Dominic Johnson, Baron Johnson of Lainston

Dominic Robert Andrew Johnson, Baron Johnson of Lainston, (born 6 April 1974), is a British financier, hedge fund manager and politician. He is also the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Somerset Capital Management and chairman of the House of Lords International Agreements Committee. He served as co-chairman of the Conservative Party from November 2024 until July 2025, alongside Nigel Huddleston.

Lord Johnson served under Rishi Sunak as a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade and in the Department for International Trade during the prime ministership of Liz Truss. Johnson has given more than £250,000 to the Conservative Party, serving as its vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019.

Early life Johnson was born in London in 1974, Juliet's mother, Mary, daughter of Royal Navy Captain Robert Bradshaw Wilmot Sitwell, CBE, was a descendant, through her mother, of the Conservative politicians Charles Cocks, 1st Baron Somers and Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th Bart, MP. Johnson's maternal uncle, Nicholas Craig-Harvey, is married to Lady Julia, a daughter of the Conservative politician Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland, and maternal granddaughter of Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch, who as Earl of Dalkeith sat in the House of Commons.

Johnson was educated at Marlborough College before studying Politics at Collingwood College, Durham, graduating BA in 1995.

Career Johnson began his career in finance with Robert Fleming & Co. in 1995, and then with Jardine Fleming, Hong Kong, in 1998. In 2001, he went into asset management, and worked for Lloyd George Management until 2007. In 2007, he co-founded Somerset Capital Management (SCM) with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Edward Robertson. All three were colleagues at Lloyd George Management in Hong Kong. Rees-Mogg was CEO of SCM until Johnson succeeded him in 2010.

Politics From 2006 to 2010, Johnson served as a Conservative councillor for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

In 2016, Johnson provided accommodation to former prime minister David Cameron

Johnson has donated more than £250,000 to the Conservative Party, and was its vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019. The territorial designation "Lainston" derives from his mother's family home, Lainston House, near Winchester in Hampshire, which is now a hotel. Lord Johnson was sacked by Truss's successor, Rishi Sunak, soon after becoming prime minister, then re-appointed as a minister of state for international trade on 24 November 2022.thumb

Personal life In 2006, Johnson married Alice Rose Alethea Hamilton (born 1974), youngest daughter of Archibald Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom, formerly a Conservative government minister. Johnson also has a son called Victor who was born on the 6th May 2010, celebrating a Conservative win.