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Simone Finn, Baroness Finn

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The Right Honourable
The Baroness Finn
Official portrait, 2024
Downing Street Chief of Staff
De facto
5 July 2022 – 6 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded bySteve Barclay
Succeeded byMark Fullbrook
Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff
In office
13 February 2021 – 6 September 2022
Serving with Ben Gascoigne (2021–2022)
David Canzini (2022)
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded by
  • Henry Cook
  • Katie Lam
Succeeded byRuth Porter
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 November 2015
Life peerage
Personal details
Born
Simone Jari Kubes

(1968-06-10) 10 June 1968 (age 56)
United States
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
SpouseAlex Finn
Children2
Alma materLady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Simone Jari Finn, Baroness Finn (née Kubes; born 10 June 1968), is a British-American businesswoman and Conservative politician who served as Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff from February 2021 until the end of the second Johnson Ministry.

A member of the House of Lords since 2015, she is a former government adviser on industrial relations, efficiency and civil service reform. She co-founded Francis Maude Associates, a consultancy firm specialising in government efficiency. She was appointed a non-executive board member for the Cabinet Office in May 2020.

Early life and education

[edit]

Simone Kubes[1] was born in the US to a Welsh mother and a father who had defected from Communist Czechoslovakia. She grew up in Swansea and attended her local comprehensive school. She graduated from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, with a degree in history.[2] Being born in the U.S. to non-diplomats, Finn is a natural-born citizen of the United States, and inherited her mother's British nationality.

Career

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Following university Finn trained and worked as an accountant at Coopers & Lybrand (subsequently PwC). She then joined the Financial Services Authority as a senior accountant regulating insurance companies.[2]

Recruited before the 2010 election by the Conservative Party's Implementation Team, Finn became the Coalition Government's industrial relations adviser. She played a key role in negotiations with the trade unions and helped to agree deals to roughly halve the cost of public sector pensions. The Telegraph described her as the "silk-and-steel adviser behind the Coalition's trade union reforms".[3]

As a special adviser to Francis Maude, the minister for the Cabinet Office, Finn helped to drive through his cuts of several billion pounds over the course of the 2010-2015 parliament.[4] Finn also helped to set up the Centre for Public Appointments in the Cabinet Office and publish a diversity strategy to encourage more women to apply for public appointments.[5] The proportion of women appointed to the boards of public bodies reached 48.2% in 2015–16 compared with 34.7% in 2009–10.[6]

In July 2022, the resignation of Sajid Javid during the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis caused a vacancy in the office of Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Downing Street chief of staff Steve Barclay was appointed to fill shortly before Boris Johnson's resignation as prime minister. While no successor to Barclay was formally appointed, Finn held the role in a de facto, acting capacity, as incumbent Downing Street deputy chief of staff.[citation needed]

Political candidate

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In the run up to the 2015 general election, Finn was considered as a Conservative candidate for the Kensington constituency.[7] The selected candidate, Victoria Borwick, won the seat, but lost it to the Labour Party in the 2017 election.

In 2018, Finn was included on the longlist for the Conservative Party London mayoral candidate.[8] Shaun Bailey was selected as the final candidate.

Elevation to the Lords

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In the 2015 Dissolution Honours Finn was elevated to the Lords as Baroness Finn, of Swansea in the County of West Glamorgan.[9] In her maiden speech in the House of Lords, Finn focused on the importance of education as a tool of social mobility, paying tribute to her former deputy headmistress, Iris Williams. She also voiced her support for the Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay, a project for which she has repeatedly advocated.[10]

Finn is a member of the EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee. She was previously a member of the Scrutiny of Secondary Legislation Select Committee, and the EU (External Affairs) Sub Committee.[11]

Career outside Parliament

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Finn is the co-founder and managing director of Francis Maude Associates, which she runs with Lord (Francis) Maude of Horsham. It is a consulting firm specialising in government efficiency and reform, with its work based on Maude and Finn's experience in the Cabinet Office, 2010–15.[12] She is also employed by Arbuthnot Latham, a bank owned by the former Conservative donor, Henry Angest.[13]

Finn is a trustee of the think tank Demos and was visiting parliamentary fellow at St Anthony's, Oxford, 2017–18.[14] She is also a board member of the Conservative Foundation.[15]

In May 2020, Michael Gove, the minister for the Cabinet Office, appointed Finn as a non-executive board member for the Cabinet Office, serving on the audit and risk committee.[16] On 13 February 2021[17] it was announced that Finn had been promoted to become Downing Street Deputy chief of staff under Dan Rosenfield.[18]

Personal life

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Finn was formerly in a relationship with Michael Gove.[17]

She is married to Alex Finn. They have two children.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "New Boris Johnson aide was looked down on because she's 'the girl from Swansea'". Nation.Cymru. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Simone Finn". Who's Who 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U284931. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  3. ^ Kirkup, James (25 March 2015). "By 2020, the Conservative Party leader will be... not who you expect". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
    - "Queen's Speech". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 19 December 2019. col. 17–18.
  4. ^ "Efficiency and Reform in the next Parliament" (PDF). HM Treasury, Cabinet Office. December 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Teachers: Academies and Free Schools". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 12 September 2016. col. 1363–1364.
  6. ^ Riddell, Peter (October 2016). "The Commissioner for Public Appointments - Annual Report 2015-2016" (PDF). The Commissioner for Public Appointments. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  7. ^ Herrmann, Joshi (5 March 2015). "Kensington calling: inside the race for 'the jewel in the Tory crown'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  8. ^ Murphy, Joe (19 July 2018). "Two businesswomen complete 'diverse' Tory mayoral longlist". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  9. ^ "No. 61385". The London Gazette. 20 October 2015. p. 19670.
    - "Dissolution Peerages 2015" (Press release). H M Government. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
    - "Introduction: Baroness Finn". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 30 November 2015.
  10. ^ Cornock, David (13 September 2016). "'We were all Iris's children' - peer recalls teacher". BBC News. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
    - "Teachers: Academies and Free Schools". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 12 September 2016. col. 1363–1364.
    - "Swansea Tidal Lagoon: Hendry Review". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 1 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Parliamentary career for Baroness Finn". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  12. ^ "About us". Francis Maude Associates. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Small World". Private Eye (1523): 16. 5 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Our People". Demos. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
    - "Visiting Parliamentary Fellows, Past and Present". St Antony's College. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  15. ^ "People". The Conservative Foundation. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Four new Cabinet Office Non-Executive Board Members appointed" (Press release). H M Government. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  17. ^ a b Shipman, Tim (13 February 2021). "Milady Simone Finn and Gove's three musketeers complete new-look No 10". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  18. ^ Tominey, Camilla (12 February 2021). "'Gove takeover' talk as two key allies promoted to Number 10's top team". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
Government offices
Preceded by Downing Street Chief of Staff
Acting
July 2022–September 2022 		Succeeded by
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