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Along with the former Labour Cabinet Minister, Ed Balls, Lord Pickles co-chairs the United Kingdom’s Holocaust Memorial Foundation, working to establish a permanent national memorial for remembrance of the Holocaust.  The memorial will commemorate the 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust and all other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators.

He was made a Life Peer in 2018.

First elected to Parliament in 1992 he retired as MP for Brentwood and Ongar at the 2017 general election. He was previously Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Lord Pickles held the role of UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues from September 2015 to April 2025, working closely with the wide range of Holocaust academics, survivors and educational and social organisations in the UK and internationally. 

He was chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments from 2020 to 2025.

Education

Lord Pickles was educated at Greenhead Grammar School and Leeds Polytechnic.

Political career

Lord Pickles was the Prime Minister’s Anti-Corruption Champion from 2015 to Spring 2017, and was Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2015. He was Leader of Bradford City Council from 1988 to 1990. He held a number of positions while in opposition, including Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2007 to 2009 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2009 to 2010.

Career outside politics

He worked as a consultant in employment practice and as Local Government Editor for Conservative Newsline before becoming an MP in 1992. He is a trustee of 2 local charities � Brentwood Foyer and Brentwood Theatre.

Personal life

Lord Pickles lives with his wife Irene in Brentwood, Essex.