Sir Stephen Augustus Lovegrove (born 30 November 1966) is a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who was appointed as UK National Security Adviser with effect from the end of March 2021, having previously served as the

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, also called the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, is the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence. The office holder is the government's principal civilian adviser on Defence ...

Early life

Lovegrove was born in 1966, the second child of John and Zenia Stewart Lovegrove. His father was a

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

industrialist and entrepreneur. Lovegrove was educated at

Warwick School Warwick School is a selective, independent day and boarding school in Warwick, England in the public school tradition. Known until about 1900 as King's School, Warwick, it is believed to have been founded by Æthelflæd of Mercia in 914 AD ...

and at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

, where he was awarded a first class degree in English in 1989.

Career

Between 1990 and 1994 Lovegrove worked for Hydra Associates, a strategic media consultancy. In 1995, he joined Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (subsequently

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York St ...

), where he remained until 2004 and became head of the European media team. In April 2004, he joined the Shareholder Executive, becoming acting Chief Executive on 27 June 2007 and Chief Executive on 18 April 2008. In that capacity, he was also appointed to the Board of the

London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Gov ...

and acted as chairman of (the no longer trading)

British Nuclear Fuels Ltd British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) was a nuclear energy and fuels company owned by the UK Government. It was a manufacturer of nuclear fuel (notably MOX), ran reactors, generated and sold electricity, reprocessed and managed spent fuel (main ...

. He was appointed as Permanent Secretary of the Department of Energy and Climate Change with effect from 4 February 2013. In March 2016, after three years in that post, the Government announced his appointment as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence. Since February 2016 he has also served as a non-executive director of Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, one of the principal operating companies of the

Grosvenor Group Grosvenor Group Limited is an internationally diversified property group, which traces its origins to 1677 and has its headquarters in London, England. It has a global reach, now in 62 international cities, with offices in 14 of them, operated on ...

. Lovegrove was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregiv ...

(CB) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebra ...

and

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

. He is an Honorary Fellow of

. In January 2021 it was announced that Lovegrove would become National Security Adviser at the end of March 2021. The announcement came as

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

was pulled out from assuming the role seven months after being appointed. Lovegrove has been criticised by

Conservatives 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 ...

including Jacob Rees-Mogg for endorsing

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

, which Lovegrove claims is not a political organisation. In late 2021, Lovegrove authored a document titled "Mission Critical" telling MI5 and MI6 employees to check their "

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With root ...

" and avoid words such as "manpower", "strong" and "grip".

Personal life

In 1997, Lovegrove married the screenwriter

Kate Brooke Kate Brooke, Lady Lovegrove is a British screenwriter. Origins, education and early career Brooke is the daughter of the late Timothy Sergison-Brooke and the Hon. Mary Anne Hare (b. 9 April 1936), eldest daughter of John Hare, 1st Viscount Blake ...

. They have two daughters and live in London.

Sources

* ''Who's Who'' (2009 edition)
Shareholder Executive web-site
(accessed on 22 April 2010)
L.O.C.O.G. web-site
(accessed on 22 April 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovegrove, Stephen People educated at Warwick School Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford English civil servants Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 1966 births Living people Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Energy and Climate Change Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Defence