Eric Pickles

Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar from 1992 to 2017. He served in David Cameron's Cabinet as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2015. During his time at the Communities and Local Government department, Grenfell tower was renovated using highly combustable cladding, something Pickles was later heavily criticised for allowing during the subsequent inquiry following a fire at the tower in June 2017. There were calls for Pickles to resign as a Conservative party peer from the House of Lords, but he refused to do so. He previously served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2009 to 2010 and was later the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion from 2015 to 2017. Pickles was appointed the second United Kingdom Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues in 2015. He stood down as an MP at the 2017 general election, but continued in his role as Special Envoy under Prime Ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and Keir Starmer. He is the chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel in the House of Lords as of 2023.