Rt Hon Sir Patrick McLoughlin CH has been appointed as Chair of the British Tourist Authority for three years from 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2023.
Patrick McLoughlin was the Member of Parliament for Derbyshire Dales from 1986 to 2019.
Patrick was born in Staffordshire in 1957. He attended a comprehensive school, leaving at 16. His early employment included catering and agriculture, before following his father and grandfather to work underground. He became a member of the National Union of Mineworkers working through the 1983-4 miners’ strike, in the absence of a national ballot. He has considerable experience in local and national politics as a councillor on Cannock Chase District and Staffordshire County Councils until 1987.
Positions held by Patrick include Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (PUS) at the Department of Transport from 1989 - 1992, PUS at the Department of Employment from 1992 - 1993, PUS at the Department of Trade and Industry from 1993 - 1994, Whip from 1995 – 2012, Opposition Chief Whip from 2005 – 2010, Government Chief Whip from 2010-2012, Secretary of State for Transport from 2012 – 2016, Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster from 2016 – 2018. And from 2018 – 2019 Patrick has been a Member of the Parliament Restoration Board and a Member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee.
In 2016, Patrick was knighted in David Cameron’s resignation honours list. In 2019, he was made a Companion of Honour, in Theresa May’s resignation honours list.
