Patrick Joseph McGuinness (born 27 April 1963) is a former senior British civil servant who now advises businesses and governments globally on their resilience, Crisis, Technology, Data and Cyber issues. He was the Deputy National Security Adviser for Intelligence, Security, and Resilience in the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

, from 2014 to January 2018.

Early life

Born in Oxford to Professors Rosamond McGuinness and

Brian McGuinness Brian McGuinness (22 October 1927 – 23 December 2019) was a Wittgenstein scholar best known for his translation, with David Pears, of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, ''Tractatus-Logico-Philosophicus''. He was christened with the forenames ...

, McGuinness went to

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

, and then to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

where he took a BA in modern history. He has a sister

Catherine McGuinness Catherine McGuinness (; born 14 November 1934) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2006, a Judge of the High Court from 1996 to 2000, a Judge of the Circuit Court from 1994 to 1996 and a Senator ...

who chairs the Policy and Resources Committee of the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

Career in Government service

McGuinness joined the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

in 1985. His first overseas posting was as Second Secretary in

Sana'a Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governo ...

from 1988 to 1991. After that, he served as First Secretary in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

from 1994–1996, then as Counsellor in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

from 1996–1999 and in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

from 2003–2006. McGuinness was appointed the Deputy

National Security Adviser A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

for Intelligence, Security, and Resilience in 2014, taking over from

Oliver Robbins Sir Oliver Robbins (born 20 April 1975) is a former senior British civil servant who served as the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser and the chief Brexit negotiator from 2017 to 2019. He was a controversial figure among Brexit supporters. He pr ...

and replaced by Richard Moore. He advised first

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

then

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 cab ...

and reported to the

who is Secretary to the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

, alongside the other Deputy National Security Adviser for Foreign and Defence Policy.

National Cyber Security Programme

As DNSA McGuinness was the Senior Responsible Officer for the UK’s two five year National Cyber Security Programmes overseeing the development of and response to the 2016 National Cyber Security Strategy and through that the launch of the National Cyber Security Centre

The Cloud Act

McGuinness was the UK's principal public advocate for the

Cloud Act The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act or CLOUD Act () is a United States federal law enacted in 2018 by the passing of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, PL 115-141, Division V. The CLOUD Act primarily amends the Stored Communi ...

. On 24 May 2017 McGuinness became the first serving British official to testify to a Congressional Committee when he joined Richard J Downing of the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

in front of the

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Judiciary Committee subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism advocating for lawful access to data to counter Serious Organised Crime through the

. His written evidence i
here
On 15 June 2017 he then appeared in front of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. He published a number of articles in US newspapers and online

D Notice Committee

McGuinness represented the

on the

Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee The Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee is a British advisory body established in 2015 which oversees a voluntary code which operates between the government departments which have responsibility for national security and the media. Histo ...

formerly known as the D Notice Committee.

Undercover Policing Inquiry

In January 2016 McGuinness provided written testimony to the Undercover Policing Inquiry on the importance of the “Neither Confirm Nor Deny” principle for National Security.

Career since 2018

McGuinness is an Adviser at Brunswick Group advising on crisis and resilience issues, providing senior counsel to clients on ever-evolving business and political risk. McGuinness is a co-founder of Oxford Digital Health an Oxford University Spin Out providing software as a service to transform healthcare. McGuinness is a member of the Advisory Board at Glasswall Solutions. McGuinness was a member of the Oxford Technology and Elections Commission on Technology OxTEC which made a series of recommendations aimed at securing the information infrastructure of elections and creating a trusted environment for the democratic use of technology reported in October 2019 In January 2018 the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

newspaper reported that McGuinness was to advise the

State of Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sha ...

on the security of the soccer World Cup. McGuinness was a Special Adviser to the UK Parliament’s

Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, formed to "monitor the implementation and development" of the United Kingdom Government's National Security Strategy". It ...

Charitable work

McGuinness is the Chair of Trustees at St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney, London.

Awards

McGuinness was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in 1997, and a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuinness, Paddy Living people British civil servants 1963 births Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Ampleforth College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Secret Intelligence Service personnel