View source for Camilla Cavendish, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice

{{Short description|British journalist and politician (born 1968)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name             = The Baroness Cavendish of Little&nbsp;Venice
|honorific-suffix =
|image            = Official portrait of Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice crop 2, 2024.jpg
|caption          = Official portrait, 2024
|office           = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br />[[Lord Temporal]]
|term_start       = 6 September 2016<br />[[Life peer]]age
|term_end         =
|office1          = Director of the [[Number 10 Policy Unit]]
|primeminister1   = [[David Cameron]]
|term_start1      = 21 May 2015
|term_end1        = 13 July 2016
|predecessor1     = [[Jo Johnson]]
|successor1       = John Godfrey
|birth_name       = Hilary Camilla Cavendish
|birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1968|8|20|df=y}}
|birth_place      =
|death_date       =
|death_place      =
|party            = Non-affiliated <small>(since December 2016)</small><br />[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] <small>(formerly)</small>
|spouse           = [[Huw van Steenis]]
|children         = 3
|parents          = [[Richard Cavendish (occult writer)|Richard Cavendish]]<br/> J.M. Cavendish
|alma_mater       = [[Brasenose College, Oxford]] (PPE)<br />[[Harvard University]] (MPA)
|religion         =
|website          =
}}
''' Hilary Camilla Cavendish, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice''' (born 20 August 1968) is a British [[journalist]], contributing editor and columnist at ''[[The Financial Times]]'', senior fellow at Harvard University<ref name="How to take on 'Big Sugar' and win">{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6be1a340-3e3d-11e8-b9f9-de94fa33a81e |title=How to take on 'Big Sugar' and win |work=Financial Times }}</ref><ref name="M-RCBG Senior Fellows">{{cite web |url=https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/about/senior-fellows#cavendish |title=M-RCBG Senior Fellows |website=Harvard Kennedy School |access-date=25 May 2018}}</ref> and former director of policy for [[Prime Minister]] [[David Cameron]]. Cavendish became a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Member of the [[House of Lords]] in [[2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours|Cameron's resignation honours]], but resigned the party whip in December 2016 to sit as a non-affiliated peer.<ref name="Casalicchio">{{cite news|last=Casalicchio|first=Emilio|url=https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/conservative-party/david-cameron/news/81744/former-david-cameron-advisor|title=Former David Cameron advisor resigns Tory whip just three months after becoming peer|work=Politics Home|date=14 December 2016|accessdate=14 December 2016}}</ref>
==Early life and education==
Cavendish was educated at [[Putney High School]] and graduated from [[Brasenose College, Oxford]]<ref>{{cite news | title=Oxford Tories: it takes balls | first= Will |last=Pavia | url= http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article3940496.ece | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080720113834/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article3940496.ece | url-status= dead | archive-date= 20 July 2008 | newspaper= The Times |url-access=subscription  |date= 16 May 2008 |location=London}}</ref> in 1989 with a first-class degree in [[Philosophy, Politics and Economics|philosophy, politics and economics]]. At university, she was a contemporary of [[David Cameron]],<ref name="Parker">{{cite news|first1=George|last1=Parker|first2=Elizabeth|last2=Rigby|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/37b163cc-ffab-11e4-bc30-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3amuA0lER|title=Cameron and Osborne pick journalists for key government jobs|newspaper=Financial Times|date=21 May 2015}}</ref> [[Andrew Feldman, Baron Feldman of Elstree|Andrew Feldman]], [[Guy Spier]] and [[Amanda Pullinger]] and [[Bill O'Chee]]. She was a [[Kennedy Scholar]] for two years at the [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]] at [[Harvard University]], gaining the degree of [[Master of Public Administration]] (MPA).
==Career==
From 2002 until 2012 she worked at ''[[The Times]]'', where she was [[Associate Editor|associate editor]], [[columnist]] and in 2010 [[Chief Leader Writer|chief leader writer]].<ref>{{cite news| title= Camilla Cavendish moves to Sunday Times |last=O'Carroll|first=Lisa|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jan/28/camilla-cavendish-sunday-times|newspaper=The Guardian|date=27 January 2013}}</ref>
She then moved to ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' from 2012 to May 2015. She has worked as a [[McKinsey & Company|McKinsey]] management consultant, an aid worker{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}, and as an aide to the CEO of [[Pearson plc]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Purnell |first=Sonia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/fighting-talk-from-the-ft-139879.html |title=Fighting talk from the 'FT' - Media - News |newspaper=The Independent |date=13 October 2002 |accessdate=13 May 2015}}</ref>
She helped to found the lobby group [[London First]], and was the first CEO of the not-for-profit trust South Bank Employers' Group, which masterminded the regeneration of the South Bank of the Thames in the late 1990s.<ref>{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Klebnikov |title=Look Ma, No Politicians |newspaper=Forbes.com |url=https://www.forbes.com/global/1998/0420/0201026a_print.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130123102218/http://www.forbes.com/global/1998/0420/0201026a_print.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 January 2013 |date=20 April 1998 |accessdate=13 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.designweek.co.uk/news/project-revealed-to-transform-waterloo/1126197.article |title=Project revealed to transform Waterloo |magazine=Design Week |date=1996-01-25 |accessdate=13 May 2015}}</ref>
From May 2015 to July 2016, Cavendish was head of the prime minister's [[Number 10 Policy Unit|policy unit at No10]] Downing Street in succession to [[Jo Johnson]].<ref name="Parker"/><ref>{{cite magazine |first=James |last=Forsyth |url=http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/05/camilla-cavendish-to-head-number-10-policy-unit/ |title=Camilla Cavendish to head Number 10 policy unit |magazine=The Spectator |date=21 May 2015}}</ref> Amongst initiatives, Cavendish is credited with persuading the prime Minister and his chancellor about the benefits of a sugar tax; she said that the "link between sugary drinks and obesity are clear and stark".<ref>{{cite news| title = Sugar Tax| url=http://www.itv.com/news/2016-03-17/should-tax-be-used-to-control-consumer-behaviour/}}</ref>  The Soft Drinks Industry Levy came into force in April 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43659124 |title=Soft drink sugar tax starts, but will it work? |date=6 April 2018 |work=BBC }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6be1a340-3e3d-11e8-b9f9-de94fa33a81e |title=How to take on big sugar and win |work=Financial Times }}</ref>
[[HarperCollins]] published Cavendish's first book, ''Extra Time'', in May 2019.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wood |first=Heloise |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/harpernonfiction-scoops-cavendishs-ageing-society-debut-931801 |title=HarperNonFiction scoops Cavendish's ageing society debut - Media - News |website=The Bookseller |date=11 January 2019 |accessdate=22 May 2019}}</ref>
==Awards==
Cavendish was [[Harold Wincott]] Senior Financial Journalist of the Year 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6fd82548-a5d0-11e1-b77a-00144feabdc0.html |url-access=registration  |date=24 May 2012 |title=Online financial journalism hailed by judges |newspaper=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref>
She was awarded the 2008 [[Paul Foot Award]] for campaigning journalism<ref>{{cite news |title=Camilla Cavendish and Richard Brooks win Paul Foot award |first=Stephen |last=Brook |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/nov/04/paul-foot-awards |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 November 2008 |accessdate=26 May 2015 |location=London}}</ref> and in 2009 the "Campaigning Journalist of the Year" at the [[British Press Awards]]. About her prize for Campaigning Journalist of the Year, the judges said: "A good newspaper campaign should be about an issue of serious injustice and strong public interest. A great one will be unexpected, one in which the outcome is not a done deal and which will in the end effect serious change. This campaign does that."<ref>{{cite news |title=The Times named Newspaper of the Year at British Press Awards |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6012581.ece |url-access=subscription  |newspaper=The Times |date=1 April 2009 |accessdate=20 December 2010 |location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=December 2014}}
Cavendish won the awards for her articles in ''The Times'' about the child protection injustices which she claimed resulted from the [[Children Act 1989]] and the practices of family courts dealing with child protection issues. The campaign convinced the [[Secretary of State for Justice]] [[Jack Straw]] to introduce legislation which opened the family courts to the media in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7987341.stm |work=BBC News |title=Family courts opened up to media |date=7 April 2009}}</ref>
She was reckoned by the ''[[Health Service Journal]]'' to be the 85th-most influential person in the English NHS in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |title=HSJ100 2015 |url=http://www.hsj.co.uk/7000366.article |accessdate=23 December 2015 |publisher=Health Service Journal |date=23 November 2015}}</ref>
Cavendish was ranked the fifth-most influential woman in the UK in the [[BBC Radio 4]] ''[[Woman’s Hour]]'' 2015 PowerList.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-33325915 |title=Nicola Sturgeon tops Woman's Hour power list |date=1 July 2015 |work=BBC News }}</ref>
==Appointments==
Cavendish became a trustee of the think-tank [[Policy Exchange]] in 2002 and was a trustee of the Thames Festival Trust between 2000 and 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends94/0001074794_AC_20070930_E_C.PDF |title=Archived copy |website=Charity Commission |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924004318/http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends94/0001074794_AC_20070930_E_C.PDF |archive-date=24 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
On 3 June 2013, she was appointed as a board member for the [[Care Quality Commission]].<ref name="appointments">{{cite web |title=Care Quality Commission appoints new board members |date=3 June 2013 |work=Care Quality Commission |url=http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/camilla-cavendish |accessdate=13 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511183606/http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/camilla-cavendish |archive-date=11 May 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
In 2013, [[Jeremy Hunt (politician)|Jeremy Hunt]], [[Secretary of State for Health]], asked Camilla Cavendish to lead "An Independent Review into Healthcare Assistants and Support Workers in the NHS and social care settings". The Cavendish Review<ref>{{cite news| title = Cavendish Review |url= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236212/Cavendish_Review.pdf|publisher=Gov.uk|accessdate=13 May 2015}}</ref> was published in July 2013. Among the recommendations were “Common training standards across health and social care", and a new ‘Certificate of Fundamental Care’, written in language that is meaningful to patients and the public. For the first time, this would link healthcare assistant training to nurse training.<ref>{{cite news|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23246066|first=Roberts|last=Michelle|title=Healthcare assistants 'should get standard training'|date=10 July 2013|accessdate=26 May 2015}}</ref> In 2013, Cavendish also became a trustee of the Foundation Years Trust chaired by [[Frank Field (British politician)|Frank Field]] MP.<ref>[http://thefoundationyearstrust.wordpress.com/who-we-are/] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106220323/http://thefoundationyearstrust.wordpress.com/who-we-are/|date=6 January 2015}}</ref>
She was nominated for a [[life peer]]age as part of [[David Cameron]]'s [[2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours|Resignation Honours]] and was created '''Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice''', of [[Mells, Somerset|Mells]] in the [[County of Somerset]], on 6 September 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/resignation-honours-2016 |title=Resignation Honours 2016 - Publications |website=gov.uk |access-date=2016-08-05}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=61701 |date=12 September 2016 |page=19332}}</ref> After gaining an unidentified post that required her to sever any party links, she resigned the Conservative whip in December 2016 to sit in the [[House of Lords]] as a non-affiliated peer.<ref name="Casalicchio"/> She became a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]] programme in 2017.
Cavendish was appointed chair of Frontline in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/18/the-nhs-must-surely-share-richard-branson-pain |title=The NHS must surely share Richard Branson's pain |date=18 October 2017 |work=The Guardian }}</ref>
In 2018, she was appointed senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, [[Harvard Kennedy School]].<ref name="How to take on 'Big Sugar' and win"/><ref name="M-RCBG Senior Fellows"/>
In 2020, Cavendish was called back into government as an adviser to the Department of Health, and led an internal review of the future of social care and health reform.<ref name="Camilla Cavendish: the woman charged with shaking up social care">{{cite news|last=Murphy|first=Simon|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/27/camilla-cavendish-the-woman-charged-with-shaking-up-social-care|title=Camilla Cavendish: the woman charged with shaking up social care|work=Politics Home|date=27 July 2020|accessdate=27 July 2020}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Cavendish is married to the financier [[Huw van Steenis]], and they have three children.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Times Higher Education |title=Danny Dorling on £6K fees: the 1% won't feel a thing |first=Danny |last=Dorling |date=5 March 2015 |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/comment/opinion/danny-dorling-on-6k-fees-the-1-wont-feel-a-thing/2018845.article |accessdate=26 May 2015}}</ref>
Her father was historian [[Richard Cavendish (occult writer)|Richard Cavendish]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/richard-cavendish-ls9qppm7z|title = Richard Cavendish}} behind a pay wall</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Director of Number 10 Policy Unit}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavendish of Little Venice, Camilla Cavendish, Baroness}}
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People educated at Putney High School]]
[[Category:Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers]]
[[Category:Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:British columnists]]
[[Category:British journalists]]
[[Category:British women journalists]]
[[Category:British women columnists]]