George Eustice

Charles George Eustice (born 28 September 1971) is a British politician and former public relations executive who held office as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2020 and 2022.

Eustice was born on 28 September 1971 into a farming family in Penzance.

His parents were Adele and Paul Eustice.

He grew up at Trevaskis Fruit Farm, near Hayle.

He was privately educated at Truro Cathedral School then Truro School, followed by Cornwall College at Pool.

He was a member of Cornwall Athletic Club based at Carn Brea, Camborne and ran for Cornwall's cross country team.

After finishing his education, he worked for nine years in his family business, a fruit farm near the Cornish village of Connor Downs.

He attended Writtle College for three years.

In the 1999 European Parliament elections, Eustice stood unsuccessfully as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate in South West England.

At the 1999 European Parliament Elections Eustice stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for UKIP in the South West of England.

In 2000, Eustice was appointed as Campaign Director for "No", the campaign group to ensure that the UK did not adopt the Euro as the national currency.

He later joined the Conservative Party and was the Director of Communications at CCHQ; and from 2005 to 2008, he served as David Cameron's Press Secretary during his tenure as Leader of the Opposition.

Eustice became Head of Press under Conservative Party leader Michael Howard during the 2005 general election.

Following the election, he was part of David Cameron's Leadership campaign team and, between 2005 and 2008, served as David Cameron's Press Secretary during his tenure as Leader of the Opposition.

On leaving Cameron's office, George Eustice worked for Portland Communications, a public relations company.

On 6 December 2008, Eustice was selected as the official Conservative Party candidate for the Camborne & Redruth Constituency.

In 2009, Eustice joined Portland Communications, a public relations company.

A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Camborne and Redruth since 2010.

Eustice was elected to the House of Commons in 2010.

Eustice was elected as Member of Parliament for Camborne & Redruth on Thursday 6 May 2010 with a majority of 66 votes over the Liberal Democrat incumbent Julia Goldsworthy.

The result was only confirmed after a recount.

He had the second smallest majority of any Conservative elected at the 2010 election, with only Dan Byles 54 vote majority in North Warwickshire being lower, and the fourth smallest majority of any MP.

He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 24 June 2010: "It is a special honour for me to represent my home town. I was brought up between Camborne and Hayle, in Cornwall, and my family have lived and worked in the area for more than 400 years. When one has such deep roots in a constituency, one feels a special responsibility for its long-term future."

Later in the same speech he said "My No. 1 priority for the area will be economic regeneration."

Eustice was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee from 12 July 2010 until November 2013 and of the Privacy and Injunctions (Joint Committee) between July 2011 and March 2012.

Eustice was asked to take a leading role in the 2011 "No to AV Referendum" campaign, reportedly as a result of his work for Business for Sterling and the "No" Group, which campaigned to keep the pound and against the adoption of the Euro as currency in the UK.

In September 2011, he argued that Cornwall's heritage should be administered by a Cornish organisation rather than English Heritage.

In September 2011, Eustice, with two other Conservative MPs Andrea Leadsom and Chris Heaton-Harris launched the Fresh Start Group to examine the options for a new UK-EU relationship.

He wrote an article in The Guardian on 10 June 2012, which argued for the UK to remain within the EU, but to seek reform from within.

On 10 July 2012 the Fresh Start Group released a research paper, which according to The Financial Times, called for "reducing the overall size of the EU budget, overhauling the Common Agricultural Policy to which the UK contributes about £1bn a year and repatriating structural funds."

On 17 May 2012, Eustice was elected to the Executive Committee of the 1922 Committee as part of the "301 Group" of newer MPs.

Eustice has supported statutory underpinning of independent press regulation which arose from the Leveson proposals.

On 21 June 2012, he made a submission to the Leveson Inquiry and wrote an article in The Guardian urging both journalists and politicians to back a royal charter.

Reacting to the letter, Conservative writer Tim Montgomerie argued that greater press regulation was now more likely.

In October 2013, as part of Prime Minister Cameron's ministerial reshuffle, Eustice was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

On 11 May 2015 he was promoted to Minister of State within the same department.

He was retained by Prime Minister Theresa May; however, he resigned from this position on 28 February 2019.

Eustice was reappointed to his previous role by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 25 July 2019.

On 13 February 2020 he joined the Cabinet replacing Theresa Villiers as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a position he held until Johnson's successor Liz Truss dismissed him from it upon taking office in September 2022.

He announced in January 2023 that he would not stand for reelection at the next UK general election.