Name Anthony John, | Role Hereditary peer | |
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Education London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Cape Town | ||
Anthony Tudor St John, 22nd Baron St John of Bletso (born 16 May 1957) is a British peer, politician, businessman and solicitor. He is one of the ninety hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999. He speaks on African affairs (and is a notable expert on South Africa and Sierra Leone), deregulation, financial services and information technology. Rather than aligning with a particular political party, he remains a crossbencher.
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Life and career
Born to Andrew St John, 21st Baron St John of Bletso, he succeeded to his father's titles in 1978. He was educated at the University of Cape Town, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science, and at the University of South Africa, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Law. He was further educated at the London School of Economics and received a Master of Law.
Between 1985 and 2002, he worked as an oil analyst at County NatWest Securities and then Smith New Court Plc and thereafter served as a consultant to Merrill Lynch until 2008. He built up the Internet Datacentre business of Globix Corporation in the UK and then became President of Global Sales and Marketing for the International Group. Between 2004 and 2012, he was Non-Executive Chairman of Spiritel Plc, a telecommunications service provider and served as a Non-Executive Director at Regal Petroleum, Sharp Interpak, WMRC and Pecaso. He has also been on the Advisory Board of Infinity SDC, Chayton Capital and Ariya Capital with the focus on agriculture and business opportunities in Africa. He is a Non-Executive Director of Albion Ventures LLP and Chairman of the Governing Board of Certification International. His company, African Business Solutions, assists International companies seeking to invest in Africa specifically in infrastructure, broadband, financial services and renewable energy. Lord St John is also an extra Lord-in-Waiting to HM The Queen. He is currently a Member of the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications as well as the Lords Information Committee. He is Vice Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary South Africa Group, an Executive Committee Member of the All Party Africa Group and a Council Member of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee. He served as Chairman of the charity, Citizens Online from 2001 to 2008.
His special interests are foreign affairs, particularly Africa, clean technology, wildlife conservation and sport. He plays a proactive role in the charitable sector, as a trustee of 7 charities mostly focused on Africa. He is also Chairman of Alexandra Rose Charities.
Personal life
He was married to Helen (née Westlake), a past Miss England and doctor of medicine, with whom he has four children, until their divorce in 2012. He married Sabina McTaggart in October 2015.
He enjoys tennis, golf, skiing and running.