Stephen O'Brien | |
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United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator | |
In office 29 May 2015 – 1 September 2017 | |
Secretary-General | Ban Ki-moon |
Preceded by | Valerie Amos |
Succeeded by | Mark Lowcock |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development | |
In office 6 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Mike Foster |
Succeeded by | Lynne Featherstone |
Shadow Secretary of State for Industry | |
In office 11 November 2003 – 6 May 2005 | |
Leader | Michael Howard |
Preceded by | Tim Yeo (Trade and Industry) |
Succeeded by | David Willetts (Trade and Industry) |
Member of Parliament for Eddisbury | |
In office 22 July 1999 – 30 March 2015 | |
Preceded by | Alastair Goodlad |
Succeeded by | Antoinette Sandbach |
Personal details | |
Born | Stephen Rothwell O'Brien 1 April 1957 Mtwara, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) |
Political party | Social Democratic Party (Before 1988) Conservative (1988–present) |
Spouse | Gemma Townshend |
Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge University of Law |
Sir Stephen Rothwell O'Brien, KBE (born 1 April 1957) is a British politician and diplomat who was the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. O'Brien assumed office on 29 May 2015, succeeding Valerie Amos.[1][2]
He was formerly a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament (MP), representing Eddisbury. He was first elected in a by-election in July 1999, after Alastair Goodlad was made British High Commissioner in Australia by Tony Blair and thus had to leave Parliament. A member of the Conservative Party, within the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition he was appointed as the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State in the Department for International Development. In September 2013 he became the Prime Minister's Envoy to the Sahel, encompassing nine countries across North and West Africa.