Sir Stephen Lovegrove

Sir Stephen Lovegrove was the UK’s national security advisor from March 2021 until September 2022, with oversight of the UK’s security, defense, and intelligence capabilities on behalf of the prime minister. During that time he was responsible for the UK’s national response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He also oversaw the signing of AUKUS, the trilateral security pact among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Before his role as national security advisor, Lovegrove was the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Defense from 2016 to 2021, a role he also performed at the Department for Energy and Climate Change from 2013 to 2016. In the latter position, he oversaw the introduction of the UK’s contract-for-difference regime for renewables financing and the signing of the deal to build the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. Earlier in his career, Lovegrove ran the government’s Shareholder Executive (now UK Government Investments – UKGI), with authority over HMG-owned commercial enterprises. There he led a number of transactions, among them the IPO of the Royal Mail and the sale of British Energy. He was the government’s representative on the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games for seven years. Lovegrove joined the UK’s civil service in 2004 after a career in investment banking with Morgan, Grenfell & Co. and Deutsche Bank; at Deutsche Bank he was the managing director in charge of the media practice. He is currently a distinguished visiting fellow at Columbia SIPA’s Center on Global Energy Policy and non-executive director at Grosvenor Ltd.