Latest Press Release
Appointment of Deputy Private Secretary
9th October 2008
Mr Benet Northcote has been appointed as Deputy Private Secretary in the Household of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. Mr Northcote is currently Chief Policy Advisor to Greenpeace UK, specialising in climate change issues, especially energy policy and transport. He will take up his position in November.
Mr Northcote’s portfolio within the office will include food and farming, the natural environment and corporate social responsibility, currently dealt with by Private Secretary Elizabeth Buchanan, who leaves the Prince’s Household at Christmas. Miss Buchanan’s other responsibilities are to be taken on by Mark Leishman who will be promoted to Senior Deputy Private Secretary.
Mr Northcote, 37, is married, with three children. He was born in Surrey and lives in south London.
After leaving Harris Manchester College, Oxford Mr Northcote joined the BBC, where he worked across the corporation in television and radio.
Prior to joining Greenpeace, he served on the board of the Conservative Party’s Quality of Life Policy Group, chaired by John Gummer and Zac Goldsmith.
He has a long track record advising companies and NGOs on communicating environmental and sustainability issues, and was responsible for the Virtual Exhibit at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.