Liam Booth-Smith, Baron Booth-Smith

The Right Honourable
The Lord Booth-Smith
Booth-Smith in 2022
Downing Street Chief of Staff
In office
25 October 2022 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byMark Fullbrook
Succeeded bySue Gray
Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
February 2020 – July 2022
ChancellorRishi Sunak
Special Adviser to the Prime Minister
In office
July 2019 – July 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 August 2024
Life peerage
Personal details
Born
Liam David Scott-Smith

1986 (age 37–38)
Stoke-on-Trent, England
Spouse
Helen Booth
​
(m. 2013)​
-?
Olivia Oates
​
(m. 2022)​
Children2
Alma materLoughborough University

Liam David Scott Booth-Smith, Baron Booth-Smith (born 1987), is a British political adviser who served as Downing Street Chief of Staff under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from October 2022 to July 2024. He previously served as Sunak's de facto chief of staff as head of the Joint Economic Unit during his chancellorship.

Early life and education

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Liam was born Liam Scott-Smith in 1986[1] in Stoke-on-Trent and was raised by his mother Lisa, a single parent who lived on a council estate in north Staffordshire, as the eldest of three children.[2][3]

Booth-Smith received funding to attend Newcastle-under-Lyme School under the Assisted Places Scheme to help bright students enter elite schools. After the scheme was discontinued in 1997, he attended the state-funded Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. He read politics and social policy at Loughborough University, where he also played cricket.[3]

Career

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Booth-Smith served as chief executive of the think tank Localis between 2016 and 2018, before serving as a special adviser to James Brokenshire as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government from 2018 to 2019, where Rishi Sunak was a junior minister.[4] In July 2019, Booth-Smith became a senior adviser to prime minister Boris Johnson upon his accession as prime minister.[4] He had previously worked at the think tank Policy Exchange, specialising in housing policy.[1]

In February 2020, as head of the Joint Economic Unit between 10 Downing Street and 11 Downing Street, Booth-Smith became the de facto chief of staff to Sunak, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer,[5] overseeing the Treasury's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Booth-Smith gained the nickname "Travolta of the Treasury" for wearing a leather jacket with his shirt buttons undone.[3][5]

Booth-Smith led Sunak's leadership campaign during the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, and again in the subsequent October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[5]

Downing Street Chief of Staff

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Booth-Smith was appointed as Downing Street Chief of Staff in October 2022 after Sunak became prime minister. He succeeded Mark Fullbrook, who was chief of staff to Liz Truss.[1]

In 2023, the New Statesman named Booth-Smith as the ninth-most influential figure in British right-wing politics.[6]

He was paid between £140,000 and £145,000 per year.[7]

Peerage

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Booth-Smith was nominated for a life peerage in the 2024 Dissolution Honours.[8][9][10] He was created Baron Booth-Smith, of Newcastle-under-Lyme in the County of Staffordshire, on 21 August 2024.[11]

Personal life

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Liam was married in August 2013 to his first wife Helen, with whom he has a daughter born in 2015. Upon getting married he changed his surname from Scott-Smith to Booth-Smith. He married Olivia Oates in 2022.[12] Oates was a special adviser to Simon Clarke as a junior minister to Sunak at the Treasury,[12] and previously a special adviser to Robert Jenrick as housing secretary.[3][13] They have a daughter.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Payne, Sebastian (25 October 2022). "Who's who in Team Sunak — new PM's core aides". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  2. ^ Elgot, Jessica (25 October 2022). "The aides and spads expected to join Rishi Sunak in Downing Street". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Ellery, Ben (29 September 2023). "How the Treasury Travolta became Rishi Sunak's most trusted ally". The Times. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Liam Booth-Smith". Mace. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Diver, Tony (24 October 2022). "'Travolta of the Treasury' among aides and spin doctors set for Rishi Sunak's No 10". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  6. ^ "The New Statesman's right power list". New Statesman. 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  7. ^ "Keir Starmer's top aide Sue Gray paid more than the PM". BBC News. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  8. ^ "No. 64480". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 August 2024. p. 15222.
  9. ^ "Dissolution Peerages 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  10. ^ Whannel, Kate (4 July 2024). "Theresa May and 'bionic' MP awarded peerages". BBC News. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  11. ^ "No. 64499". The London Gazette. 28 August 2024. p. 16578.
  12. ^ a b Dickson, Annabelle (14 February 2022). "Britain's political power couples — ranked". Politico. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Olivia Oates". Mace. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
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