Chairman , British Ukrainian Society
Lord RISBY is the Chairman of the British Ukrainian Society. He joined the House of Lords in 2010, where he currently has been serving as the British Trade Envoy to Algeria since his appointment by the Former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2012. Previously, Lord Risby served as the Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party and as the Co-Chairman of the Conservative City Circle in 2005-2010. He was elected as the Conservative MP for Bury St. Edmunds in 1992-1997, and for West Suffolk in 1997-2010. During his time at the House of Commons, Lord Risby was the Deputy Chairman of the Small Business Bureau & Chairman of the Small Business Bureau Parliamentary Advisory Group (1995), Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office at the Department of Trade & Industry and at the Ministry of Defense (1993-1997), Shadow Frontbench Spokesman for Culture, Media & Sport (appointed 1997), Shadow Minister for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs (2000-2004), Shadow Minister for Financial Services (2004), and Shadow Paymaster General (thereafter until December 2005). He acted as the Governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in 2003-2009. Prior to his service in the parliament, he was the VP of Merrill Lynch (1976-1986), Deputy MD of E F Hutton Int’l Assoc. (1986), Executive Director of Shearson Lehman Hutton (1988), and MD of Furman Selz (1989). Lord Risby studied at Cape Town University, Rondebosch, and subsequently at the Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, where he received an MA in Economics.