Born in 1965 to British parents in New York, Greg lived in the USA until he was seven years old and the family moved back to the UK.
After being educated at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in Amersham, in 1985 Greg embarked on a gap year in West Berlin, where he worked at a swimming pool, a department store and at McDonalds. Thereafter, Greg studied Modern History at Cambridge University. He joined the Conservative Party whilst at Cambridge. After university, Greg began a career in finance, and worked on trading floors in London and New York.
In 1998 Greg was first elected as a Councillor in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and from 1999 until 2003 he was Leader of the Conservative council group.
In 2005 Greg was elected as Member of Parliament for Hammersmith and Fulham, taking the marginal seat from Labour, with a 7% swing, achieving a majority of 5,000 votes.
For the 2010 General Election Greg was selected to fight the newly created constituency of Chelsea & Fulham which he won with a huge majority. Since then, Greg has successfully defended the seat of Chelsea & Fulham in the 2015, 2017 and 2019 General Elections.
From January 2009 to May 2010, Greg served as Shadow Treasury Minister, and after the 2010 General Election he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. In October 2011, Greg joined the Government Whips, where he worked for almost four years. During this period, in 2013, he was appointed Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of HM Household.
Following the 2015 General Election, which resulted in a Conservative-majority Government under David Cameron, Greg was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Greg carried out the 2015 Spending Review, which set out all of Government spending for almost five years, the longest and most successful review ever undertaken.
In July 2016, under Prime Minister Theresa May, Greg was appointed Minister of State in the newly created Department of International Trade. Greg worked in promoting exports, inward investment, trade agreements and tariff policy. In 2018 Greg resigned from this position in order to meet his election promise of voting against a third runway at Heathrow airport.
Greg was re-appointed Minister of State for Trade Policy in the Department for International Trade by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in February 2020. In this role, Greg focused on new UK Free Trade Agreements, the UK Global Tariff, and the UK’s role at the World Trade Organisation.
From September 2021 until September 2022, Greg served as Minister of State for Climate Change, Clean Growth and Energy at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Greg then served as Minister of State for Trade Policy after his third appointment to this role in October 2022 by Prime Minister Liz Truss and subsequent re-appointment by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
In February 2023, Greg was appointed Chairman of the Conservative Party and attended Cabinet.
On 13 November 2023, Greg was appointed Minister of State for Trade at the Department for Business and Trade, as well as Minister for London.
Greg is fluent in German and French and speaks several other European languages to a good standard, notably Czech.
Greg has lived in Fulham since 1990. He is separated, but lives with his two children.
- Update 10 July 2024 - Statement from Rt Hon Greg Hands, former Member of Parliament for Chelsea & Fulham
Dear Chelsea & Fulham resident,
You will be aware that the General Election took place on Thursday 4 July.
Unfortunately, I was not re-elected as Member of Parliament for Chelsea & Fulham.
Please see visit here for the result in full. I knew it was neck and neck in our constituency, and the results show just that, with only 152 votes between the Labour candidate and myself.
I congratulate my successor and wish him good luck in this role.
Most importantly, I would like to thank you and the fellow constituents of Chelsea & Fulham.
Thank you for your inspiration and the opportunity you gave me to serve as Member of Parliament for 19 years.
Being your Member of Parliament has been the greatest honour.
I have also had the honour to serve our country as a Government Minister for over 11 years.
At this point, I would also like to thank my family and many members of ‘Team Hands’ for their dedication in supporting me in this work.
In terms of my future, I am looking forward to a more relaxed summer and will think about plans for the future.
I will continue to live in Chelsea & Fulham, and I am sure I will see you around.
With best wishes for the future,
Greg Hands
Your Member of Parliament, 2005-2024 and Government Minister for most of 2010-2024