The Lord Johnson of Lainston | |
|---|---|
 Johnson in 2012 | |
| Minister of State for Regulatory Reform | |
| Assumed office 14 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Minto |
| Minister of State for Investment | |
| Assumed office 24 November 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| In office 2 October 2022 – 28 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Liz Truss |
| Preceded by | The Lord Grimstone of Boscobel |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 17 July 2016 – 26 July 2019 | |
| Leader | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Robert Halfon |
| Succeeded by | Paul Scully |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| Assumed office 24 October 2022 Life peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dominic Robert Andrew Johnson 1974 (age 49–50) London, England |
| Spouse |
Alice Rose Alethea Hamilton
(m. 2006) |
| Relatives | Archie Hamilton (father-in-law) |
| Education | Durham University |
Dominic Robert Andrew Johnson, Baron Johnson of Lainston, CBE (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. He currently serves as a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade, having served in the department during the tenure of Liz Truss. Johnson has given more than £250,000 to the Conservative Party, and was its vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019.
Johnson was born in London in 1974,[1] 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 Baronet. Johnson's maternal uncle, Nicholas Craig-Harvey, is married to Lady Julia, daughter of the Conservative politician Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland and maternal granddaughter of Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch, also a Conservative politician.[2][3][4][5]
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.[6] 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.[6] Johnson and his older sister were raised by their maternal grandparents.[6]
Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in politics from Durham University, where he was in Collingwood College, graduating in 1995.[1][7]
Johnson began his career in finance with Robert Fleming & Co. in 1995, and then with Jardine Fleming, Hong Kong, in 1998.[8] In 2001, he went into asset management, and worked for Lloyd George Management until 2007.[8] In 2007, he co-founded Somerset Capital Management (SCM) with Jacob Rees-Mogg and Edward Robertson.[8][9] All three were colleagues at Lloyd George Management in Hong Kong.[10] Rees-Mogg was CEO of SCM until Johnson succeeded him in 2010.[10]
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.[11]
From 2006 to 2010, Johnson was a Conservative councillor for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.[1]
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,[1] and Cameron accordingly declared a benefit of more than £37,000 in the register of MPs' interests.[12]
Johnson has given more than £250,000 to the Conservative Party, and was its vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019.[9] In the 2017 New Year Honours, Johnson was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for political service".[1]
On 2 October 2022, Johnson was appointed by Liz Truss as a minister of state in the Cabinet Office and the Department for International Trade.[9] He is currently Minister of State for Investment. On 19 October 2022, to facilitate his ministerial role, he was created Baron Johnson of Lainston, of Lainston in the County of Hampshire.[13][14] "Lainston" derives from his mother's family home, Lainston House, near Winchester in Hampshire, which is now a hotel.[15] Johnson was sacked by Truss's successor, Rishi Sunak, soon after he became Prime Minister.
Sunak re-appointed Johnson as a Minister of State for International Trade on 24 November 2022.
In 2006, he married Alice Rose Alethea Hamilton (born 1974), the daughter of Archibald Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom, a British Conservative Party politician.[16]
