Peter Selwyn Gummer, Baron Chadlington (born 24 August 1942) is an English businessman and former head of Huntsworth, one of the largest lobbying firms in the United Kingdom.
He was president of the Witney Conservative constituency association, and is a PR adviser, long-standing supporter and donor to the Conservative Party. In 2026, Gummer resigned from the House of Lords and the Conservative Party following an investigation by the Lords Commissioner for Standards into his conduct, which found that he had not acted "on his personal honour".
Early life and education Gummer was born on 24 August 1942 to Selwyn Gummer, a Church of England priest, and his wife Margaret Mason. Gummer has two brothers: John Gummer, Baron Deben, former Chairman of the Conservative Party, and Mark Selwyn Gummer. He was educated at The King's School, Rochester. He then studied Moral Science and Theology, at Selwyn College, Cambridge, with the aim of becoming a priest. Reading the works of philosophers such as Albert Camus led him to change his mind, and after gaining a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts he instead went into journalism.
Career Gummer's first job after university was at Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspaper, where he worked 1964-65."Chadlington, Lord Peter Selwyn Gummer" in Jennifer Dilworth (ed.), International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who. Consulted online on 18 January 2023. Later, while writing for a trade press department Gummer found that he enjoyed the business side of things far more than the journalism, and decided to go into business. After several years working for other companies he founded a public relations (PR) firm called Shandwick in 1974, serving as its chairman. Within seven years Shandwick was the largest PR company in the United Kingdom, and in 1984 it became publicly listed. In 1998 it was sold to the Interpublic Group of Companies, and is now part of Huntsworth. Initially chairman of Huntsworth, Gummer was appointed chief executive on 25 September 2005 after the resignation of Richard Nichols, the group's previous chief executive. In 2006, Huntsworth bought Quiller Consultants, a lobbying firm that represents major financial, retail and telecoms companies. Huntsworth also owns Graylings, which lobbies for some of Britains leading companies, like National Grid and BT, and has carried out PR work for Belarus. At Huntsworth, Gummer personally lobbied for several clients, including the Stock Exchange, Associated British Foods and the Carlyle Group. In 2009, The Guardian reported Lord Chadlington earned "an estimated £30,000 for advising private equity companies on issues currently being examined by the Commons Treasury Select Committee".
Following falling profits and share prices and increasing discontent from shareholders (30 percent of shareholders abstained from voting for Gummer's re-election to the board), Gummer left his position at Huntsworth in April 2015, instead becoming an executive director, and left the company the following year.
As well as his public relations work, Gummer is also a non-executive director of Britax, a former director of Halifax and a visiting fellow at the University of Gloucestershire. He has been made a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the Institute of Directors, The Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Royal Society of Arts.
Gummer worked for the Arts Council from 1991 to 1996 and was head of the Council's lottery panel, deciding how funds should be distributed - for example, issuing £78.5 million to the Royal Opera House and £80 million to the British film industry.
In September 1996 Gummer became chairman of the Royal Opera House. Following a report by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee led by Gerald Kaufman, which described the management of the Royal Opera House as "abysmal" with "incompetence, disastrous financial planning and misjudgement", Gummer resigned in December 1997.
Politics Chadlington is president of the Witney Conservative constituency association, and is a PR adviser, long-standing supporter and donor to the Conservative Party. His brother, John Gummer, was a Conservative politician and cabinet minister. Chadlington was John Major's most trusted advisor during his premiership and advised him and the Foreign Office on media relations during the Gulf War.Prime Ministerial Private Office files. Gulf War: FCO minute to No.10 ("Iraq/Kuwait"). 23 October 1990. (Waldegrave meeting with Charles Jones & Peter Gummer of Shandwick PR firm: note of their advice on state of US public opinion) (declassified Jul 2017) Chadlington is an adviser, donor, close friend and political ally of David Cameron, supporting him during his successful bid to become leader of the Conservative party in 2005, when Cameron was MP of Chadlinton's constituency. Chadlington was also close to Chris Patten when he was chair of the Conservative party.
Chadlington ran the United Kingdom's largest lobbying firm, Huntsworth, and, before that, Shandwick, described by The Times in 1991 and The Independent in 1997 as the world's largest public relations business. On his personal books at Huntsworth were the Stock Exchange, Associated British Foods and the Carlyle Group, among others. Chadlington and Huntsworth are major donors to the Conservative party: for instance, the peer and his company donated £77,000 to the party between 2005 and 2010.
Chadlington and his PR firms have been instrumental in devising Conservative election campaigns, including those in 1992 and 1997.
On 16 October 1996, Gummer was created a Conservative working peer, with the title of Baron Chadlington, of Dean in the County of Oxfordshire.
Charitable work From 1999 until 2007, Gummer was a Director of the original Action on Addiction in London, a charity and addiction research centre investigating drug and alcohol dependence. He also served on their board of trustees.Company Check, List of Directors of UK Companies and Organizations: Peter Selwyn Gummer, Director, Action on Addiction. (Retrieved 24 July 2013). In 2007, the original Action on Addiction (established in 1989) merged with The Chemical Dependency Centre (established in 1985) and Clouds (established in 1987). The single charity, dedicated to the research and treatment of drug and alcohol dependence, took on the name Action on Addiction.UK Government Charity Commission website, Action on Addiction listing. (Retrieved 1 May 2013). He also founded the charity Action Against Gambling Harms, and lobbied the UK government to tighten gambling laws.
Personal life He married Lucy Dudley-Hill on 23 October 1982. They met after she came to his PR firm Shandwick for a job interview, and after five days they were engaged. They have four children: Naomi, Chloe, Eleanor and James.
On 16 October 1996, Gummer was created a Conservative working peer, with the title of Baron Chadlington, of Dean in the County of Oxfordshire.
Gummer is an adviser, neighbour, and longstanding friend of politician David Cameron. While prime minister, Cameron attended the 2012 wedding of Gummer's daughter Naomi to Henry Allsop, son of Charles Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip. Allsop's godmother, the then Duchess of Cornwall, and Jeremy Hunt, then Culture Secretary and Naomi's former boss, also attended.
Controversies Mismanagement of the Royal Opera House In September 1996 Gummer became chairman of the Royal Opera House (RHO). He had previously chaired the Arts Council's lottery panel, which had issued £78.5 million to the ROH. According to Dan Glaister, arts editor at The Guardian, public perception was that Chadlington had "written a cheque, walked around the table and pocketed it". Under Chadlington's leadership, there was also a turnover of senior staff, including Jeremy Isaacs being replaced as house director by Genista McIntosh, who left after four months citing ill-health, although there were rumours that she had been driven out by Chadlington and another board member, Vivien Duffield, because she wanted to lower ticket prices to attract new audiences. It later emerged that McIntosh objected to liberties members of the board were taking, using their privilege to, for instance, rearrange the casting for the ballet for the nights when they were bringing guests. Chadlington appointed his friend and former colleague at the Arts Council Mary Allen as McIntosh's replacement, but the position had not been advertised. When secretary-general of the Arts Council, Allen had authorised the award of £78 million of lottery money to the RHO. The RHO made £750,000 deficit in two months of its 1997 touring programme. A number of reports commented on outdated practices and poor management at the RHO. Chadlington didn't appoint a financial director for a year and the RHO did not keep regular accounts; the RHO was in £7 million of debt. In July 1997, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, led by Gerald Kaufman, opened an investigation into the management of the RHO. The committee released its report in December 1997, describing the management of the Royal Opera House as "abysmal" with "incompetence, disastrous financial planning and misjudgement". Gummer resigned that month.
Priming private equity leaders before parliamentary inquiry In 2007, Chadlington helped senior figures from several large private equity firms prepare for an appearance before the Treasury Select Committee, which was investigating the activities of the private equity industry. The peer, a PR expert, did not lodge a contact with the House of Lords for this work for Permira, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, 3i and the Carlyle Group, which was in breach of the Lords Code of Conduct.
Daughter's appointment to Whitehall In 2010, then culture secretary Jeremy Hunt gave Chadlington's daughter, Naomi, a civil service post in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Doing so was considered by people in Whitehall as "highly unusual" and "not normal" and Hunt was criticized for giving the role to a close business associate (between 2000 and 2004, Chadlington was director of Hotcourses, a company Hunt founded), a major donor to the Tory party (Chadlington having given more than £77,000 to the Tories between 2005 and 2010), and one of prime minister David Cameron's political allies (as president of Witney Conservative association, Cameron's constituency, Chadlington was a major supporter of Cameron's campaign to become Tory leader in 2005). The appointment came weeks after the government announced there would be a freeze on hiring in the civil service. Mark Serwotka, the leader of the PCS union, which represents civil servants, questioned whether the appointment was made because of "nepotism and privilege".
Sale of land to the prime minister