Dominic Johnson, Baron Johnson Of Lainston

Dominic Robert Andrew Johnson, Baron Johnson of Lainston, (born 6 April 1974), is a British financier, hedge fund manager and politician, the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Somerset Capital Management, who serves as co-chairman of the Conservative Party since November 2024, alongside Nigel Huddleston .

Lord Johnson served under Rishi Sunak as a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade and in the Department for International Trade during the prime ministership of Liz Truss. Johnson has given more than £250,000 to the Conservative Party, serving as its vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019.

Early life

Johnson was born in London in 1974, son of Patrick Johnson and Juliet Elizabeth, daughter of Lt Andrew John Craig-Harvey, 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, of Lainston House, Sparsholt, near Winchester, Hampshire, now a hotel. Juliet's mother, Mary, daughter of Royal Navy Captain Robert Bradshaw Wilmot Sitwell, CBE, was a descendant, through her mother, of the Conservative politicians Charles Cocks, 1st Baron Somers and Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th Bart, MP. Johnson's maternal uncle, Nicholas Craig-Harvey, is married to Lady Julia, a daughter of the Conservative politician Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland, and maternal granddaughter of Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch, who as Earl of Dalkeith sat in the House of Commons.

When Johnson was six months old, his mother fatally stabbed his father after an argument over a burnt meal; although two guests attempted to assist him, Patrick Johnson died two days later aged thirty one. Johnson's mother, aged twenty seven, was found guilty of manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility, and sent to Rooksdown Hospital in Hampshire; she was subsequently released and later remarried to Dr Ivan Brumpt. Johnson and his older sister were raised by their maternal grandparents.

Johnson was educated at Marlborough College before going up to read Politics at Collingwood College, Durham, graduating BA in 1995.

Career

Johnson began his career in finance with Robert Fleming & Co. in 1995, and then with Jardine Fleming, Hong Kong, in 1998. In 2001, he went into asset management, and worked for Lloyd George Management until 2007. In 2007, he co-founded Somerset Capital Management (SCM) with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Edward Robertson. All three were colleagues at Lloyd George Management in Hong Kong. Rees-Mogg was CEO of SCM until Johnson succeeded him in 2010.

In September 2022, SCM with assets under management of about $5 billion was up for sale, with Johnson planning to move into politics, and would be succeeded by chief operating officer Robert Diggle as CEO.

Politics

From 2006 to 2010, Johnson served as a Conservative councillor for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

In 2016, when his friend David Cameron stood down as Prime Minister, Johnson gave him the use of his £2,650-a-week Chelsea house, and Cameron accordingly declared a benefit of more than £37,000 in the register of MPs' interests.

Johnson has donated more than £250,000 to the Conservative Party, and was its vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019. In the 2017 New Year Honours, Johnson was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for political service".

On 2 October 2022, Johnson was appointed by Liz Truss as a Minister of State in the Cabinet Office and Minister of State for Investment in the Department for International Trade. Created a Life Peer to facilitate his ministerial role on 19 October 2022, he was introduced in the House of Lords as Baron Johnson of Lainston, ''of Lainston in the County of Hampshire''. The territorial designation "Lainston" derives from his mother's family home, Lainston House, near Winchester in Hampshire, which is now a hotel. Lord Johnson was sacked by Truss's successor, Rishi Sunak, soon after becoming Prime Minister, then re-appointed as a Minister of State for International Trade on 24 November 2022.

In 2024 it was reported that Johnson “made clear that he was keen to see a bigger Infosys presence in the UK and would be happy to do what he could to facilitate that”.www.theguardian.com: Sunak faces fresh Infosys scrutiny as minister accused of giving it ‘VIP access’
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Personal life

In 2006, Johnson married Alice Rose Alethea Hamilton (born 1974), youngest daughter of Archibald Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom, formerly a Conservative government minister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Dominic
1974 births
Living people
British financiers
Nobility from London
Conservative Party (UK) donors
British hedge fund managers
JPMorgan Chase employees
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Life peers created by Charles III
Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK)
Alumni of Collingwood College, Durham
People educated at Marlborough College
Shadow cabinet of Kemi Badenoch