointment was necessary to allow him to complete his duties at LOCOG. To make him accountable to Parliament, he was created a life peer on 1 November 2012 as Baron Deighton, of

in the County of Surrey, and introduced in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

the same day.House of Lords Minutes of Proceedings for Thursday 1 November 2012
/ref> Deighton was succeeded as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury by Jim O'Neill in May 2015. In March 2016 Deighton was announced as the new Chairman of London Heathrow Airport. In March 2018 it was announced that Deighton would become chairman of the board of

COVID-19 pandemic

On 19 April 2020 when it was announced that the death toll in the UK alone of 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 identi ...

had reached 15,000 over the three months precedent, Deighton was appointed "PPE tsar" by

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 ...

, who himself was recovering from a bout in the

intensive care unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensi ...

with the disease.

Pandora Papers Scandal

Deighton was amongst those named in the Pandora's Papers scandal, as he abused his position as a Tory peer.

Honours

In 2012, Deighton received the

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Traditi ...

from Count

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie Rogge, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator and physician who served as the eighth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 2013, Rogge bec ...

, and received the

Paralympic Order The Paralympic symbols are the icons, flags, and symbols used by the International Paralympic Committee to promote the Paralympic Games. Motto The Paralympic motto is "Spirit in Motion". The motto was introduced in 2004 at the Paralympic Games in ...

from the International Paralympic Committee. Deighton was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Years Honours for services to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Personal life

Deighton and his wife met whilst working at Goldman Sachs. They have two adult sons. Deighton likes sport, supporting Arsenal F.C.

References

External links

Lord Deighton
at www.parliament.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Deighton, Paul 1956 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British bankers Conservative Party (UK) life peers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Carshalton Recipients of the Olympic Order Recipients of the Paralympic Order People educated at Wallington County Grammar School Chief operating officers Life peers created by Elizabeth II