David Frost, Baron Frost

For other people named David Frost, see David Frost (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
The Lord Frost
CMG PC
Official portrait, 2023
Minister of State for EU Relations[a]
In office
1 March 2021 – 18 December 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe
In office
31 January 2020 – 18 December 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byLiz Truss
Prime Minister's Europe Adviser
In office
24 July 2019 – 1 March 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded bySir Olly Robbins
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union
In office
24 July 2019 – 31 January 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded bySir Olly Robbins
Succeeded byPosition abolished
British Ambassador to Denmark
In office
1 May 2006 – 31 October 2008
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded bySir Nicholas Browne
Succeeded byNick Archer
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 September 2020
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
David George Hamilton Frost

(1965-02-21) 21 February 1965 (age 59)
Derby, England
Political partyConservative[1]
Other political
affiliations		Labour (1980s) [2]
Spouses
Jacqueline Dias
​
​
(m. 1993; div. 2018)​
Harriet Mathews
​
(m. 2018)​
EducationNottingham High School
Alma materSt John's College, Oxford (MA)
OccupationDiplomat, civil servant, politician
Awards Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George

David George Hamilton Frost, Baron Frost CMG PC (born 21 February 1965) is a former British diplomat, civil servant and politician who served as a Minister of State at the Cabinet Office between March and December 2021. Frost was Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe from January 2020 until his resignation in December 2021.

Frost spent his early professional career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), becoming Ambassador to Denmark, EU Director at the FCO, and Director for Europe and International Trade at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. He was a special adviser to Boris Johnson when the latter was Foreign Secretary in Theresa May's government.

After Johnson was appointed prime minister, Frost was Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union from 2019 to 2020 and the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser from 2019 to 2021. He was appointed Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe in January 2020. He was elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer in September 2020. Frost became Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and a full member of the cabinet in March 2021. He resigned from his government positions in December 2021.

Early life

[edit]

Frost was born in Derby and was educated at Nottingham High School as a free scholar from 1976 to 1983, before attending St. John's College, Oxford,[3] where he took a first-class degree (MA) in French and history.

Diplomatic career

[edit]

Frost joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1987, and shortly after was posted to the British High Commission in Nicosia where he learned Greek and was responsible for covering Greek Cypriot politics and the Cyprus problem. In 1993, he was posted to the UK Representation to the EU in Brussels as First Secretary for Economic and Financial Affairs, where he worked on issues such as the EU Budget, the economic and financial implications of enlargement to Central Europe, and the Euro. He was then posted to the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York, where he covered Human Rights and Social and Economic Affairs.[3]

Frost returned to London to be successively the Private Secretary to the Head of the Diplomatic Service, Sir John Kerr (now Lord Kerr of Kinlochard), and Deputy Head of the European Union External Department, covering international trade policy issues and relations with the Balkans and Eastern Europe.[3]

Frost was promoted Economic Counsellor to the British Embassy, Paris, in 2001, where he was responsible for reporting and lobbying on all aspects of French economic and commercial life, together with its EU policy. He returned to London to be Head of the EU (Internal) Department and then Director for the European Union in the Foreign Office. In this period he led work on a range of economic and social issues, notably the resistance to the initial Working Time Directive, and the negotiation on the EU's multi-annual Budget framework. He was a member of the UK's leadership team during its EU Presidency in 2005.[3]

From May 2006 until October 2008, Frost served as HM Ambassador to Denmark and was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2006 Birthday Honours. He was then Director for Strategy and Policy Planning in the Foreign Office from October 2008 to October 2010, before being seconded to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills where he served three years as Director for Europe, Trade, and International Affairs, HMG's most senior trade policy official.[3][4][5]

Post-diplomatic career

[edit]

Frost left HM Diplomatic Service in 2013 to become CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association, a trade association.[4] In 2015, in a hearing before the Scottish Parliament, he argued in favour of the UK's membership in the EU, noting that for a Briton on an average salary, the benefit of the UK being a member of the EU was around £1,500 a year.[6] Frost was admitted as a liveryman of the Distillers' Company[7] in 2016. It was in his capacity as CEO that he wrote an article before the Brexit referendum[8] for Portland Communications, in which he supported the case for remaining in the EU's Single Market and said that leaving it would be "fraught with economic risk".

After Boris Johnson became Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Frost was appointed in November 2016 as his special adviser,[9][10] serving until Johnson resigned from office in July 2018.[3]

In early 2019, Frost became CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry.[11] He has also served as a public commentator on the European Union, global economic and commercial issues, and multilateral diplomacy, as a member of the Advisory Council of the eurosceptic think tank Open Europe,[3] and between June and October 2016, through his industry role as head of the Scotch Whisky Association, as a member of the Scottish Government's Standing Council on Europe advising on Brexit.[10][12]

Johnson government

[edit]

Brexit negotiations

[edit]
Further information: Brexit negotiations in 2019 and Trade negotiation between the UK and the EU

Frost was the United Kingdom's Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union during the Brexit negotiations in 2019 which resulted in the revised Brexit withdrawal agreement. After the UK left the European Union in January 2020, Frost led the UK's negotiations with the EU on a free trade agreement during the Brexit transition period.

The UK government led by Boris Johnson pursued a desire to trade freely with the EU while being subject to as few EU rules as possible, and especially not to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.[13] For its part, the EU insisted that the price for UK access to the European Single Market was compliance with EU subsidies, social, environmental and other regulations to avoid distorting competition in the single market.[13] Another major point of contention was fisheries. Part of the impetus for Brexit was the desire of some of the British to regain full control over their fishing waters, whereas EU coastal states demanded to retain all or most of the fishing rights they enjoyed under the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.[13]

The trade agreement, negotiated under increasing time pressure due to the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, had to address all of these issues.[14] Formal trade negotiations, in which Michel Barnier represented the EU and Frost represented the UK, began on 31 March 2020. They were originally due to be concluded by the end of October 2020.[15] However, negotiations continued[16] and formally ended on 24 December 2020 when an agreement, the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, was reached in principle after ten negotiating rounds.

Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe

[edit]

On 31 January 2020, Frost was appointed Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] On 19 December 2021 he was replaced by Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, as the government's chief negotiator with the EU.[24]

UK National Security Adviser nomination

[edit]

On 28 June 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his nomination of Frost for a life peerage and as UK National Security Adviser, succeeding Sir Mark Sedwill.[25] The Financial Times reported that this was unpopular with military and security services, who felt Frost was underqualified.[26] The appointment received criticism from former Cabinet Secretary Lord O'Donnell and former National Security Adviser Lord Ricketts due to concerns that the Civil Service's impartiality was being eroded by appointing a special adviser in this role.[27] The appointment was also criticised by previous Prime Minister Theresa May in Parliament, who highlighted its political nature, and said Frost does not have proven expertise in national security.[28]

Created a life peer, titled Baron Frost, of Allenton in the County of Derbyshire, on 12 August 2020, he was introduced to the House of Lords on 8 September 2020.[29][30]

David Quarrey took over the role of acting National Security Adviser while Lord Frost was completing the Brexit negotiations.[31]

On 29 January 2021, before he could take up the role full-time, Frost was replaced as UK National Security Adviser by Sir Stephen Lovegrove.[32][33][34] Instead, Frost was appointed UK Representative for Brexit and International Policy.[35]

Minister of State at the Cabinet Office

[edit]

Frost was made a Minister of State at the Cabinet Office on 1 March 2021, and a full member of the cabinet.[36] He was given responsibility for both the domestic and international aftermath of Brexit.[37] He also succeeded Michael Gove as the UK chairman of the EU–UK Partnership Council.[38] His first action, on 3 March, was to exempt British companies from certain regulations when shipping food to Northern Ireland.[39] In June 2021, he wrote an article in the Financial Times calling for the EU to revisit the Northern Ireland Protocol that he had negotiated, saying the "EU needs a new playbook for dealing with neighbours, one that involves pragmatic solutions between friends, not the imposition of one side's rules on the other and legal purism" and noted the government had underestimated the effect of the protocol, even though its implementation was opposed by the Unionist parties in Northern Ireland and its text clearly created a trade barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.[40][41]

Frost resigned from the government on 18 December 2021, stating that he had "concerns about the current direction of travel" of the government, he had failed to resolve the issues of the Northern Ireland protocol which by then had created political paralysis within the Stormont Government.[42] He cited Boris Johnson's tax hikes, net zero commitments, COVID-19 regulations, and failure to seize the benefits of Brexit as the reason for his resignation.[43][44] Frost has also called out against "the neo-socialists, green fanatics and pro-woke crowd" in Downing Street under Johnson's premiership.[45] Although Frost has never held any elected positions within Parliament, he has indicated that he would be willing to stand as an MP if the opportunity arose, although this would mean resigning as a member of the House of Lords.[46] As of 2022, he listed his occupation as "peer of the realm".[47]

Following the announcement in May 2024 of a July general election, it was reported that Frost had attempted to put himself forward for selection as a candidate but had been blocked from doing so by Conservative Campaign Headquarters. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader at the time, denied that Frost had been blocked and said that the process of candidate selection was still ongoing.[48] Frost would later state that he was "grateful" Sunak had clarified his eligibility for selection and that he would now "consider the options" despite it being "very late in the [selection] process";[49] in early June, he ultimately decided that he would not run for election as an MP and would instead remain in the House of Lords.[50]

Personal life

[edit]

In 1993 Frost married Jacqueline Elizabeth Dias, divorcing in 2018.[51] He married Harriet Mathews, a former British Ambassador to Somalia, later that year.[3]

Frost suffers from prosopagnosia also known as "face blindness".[52]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ As Minister of State at the Cabinet Office.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Parliamentary career for Lord Frost - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  2. ^ Gibbons, Amy (12 July 2023). "Lord Frost: 'I was a Labour member in my teens until they gave up on ordinary voters'". The Telegraph.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Frost, David George Hamilton". ukwhoswho.com. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2018. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u42701. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Former diplomat to lead whisky body". BBC News. 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  5. ^ Hutchinson, Laura (2 August 2019). "All about David Frost - the PM's new Chief Brexit Negotiator". PoliticsHome. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Brexit chief Lord Frost said leaving EU single market would cost Brits £1,500 each". The Independent. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Home – The Worshipful Company of Distillers". distillers.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Yorkshire Bylines - UK Brexit negotiator: "best-case outcome can't be as good as what we have now"". 17 November 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Whisky boss quits for Boris Johnson role". BBC News. 25 October 2016. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  10. ^ a b Colson, Thomas (27 October 2016). "Boris Johnson's new advisor could be Britain's hope for avoiding a 'Hard Brexit'". Business Insider UK. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  11. ^ "David Frost CMG to become next Chief Executive at the London Chamber of Commerce". WILD SEARCH. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  12. ^ Mairs, Nicholas (4 October 2019). "Scottish Government Brexit adviser quits to become Boris Johnson's spad". Holyrood. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  13. ^ a b c Mueller, Benjamin (24 December 2020). "5 Takeaways From the Post-Brexit Trade Deal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  14. ^ Landler, Mark; Castle, Stephen (24 December 2020). "Britain and E.U. Reach Landmark Deal on Brexit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  15. ^ Rayner, Gordon; Frayne, James (23 July 2020). "UK sets October deadline for post-Brexit trade deal as Michel Barnier warns agreement 'unlikely'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  16. ^ Brunsden, Jim (30 October 2020). "Negotiators hunker down in Brussels in search of Brexit breakthrough. Talks to continue in Belgian capital until at least Monday". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  17. ^ No.10 Press Office [@Number10press] (17 February 2020). "The negotiations on the UK's future relationship with the EU are led by Task Force Europe, a team within No 10 who report directly into the Prime Minister" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 February 2020 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Woodcock, Andrew (27 January 2020). "Brexit: New Task Force Europe to lead EU trade negotiations as UK leaves bloc". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  19. ^ Parker, George (15 January 2020). "Boris Johnson puts faith in Brexit supporter David Frost". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  20. ^ Zeffman, Henry (29 December 2019). "Boris Johnson to unveil Taskforce Europe". The Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  21. ^ Cowburn, Ashley (29 December 2019). "Brexit: Boris Johnson 'to launch Taskforce Europe' negotiating team in charge of future relationship talks with EU". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  22. ^ Honeycombe-Foster, Matt (29 December 2019). "Boris Johnson 'to take charge of EU trade talks' with new 'Taskforce Europe'". PoliticsHome. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  23. ^ Vaughan, Richard (29 December 2019). "Brexit, Cabinet cull and Budget are top of Boris Johnson's New Year to-do list". i. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Ministerial appointments: 19 December 2021". GOV.UK. 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  25. ^ "Appointment of Prime Minister's National Security Adviser" (Press release). Prime Minister's Office. 28 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  26. ^ Payne, Sebastian; Parker, George; Pickard, Jim (28 June 2020). "Mark Sedwill steps down as UK's top civil servant". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  27. ^ Murphy, Joe (29 June 2020). "Former top mandarins voice fears over Boris Johnson's choice of David Frost as National Security Adviser". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  28. ^ "Theresa May criticises PM over choice of Brexit envoy for security role". BBC News. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  29. ^ "No. 3614444". The London Gazette. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  30. ^ "UK's top civil servant announces exit". BBC News. 28 June 2020. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  31. ^ "Deputy National Security Advisers" (PDF). whatdotheyknow.com. 23 October 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2020. David Frost remains Chief Negotiator for the EU talks and those negotiations will remain his top single priority until they have concluded, one way or another. Therefore, the Prime Minister agreed that David Quarrey should become Acting NSA
  32. ^ Stewart, Heather; Sabbagh, Dan (29 January 2021). "Brexit negotiator David Frost pulled away from national security role". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  33. ^ "No 10 replaces Frost as National Security Adviser days before he starts". BBC News. 29 January 2021. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  34. ^ Parker, George; Warrell, Helen; Foster, Peter (29 January 2021). "Boris Johnson reverses decision on new UK national security adviser". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  35. ^ Gallardo, Cristina (29 January 2021). "David Frost stays in the Brexit driver's seat". Politico. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  36. ^ "Lord Frost CMG appointed as a Minister of State in the Cabinet Office". gov.uk. 2 March 2021. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  37. ^ Dickson, Annabelle (19 December 2021). "In memoriam: Britain's many Brexit negotiators". Politico. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  38. ^ Wright, Oliver; Zeffman, Henry (18 February 2021). "Michael Gove stripped of Europe role as Brexit negotiator David Frost joins cabinet". The Times. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  39. ^ Gallardo, Cristina (4 March 2021). "UK's new Brexit man makes his mark with Northern Ireland row". Politico. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  40. ^ David, Frost (6 June 2021). "David Frost: the EU must revisit the Northern Ireland protocol". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  41. ^ Fisher, Lucy (7 June 2021). "Boris Johnson thinks 'special relationship' label makes Britain look needy". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  42. ^ "Lord Frost resigns as Brexit minister". BBC News. 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  43. ^ Powell, Rob (20 December 2021). "Lord Frost's resignation marks a chaotic end to possibly Boris Johnson's worst week as PM". Sky News. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  44. ^ "Lord Frost: I didn't support PM's coercive Covid plan". BBC News. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  45. ^ Swinford, Steven (27 January 2022). "Boris Johnson must sack Downing Street's woke crowd, says Lord Frost". The Times.
  46. ^ "Will Lord Frost Stand as an MP?". Spectator. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  47. ^ "David George Hamilton FROST personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  48. ^ Gutteridge, Nick; Maidment, Jack (24 May 2024). "Conservative bosses bar Lord Frost from standing as MP". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  49. ^ Gutteridge, Nick (24 May 2024). "Rishi Sunak insists Lord Frost could stand for Tories in general election". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  50. ^ Riley-Smith, Ben (7 June 2024). "Lord Frost will not stand as MP". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  51. ^ "Jacqueline Dias". Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  52. ^ Frost, David (2 December 2024). "David Frost: I suffer from face blindness. As a politician, being unable to identify people is agony" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
[edit]
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British Ambassador to Denmark
2006–2008 		Succeeded by
Nick Archer
Political offices
Office established Minister of State at the Cabinet Office
2021 		Office abolished
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Table of Precedence (UK)
Baron Frost 		Followed by
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