Richard Wilson, Baron Wilson of Dinton

Richard Thomas James Wilson, Baron Wilson of Dinton, GCB (born 11 October 1942) is a crossbench member of the British House of Lords and former Cabinet Secretary.

The Right Honourable The Lord Wilson of Dinton GCB
Official portrait, 2019
Cabinet Secretary Head of the Home Civil Service
In office 1998–2002
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Robin Butler
Succeeded by	Andrew Turnbull
Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
In office 1994–1997
Preceded by	Sir Clive Whitmore
Succeeded by	Sir David Omand
Personal details
Born	11 October 1942 (1942-10-11) (age 82) Glamorgan, Wales
Education	Radley College
Alma mater	Clare College, Cambridge

Career

Richard Wilson was born in Glamorgan. He was educated at Radley College^[1] (1956–60 and where he much later chaired the College Council (the governing body) and Clare College, Cambridge (1961–65), where he was awarded the degree of Master of Laws (LLM). He was called to the Bar but, rather than practise, entered the Civil Service as an assistant principal in the Board of Trade in 1966.

He subsequently served in a number of departments including 12 years in the Department of Energy where his responsibilities included nuclear power policy,^[2] the privatisation of Britoil, personnel and finance. He headed the Economic Secretariat in the Cabinet Office under Margaret Thatcher from 1987 to 1990 and after two years in the Treasury was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Department of the Environment in 1992.

He became Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office in 1994 and Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service in January 1998, retiring in 2002.^[3]

Wilson was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1991 New Year Honours,^[4] promoted to Knight Commander (KCB) in the 1997 New Year Honours^[5] and to Knight Grand Cross (GCB) in the 2001 New Year Honours.^[6]

After retiring as Cabinet Secretary, he was created a life peer on 18 November 2002 with the title Baron Wilson of Dinton, of Dinton in the County of Buckinghamshire.^[7] In September of that year, he was made Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He has variously been a Non-executive Director of British Sky Broadcasting Group plc, Chairman of C. Hoare & Co, a Non-executive Director of Xansa and Chair of the Board of Patrons of The Wilberforce Society.^[8]

References

1. Old Radleian 2006 Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
2. Wilson, Richard (June 2009). "UK Civil Nuclear Energy: What Lessons?" (PDF). British Academy Review. 13: 17. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
3. Stevenson, Alexander (2013). The Public Sector: Managing The Unmanageable. Kogan Page Limited. ISBN 978-0-7494-6777-7.
4. "No. 52382". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1990. p. 3.
5. "No. 54625". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1996. p. 3.
6. "No. 56070". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2000. p. 2.
7. "No. 56762". The London Gazette. 25 November 2002. p. 14283.
8. "Board". Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.

External links

• Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 20 November 2009 (video)
• Emmanuel College website

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Terry Heiser	Permanent Secretary at the Department of the Environment 1992–1994	Succeeded by Sir Andrew Turnbull (later, The Lord Turnbull)
Preceded by Sir Clive Whitmore	Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 1994–1997	Succeeded by Sir David Omand
Preceded by Sir Robin Butler	Cabinet Secretary & Head of the Home Civil Service 1998–2002	Succeeded by Sir Andrew Turnbull
Academic offices
Preceded by John Ffowcs Williams	Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge 2002–2012	Succeeded by Fiona Reynolds
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Lord Black of Crossharbour	Gentlemen Baron Wilson of Dinton	Followed by The Lord Cullen of Whitekirk