Malcolm Offord

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Offord of Garvel
Official portrait of Lord Offord of Garvel crop 3.jpg
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
Assumed office
4 October 2021
Serving with Iain Stewart
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byDavid Duguid
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
14 October 2021
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born1964 (age 57–58)
Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh

Malcolm Ian Offord, Baron Offord of Garvel[1] (born 1964) is a Scottish financier and Conservative Party politician. Since October 2021, he has been a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.

Offord is the founder and chair of Edinburgh-based private equity company, Badenoch and Co.[2] He has donated £147,500 to the Conservative Party.[3]

Biography[]

Offord was born in Greenock,[4] in 1964.[5] He was educated at Ardgowan Primary School and Greenock Academy, and earned a degree from the University of Edinburgh.[6]

Offord was a policy advisor at the Centre for Social Justice,[7] a right-wing think-tank established by former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. In 2009, he wrote a paper called "Bankrupt Britain",[8] in which he called for public spending to be reduced by a third.[7]

During the campaign leading up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum Offord founded an astroturfed[9][7][10] campaign group called Vote No Borders[11] that spent £147,510 (just short of the £150,000 limit).[12] The group attracted controversy when it created an advert claiming that after independence Scots would struggle to get treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital; the hospital objected that they hadn't been consulted, the claim wasn't true and asked for the advert to be withdrawn.[13][14] Four years after the referendum the group received further attention as it had missed a deadline to file accounts with Companies House.[12]

In 2017, Offord became chairman of London Scottish having previously served on the board.[15] In 2020, he was appointed to the board of Scottish Rugby Union as a non-executive director.[16]

At the May 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Offord stood as a Scottish Conservatives list candidate for the Lothian electoral region, but having been placed fifth of the list he failed to gain a seat.[3][11] His selection had been criticised by other Conservatives as "cronyism".[2] One Conservative told the Edinburgh Evening News "It seems all you need to get an endorsement is to have deep pockets".[2]

During the election campaign, Offord wrote a blog post that was published on the Reform Scotland think tank website citing the Scottish government's Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report which claims that Scotland's economy has a £15 billion (8.6% of GDP) annual deficit as sufficient reason to oppose Scottish independence.[17]

Offord and his wife Sarah were kidnapped at gunpoint in Tobago in 1998. There was some controversy surrounding the circumstances and subsequent legal case.[18]

On 30 September 2021, it was announced that he will be made a life peer upon his appointment as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.[3][19] He was chosen instead of two Scottish Conservative MPs, Andrew Bowie and John Lamont.[11] He was appointed on 4 October 2021.[20] He was created Baron Offord of Garvel, of Greenhook in the County of Renfrewshire, on 13 October and introduced to the House of Lords the next day.[1][21]/ He is due to give his maiden speech on 20th January although he was down for giving it in December 2021.

References[]

  1. ^ a b Webster, Laura. "New Scotland Office minister Malcolm Offord given official Lords title". The National. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 2021-10-13. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  2. ^ a b c Matchett, Conor (12 February 2021) [9 February 2021]. "Scottish Tories face 'cronyism' accusations after £150,000 donor wins Lothians list seat endorsement". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Walker, Peter. "Tory donor made life peer and appointed as government minister". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  4. ^ Crichton, Torcuil (9 February 2021). "Scots Tories cronyism row as big bucks donor given stamp of approval as candidate". Daily Record. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  5. ^ Offord, Ian (1 June 2021). "Seven essays on the value of the United Kingdom to Scotland, her people and our future" (PDF). badenoch.scot. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Malcolm Offord: Founder and Chairman". Badenoch & Co. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Small, Mike (3 October 2021). "Mike Small: 'No Borders' peer Malcolm Offord eases into power without a vote". The National. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  8. ^ Offord, Malcolm (February 2009). "Bankrupt Britain" (PDF). ConservativeHome. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2009.
  9. ^ Graham, Graham Harris (2 May 2014). "Astroturf Democracy". Bella Caledonia. Archived from the original on 7 May 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  10. ^ Gardiner, Michael (19 July 2015). Time and Action in the Scottish Independence Referendum. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 2013. ISBN 9781137545947. Archived from the original on 15 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ a b c Matchett, Conor (30 September 2021). "Unelected millionaire dogged by 'cronyism' accusations given peerage and Scottish ministerial role by UK Government". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  12. ^ a b Gordon, Tom (10 January 2016). "Big-spending No campaigner fined for failing to produce accounts". The Herald. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  13. ^ "Scottish independence: Vote No Borders advert pulled over child hospital claim". BBC News. 30 May 2014. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  14. ^ Johnson, Simon (29 May 2014). "Anti-Scottish independence group withdraws cinema advert". Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  15. ^ "London Scottish announces new Chairman and CEO". London Scottish F.C. 5 April 2017. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  16. ^ Barnes, David (24 August 2020). "Two new directors appointed to Scottish Rugby Union Board". The Offside Line. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  17. ^ Offord, Malcolm (April 6, 2021). "How to turbo-charge Scotland's economy". Reform Scotland. Archived from the original on September 30, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  18. ^ "Young v. The State (Trinidad and Tobago) – [2008] UKPC 27 – Privy Council – Judgment – Law – CaseMine". CaseMine.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  19. ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Malcolm Offord". gov.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State". GOV.UK. 4 October 2021. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  21. ^ "House of Lords". www.parliamentlive.tv. 14 October 2021. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
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