Rupert Harrison

Last updated

Rupert Harrison CBE (born 1 November 1978) [1] is a British economist and a portfolio manager at BlackRock. He was from 2006 to 2015 the chief of staff to George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, and chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the UK Treasury. [2] He is currently a member of the Economic Advisory Council convened by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt. [3] In June 2023, he was selected as the Conservative Party candidate for the Bicester and Woodstock (UK Parliament constituency) at the next General Election. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Born in São Paulo, Harrison is the youngest son of a bank manager and a French teacher. He won a scholarship [5] to Eton College (where he was head boy). [1]

He then went to Magdalen College, Oxford University where he initially studied Physics, but then switched to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, achieving first-class honours. [6] One of his tutors at Oxford was Stewart Wood, who went on to become an adviser to both Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, and the two apparently remained friends. [7]

In 2007 he obtained a PhD degree in Economics from University College London entitled, Innovation and technology adoption and his academic research was published in the American Economic Review , the Economic Journal and the Review of Economics and Statistics amongst others. [8] [9] [10]

Career

From 2002, Harrison worked at the Institute for Fiscal Studies as Senior Research Economist.

From 2006-2010 he was chief economic advisor to the then Leader of the Opposition David Cameron and Shadow Chancellor George Osborne. From 2010 to 2015 he was chief of staff to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and chair of the UK’s Council of Economic Advisors. [11]

In August 2015 Harrison joined the investment firm BlackRock where he is a portfolio manager and chief macro strategist for multi-asset strategies. [12] [13] [14]

Harrison has written opinion pieces for the Financial Times [15] [16] and has regularly appeared as a commentator on TV and radio. [17] [18]

Harrison was appointed as a member of the government's Economic Advisory Council by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in 2022. [3]

In June 2023 he was selected to stand as the Conservative candidate for the constituency of Bicester and Woodstock in the next general election. [19]

Views on Brexit

Harrison believes Brexit damages the UK economy. In 2017 he wrote, "Q2 growth of 0.3% is not the end of the world, and I'm less gloomy than many on the outlook. But the rest of Europe is booming and we're not". [20] [21]

Recognition

In 2014 Harrison was said to be one of the most powerful people in the UK and to be the main reason why Osborne could be a "part time" Chancellor. [22] [5]

In March 2014, he was the subject of the BBC Radio 4 Profile programme. [23]

Harrison was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 Dissolution Honours Lists on 27 August 2015. [24]

Personal life

In his first year at Oxford he was in a band called Psychid with three other students. [25]

In 2004, he married Jo Orpin, a Magdalen contemporary who has worked as a divorce lawyer and family therapist. [1] <ref>[ citation needed ]

Since January 2017 he has been aTrustee of The Fore, a charity dedicated to funding small charities and social enterprises. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chancellor of the Exchequer</span> Lead minister of His Majestys Treasury

The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to Chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the chancellor is a high-ranking member of the British Cabinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Lawson</span> British peer and politician (1932–2023)

Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, was a British politician and journalist. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament for Blaby from 1974 to 1992, and served in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet from 1981 to 1989. Prior to entering the Cabinet, he served as the Financial Secretary to the Treasury from May 1979 until his promotion to Secretary of State for Energy. He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in June 1983 and served until his resignation in October 1989. In both Cabinet posts, Lawson was a key proponent of Thatcher's policies of privatisation of several key industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Wednesday</span> 1992 UK financial crisis

Black Wednesday, or the 1992 sterling crisis, was a financial crisis that occurred on 16 September 1992 when the UK Government was forced to withdraw sterling from the (first) European Exchange Rate Mechanism , following a failed attempt to keep its exchange rate above the lower limit required for ERM participation. At that time, the United Kingdom held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alistair Darling</span> British Labour Party politician (1953–2023)

Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2015, representing Edinburgh Central and Edinburgh South West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Osborne</span> Former Conservative politician, newspaper editor

George Gideon Oliver Osborne is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 2001 to 2017. He was editor of the Evening Standard from 2017 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monetary Policy Committee (United Kingdom)</span> Committee of the Bank of England that decides the United Kingdoms official interest rate

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Bank of England, which meets for three and a half days, eight times a year, to decide the official interest rate in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford</span> British politician (born 1936)

David Arthur Russell Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford, is a British Conservative Party politician, journalist, and economic consultant. Having been successively Secretary of State for Energy and then for Transport under Margaret Thatcher, Howell has more recently been a Minister of State in the Foreign Office from the election in 2010 until the reshuffle of 2012. He has served as Chair of the House of Lords International Relations Committee since May 2016. Along with William Hague, Sir George Young and Kenneth Clarke, he is one of the few Cabinet ministers from the 1979–97 governments who continued to hold high office in the party, being its deputy leader in the House of Lords until 2010. His daughter, Frances, was married to the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Budd</span> British economist (1937–2023)

Sir Alan Peter Budd was a British economist, who was a founding member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in 1997.

The Spring Statement of the British Government, also known as the "mini-budget", is one of the two statements HM Treasury makes each year to Parliament upon publication of economic forecasts, the second being the Autumn Statement presented later in the year. At 2016's autumn statement, it was announced the budget would move to the autumn, with a spring statement taking place the following year. Both usually involve speeches in the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Spring Statement for 2019 took place in March 2019. In 2020 the spring statement was upgraded to a full budget following cancellation of autumn 2019's budget. and additional statements were made in summer and autumn 2020. In 2021 the spring statement was also replaced by a full budget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Macpherson</span> British civil servant

Nicholas Ian Macpherson, Baron Macpherson of Earl's Court, is a former senior British civil servant. He served as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Sentance</span>

Andrew SentanceCBE is a British business economist. He is currently Senior Adviser to Cambridge Econometrics. From November 2011 until October 2018, he was Senior Economic Adviser to PwC. He was an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England from October 2006 to May 2011.

The UK Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is the most senior civil servant at HM Treasury. The post originated as that of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury in 1805; that office was given new duties and renamed in 1867 as a Permanent Secretaryship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Gummer</span> British businessman and former politician

Benedict Michael Gummer is a British businessman and former politician. He is a partner of Gummer Leathes, a property developer. He is a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company, the management consultancy, a visiting fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University and a member of the advisory board of the Office for Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Reeves</span> Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

Rachel Jane Reeves is a British politician and economist serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament for Leeds West since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Balls</span> British broadcaster and politician (born 1967)

Edward Michael Balls is a British broadcaster, economist and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Normanton and later for Morley and Outwood between 2005 and 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office for Budget Responsibility</span>

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is a non-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury, that the UK government established to provide independent economic forecasts and independent analysis of the public finances. It was formally created in May 2010 following the general election and was placed on a statutory footing by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011. It is one of a growing number of official independent fiscal watchdogs around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March 2015 United Kingdom budget</span>

The 2015 United Kingdom budget was delivered by George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 18 March 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United Kingdom budget</span>

The 2016 United Kingdom budget was delivered by George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 16 March 2016.

The annual Mais Lecture has been hosted since 1978 by Bayes Business School, part of City, University of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chancellorship of George Osborne</span> George Osbornes tenure at HM Treasury (2010–2016)

George Osborne served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from May 2010 to July 2016 in the David Cameron–Nick Clegg coalition Conservative-Liberal Democrat government and the David Cameron majority Conservative government. His tenure pursued austerity policies aimed at reducing the budget deficit and launched the Northern Powerhouse initiative. He had previously served as Shadow Chancellor in the Shadow Cabinet of David Cameron from 2005 to 2010.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "All power to the new Tories". Evening Standard . 26 July 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Decision | Harrison, Rupert - Special Adviser, HM Treasury - ACOBA recommendation". gov.uk . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 HM Treasury (17 October 2022). "Government to establish expert Economic Advisory Council". gov.uk (Press release). Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Tomorrow' MPs [@tomorrowsmps] (21 June 2023). "BICESTER & WOODSTOCK: former George Osborne adviser Rupert Harrison picked as Conservative candidate" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. 1 2 Wright, Oliver (1 December 2014). "Key player: Rupert Harrison is the most important person in Government who you've never heard of". The Independent . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Greaves, Mark (21 April 2011). "Spads you like: Osborne's Treasury advisers". Channel 4 News . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "Poles apart in politics but best of friends away from the House" . The Times . 30 October 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Griffith, Rachel; Harrison, Rupert; Van Reenan, John (November 2004). "CEP Discussion Paper No 659 | How Special Is the Special Relationship? Using the Impact of U.S. R&D Spillovers on U.K. Firms as a Test of Technology Sourcing" (PDF). Centre for Economic Performance . London School of Economics. doi:10.1257/aer.96.5.1859 . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  9. ↑ Griffith, Rachel; Harrison, Rupert; Macartney, Gareth (March 2007). "Product Market Reforms, Labour Market Institutions and Unemployment". The Economic Journal . Royal Economic Society. 117 (519): C142–C166. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.844.8140 . doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02039.x .
  10. ↑ Commander, Simon; Harrison, Rupert; Menezes-Filho, Naercio (1 May 2011). "ICT and Productivity in Developing Countries: New Firm-Level Evidence from Brazil and India". The Review of Economics and Statistics . MIT Press Direct. 93 (2): 528–541. doi:10.1162/REST_a_00080. S2CID   57571331.
  11. 1 2 "Trustees and Patrons". The Fore. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Ahmed, Kamal (11 June 2015). "Osborne's former right hand man moves to BlackRock". BBC News . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  13. ↑ Pickard, Jim; Agnew, Harriet (11 June 2015). "Architect of UK pension reforms Rupert Harrison joins BlackRock" . Financial Times . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "BlackRock Strategist Prefers European to U.S. Equities". Bloomberg News . 27 March 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  15. ↑ Harrison, Rupert (27 June 2016). "We now need a proper roadmap to quell corrosive uncertainty" . Financial Times. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  16. ↑ Harrison, Rupert (11 December 2015). "In praise of post-financial crisis paranoia" . Financial Times. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  17. ↑ Budget 2017: The big debate. BBC Newsnight . 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2023– via YouTube.
  18. ↑ BBC Daily Politics and Sunday Politics [@daily_politics] (19 May 2017). ""I think that probably did cost us votes in 2010, but it was worth it for the authority it gave to go on & do diffifult things" @brharrison" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 August 2023– via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Atkinson, William (22 June 2023). "Harrison selected in Bicester and Woodstock for his ability to "talk about local issues from a national perspective"". ConservativeHome . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  20. ↑ Eaton, George (26 July 2017). "The Brexit slowdown is real" . New Statesman . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  21. ↑ Harrison, Rupert [@brharrison] (26 July 2017). "Q2 growth of 0.3% is not the end of the world, and I'm less gloomy than many on the outlook. But the rest of Europe is booming and we're not" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ↑ Nelson, Fraser (16 March 2014). "Ever wondered how George Osborne can be a part-time Chancellor?". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  23. ↑ Sieghart, Mary Ann (15 March 2014). "Rupert Harrison". Profile. BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  24. ↑ "Dissolution Honours 2015". Prime Minister's Office (Press release). 27 August 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  25. ↑ "The Big Question | a quiet word with." Nightshift | Oxford's Music Online. July 2002. Archived from the original on 4 August 2002.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.