Charles Hendry

Charles Hendry: speaker on renewable energy including wind power, solar and tidal generation.

Charles Hendry was Member of Parliament for Wealden from 2001-2015 and was UK Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change from May 2010 until September 2012. He was previously the Conservative Party’s spokesperson on energy issues, from 2005-2010, holding the portfolio longer than any other holder of the office.

On leaving Ministerial office he was appointed as Trade Envoy to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan by the then Prime Minister David Cameron, a role he continued until he left Parliament in 2015. He was Commissioner for the UK pavilion at Expo 2017 Future Energy in Kazakhstan.

He is a regular visitor to the countries of the former Soviet Union, focusing on trade and investment, as well as on social, educational and cultural links. He is President of the British Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan and was appointed to the Order of the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2019 for services to developing UK trade.

Charles Hendry is an Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh Business School, a Visiting Professor at the Mining University of St Petersburg, President of the British Institute of Energy Economics, and Patron of the Nuclear Institute. He led the review into the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon power scheme reporting in 2017 and has served as chairman of Forewind, developing the world’s largest offshore windfarm.

He works and consults extensively across the energy and trade sectors and in 2018 was appointed to chair the new User Group for Scottish Power Energy Networks. Charles Hendry speaks on geopolitical energy issues; the oil and gas industry; the politics of decarbonisation and future of renewables. Charles is highly informed on the severe political and technical challenges facing energy production and distribution in the light of the war in Ukraine and unprecedented increases in energy costs.

Having held senior positions in the Conservative Party since the late 1990s, Charles speaks with authority and experience about the politics, policies and personalities of government at this most challenging time for energy policy since the 1970s.