Richard Wilson

Richard Thomas James Wilson, Baron Wilson of Dinton, GCB is a crossbench member of the British House of Lords and former Cabinet Secretary. He was educated at Radley College and Clare College, Cambridge, where he was awarded the degree of Master of Laws (LLM). He was called to the Bar but, rather than practice, entered the Civil Service as an assistant principal in the Board of Trade in 1966. He subsequent service included 12 years in the Department of Energy where his responsibilities included nuclear power policy, the privatisation of Britoil, personnel and finance. He headed the Economic Secretariat in the Cabinet Office under Margaret Thatcher from 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 the Home Office in 1994 and Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service in January 1998, retiring in 2002. He was created a life peer in 2002 and in the same year became Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.