Sir Stephen Augustus Lovegrove GCMG KCB (born November 1966) is a British civil servant who was the UK National Security Adviser from March 2021 to September 2022. He led the Shareholder Executive from 2007 to 2013, and then had permanent secretary roles at the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Ministry of Defence.

Sir Stephen Lovegrove
Lovegrove in 2018
United Kingdom National Security Adviser
In office
24 March 2021 – 14 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byDavid Quarrey (acting)
Succeeded bySir Tim Barrow
Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence
In office
April 2016 – March 2021
Sec. of StateSir Michael Fallon
Gavin Williamson
Penny Mordaunt
Ben Wallace
Preceded byJon Thompson
Succeeded byDavid Williams
Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
In office
4 February 2013 – March 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Sec. of StateEd Davey
Amber Rudd
Preceded byMoira Wallace
Personal details
Born
Stephen Augustus Lovegrove

(1966-11-30) 30 November 1966 (age 58)
SpouseKate Brooke
Residence(s)London, England
Alma materCorpus Christi College, Oxford

Early life

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Lovegrove was born in 1966, the second child of John and Zenia Stewart Lovegrove. His father was a Warwickshire industrialist and entrepreneur. Lovegrove was educated at Warwick School and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he was awarded a first class degree in English in 1989.

Career

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Between 1990 and 1994 Lovegrove worked for Hydra Associates, a strategic media consultancy. In 1995, he joined Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (subsequently Deutsche Bank), 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 in June 2007 and Chief Executive in April 2008. In that capacity, he was also appointed to the Board of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and acted as chairman of (the no longer trading) British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.

He was appointed as Permanent Secretary of the Department of Energy and Climate Change with effect from 4 February 2013.[1] In March 2016, after three years in that post, the Government announced his appointment as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence.[2]

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.[3]

In January 2021 it was announced that Lovegrove would become National Security Adviser at the end of March 2021.[4] The announcement came as David Frost was pulled out from assuming the role, seven months after being appointed.[5] Lovegrove held the role until 14 September 2022.[6]

Lovegrove has been criticised by Conservatives including Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg for endorsing Black Lives Matter, which Lovegrove claims is not a political organisation.[7][8]

Honours and awards

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Lovegrove was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2013 New Year Honours[9] and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2019 Birthday Honours.[10] He is an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.[11] He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to national security.[12]

Country Date Appointment Ribbon Post-nominal letters Notes
United Kingdom 28 December 2012 Companion of the Order of the Bath   CB Promoted to KCB in 2019[9]
United Kingdom 8 June 2019 Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath KCB [10]
United Kingdom 29 December 2023 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George   GCMG [12]

Personal life

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In 1997, Lovegrove married the screenwriter Kate Brooke. They have two daughters and live in London.

Sources

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References

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  1. ^ Department of Energy & Climate Change Press Notice Archived 2013-01-11 at the Wayback Machine, 7 January 2013
  2. ^ "New Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Defence". GOV.UK. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  3. ^ Grosvenor Group web-site, Stephen Lovegrove - Non-Executive Director (accessed on 19 October 2018)
  4. ^ "International Affairs Appointments in No.10 and Cabinet Office". UK Government. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  5. ^ Morales, Alex (29 January 2021). "U.K. Names Lovegrove National Security Adviser Instead of Frost". Bloomberg. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Sir Tim Barrow appointed as National Security Adviser". GOV.UK. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Top MoD mandarin: supporting BLM is 'not political'". The Spectator. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  8. ^ Stone, Jon (22 February 2022). "Jacob Rees-Mogg says senior civil servants should not endorse Black Lives Matter". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  9. ^ a b "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 3.
  10. ^ a b "No. 62666". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 2019. p. B3.
  11. ^ Corpus Christi College website, Emeritus, Honorary, Claymond and Foundation Fellows, accessed on 25 May 2021
  12. ^ a b "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N3.
Government offices
Preceded by Permanent Secretary of the
Department of Energy
and Climate Change

2013–2016
Department abolished
Preceded by Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry of Defence

2016–2021
Succeeded by