Lord Jonny Oates is a British Liberal Democrat politician and member of the House of Lords with extensive experience in politics, public policy, communications, and international development. He currently serves as Chief Executive of United Against Malnutrition & Hunger, a role he assumed in September 2022. 

Lord Oates has held several senior political and advisory positions throughout his career. From 2010 to 2015, he was Deputy Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street and subsequently Chief of Staff to the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, during the UK’s coalition government. Earlier in his career, he served as Director of Policy and Communications for the Liberal Democrats and Director of General Election Communications during the 2010 UK General Election campaign. 

His involvement in development issues dates back to 1985, when he spent time in Ethiopia during the Ethiopian famine. In 1988, he taught in Zimbabwe and helped establish a rural secondary school. In the late 1990’s Jonny worked in South Africa’s first democratic parliament through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, supporting political parties previously excluded from parliament under the apartheid regime.  

Lord Oates has also held positions in public affairs and governance, including roles with Westminster Strategy, Bell Pottinger Public Affairs and the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales, From 2017 to 2019, he served as Senior Adviser to the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), supporting work focused principally on Africa and South Asia. 

He became a member of the House of Lords in October 2015, taking the title Baron Oates of Denby Grange. In the House of Lords, he has a particular interest in international development and climate change. 

Lord Oates has previously served as an independent non-executive director of NHS Blood and Transplant and the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, and a Trustee of the World Reimagined, an educational and public arts project to raise awareness of the impacts of transatlantic slave trade and promote racial justice. His memoir, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, reflecting on his experiences in Ethiopia at age 15, was published in 2020.