Charles Powell
Charles David Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater [ pəʊl ], KCMG , OBE (born July 6, 1941 ), is a British diplomat, politician and businessman. He was a senior foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. His brother, Jonathan Powell, was Tony Blair's chief of staff when he was Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007, and his father was Air Vice-Marshal John Frederick Powell .
Life
Powell attended the Cathedral Choir School in Canterbury , the King's School in Canterbury and New College , Oxford , where he graduated with a BA in New History in 1963 .
In the diplomatic service
Charles Powell joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1963 . His first post was in Helsinki in 1965 as Third Secretary , and later Second Secretary . In 1968 he returned to London , where he spent three years in the Foreign Office . He then went to Washington, DC , as First Secretary in 1971 and became the Ambassador's Private Secretary .
From 1974 he was in Bonn , then from 1980 as envoy at the Representation of the United Kingdom to the EU (UKREP) in Brussels .
He was seconded to 10 Downing Street and served Margaret Thatcher as private secretary (1983–1990), then later John Major (1990–1991). During the time he worked for Thatcher, he became one of their most trusted advisers on foreign policy. An initially secret memorandum about an expert conference on the question of Germany , in which he commented in March 1990 on the supposedly enduring national character of the Germans, formed the focus of the Checkers affair when it was published in the summer of 1990 . He was also an important player in the negotiation of the controversial "al-Yamamah" arms deal with Saudi Arabia .
As a businessman
After 1992 Powell became an international businessman. He used the experience and contacts he had gained during his time in government to obtain various lucrative board positions and advisory tasks. He is Chairman of Sagitta Asset Management and the luxury manufacturer Louis Vuitton . Prior to assuming these positions, he served on the board of directors of Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers and a director of Jardine Matheson Holdings . He has also held directorships at Caterpillar Inc. , LVMH , Mandarin Oriental International , Schindler Holding , Tiphook , Textron and Yell Group and is authorized to sign for the Henry Jackson Society .
Brunei controversy
In 2005 it was revealed that Powell served as Tony Blair's special envoy for several years in Brunei , a job he did without pay. Controversy arose because Powell was being paid by BAE Systems at the same time , and the company was negotiating purchase of three warships with Brunei at the time. Powell denied the existence of a conflict of interest despite his ties to BAE and the fact that his brother Jonathan Powell was Tony Blair's chief of staff at the time.
House of Lords
In 2000 he was promoted to Life Peer as Baron Powell of Bayswater, of Canterbury in the County of Kent . Since then he has had a seat in the House of Lords . Although he is close to the Conservatives , he sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher .
Private
He married Carla Bonardi in 1964 and the couple have two sons (* 1967 and 1968).
He has three brothers: Chris (co-founder of the advertising agency DDB Advertising), Roderick (Rod) and Jonathan , who was Tony Blair's chief of staff and is a member of the Labor Party .
Honors
- After retiring from the diplomatic service in 1990, he was ennobled as Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).
- In 2001 he was awarded the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat of Singapore .
Individual evidence
- ↑ For preferred pronunciation, see: Alexander Chancellor, "You Say Tomato," New Yorker. August 9, 1993, p. 27. (Eng.)
- ^ The Diplomatic Service List 1989 (page 278), HMSO , ISBN 0-11-591707-1 , (Engl.)
- ^ A b David Leigh: BAE Files: Charles Powell , BBC. June 7, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2012. (Eng.)
- ↑ Ewen MacAskill: Blair's special envoy to Brunei on BAE payroll , Guardian. October 8, 2005. Retrieved November 25, 2012. (Eng.)
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Powell, Charles |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Charles David Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British diplomat, politician and businessman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 6, 1941 |