Lord Risby: The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Algeria

Before entering Parliament Lord (Richard) Risby worked in the City, becoming a vice-president at Merrill Lynch. Lord Risby served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury St Edmunds from 1992 to 1997, and for West Suffolk from 1997 to 2010. He joined the House of Lords in 2010. Between 1997 and 2000 he was Opposition spokesman for Culture, Media and Sport. He was Opposition Spokesman for Foreign Affairs between 2000 and 2004 and Shadow Minister for the Treasury between 2004 and 2005. Between 2005 and 2010 he was a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party and Vice-Chairman of Conservative Business Relations. He was also Director of the British Syrian Society between 2003 and 2011. From 2011 to 2015, Risby was the Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for East Asian Business. He was also President of the Association for Decentralised Energy and Deputy Chairman of the Small Business Bureau Ltd until July 2020.

In 2010 he was created a life peer as Baron Risby of Haverhill in the County of Suffolk. Lord Risby sits as a Conservative in the House of Lords. He was appointed Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Algeria in 2012 and Trade Envoy for Lebanon in 2019.