CBE PC Professor, University of Edinburgh; Former Minister of State for Energy, United Kingdom

Charles Hendry was Conservative Member of Parliament for Wealden from 2001-2015 and was Minister of State for Energy from May 2010 until September 2012. He was previously the Conservative Party’s spokesman on energy issues, from 2005-2010, holding the portfolio for longer than any other spokesman.

On leaving Ministerial office, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him as his Trade Envoy to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, a role he continued until leaving Parliament in 2015.  He was awarded the CBE in Her Majesty The Queen’s 2019 Birthday Honours for his work in supporting British Trade in Russia and Central Asia.

On leaving Ministerial office, he was appointed as an Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh Business School.  He has been President of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce (in abeyance); President of the British Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan; President of the British Institute of Energy Economics; Vice-President of The Energy Institute and the Patron of the Nuclear Institute.

He works extensively across the international energy sector, primarily focussing on the transition to Net Zero and has also undertaken various roles on behalf of Government, including writing the Independent Review of Tidal Lagoons in 2017.  He chaired the User Group to scrutinise Scottish Power Energy Networks RIIO-T2 Business Plan for Ofgem and is currently the Independent Chair of a Report into Storm Arwen.

He has held a range of Non-Executive Directorships, including as Chairman of Forewind, the Dogger Bank offshore wind consortium (the largest offshore wind project in the world), steering it through to securing development consent.  In addition, he advises a number of energy tech start-ups. 

He is Chairman of the Britten-Shostakovich Festival Orchestra, created in 2019 to bring together outstanding young musicians from the UK and Russia.

Charles was educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he received an Honours Degree in Business Studies.