The Queen has approved that Peter Michael Ainsworth, MA, be re-appointed Chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust for a period of three years from 1st July 2019.
Peter Ainsworth was educated at Bradfield College and Lincoln College, Oxford. He worked as a Researcher for a Member of the European Parliament before becoming an Investment Analyst in the City. He became a Director of Corporate Finance at Warburg Securities in 1986, a role which he resigned upon his election as Member of Parliament for East Surrey in 1992.
Having served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ministers in H.M. Treasury and the Department for National Heritage, he was promoted to the Whips' Office in 1996 where he remained in Opposition as Deputy Chief Whip. In 1998 he became Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media & Sport, later becoming Shadow Environment Secretary.
In 2003 he was appointed Chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee before re-joining the Shadow Cabinet with the Environment brief in 2006. In 2009 he joined the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee and in 2010 he left Parliament to pursue his interest in cultural and environmental matters.
He is currently Chairman of the National Lottery Community Fund and of the Heritage Alliance. A former Board member of the Environment Agency, he has chaired the Elgar Foundation and the wild plant charity Plantlife. For the past three years he has been the Chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust.
His interests include music, poetry and history.
