Rona Fairhead

Rona Alison Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead, (; born 28 August 1961), is a life peer and businesswoman.

On 3 September 2017, it was announced that trade policy minister Lord Price would leave the government; on 28 September, Fairhead was appointed to succeed him. Fairhead resigned as Minister of State in May 2019 having completed her agreed term.

Early life and education Fairhead was born Rona Haig in Cumberland (now Cumbria) in 1961 and educated at Yarm Grammar School, near Stockton-on-Tees, North East England before attending St Catharine's College, Cambridge; she was president of the Cambridge University Law Society before graduating with a double first in law (Bachelor of Arts, BA). She later obtained a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Professional career Fairhead's early business career was spent at Bain & Company and Morgan Stanley in the 1980s before she moved to British Aerospace as an independent consultant in 1991. Later in 1991 she moved to Short Brothers shortly after it was bought by Bombardier Inc. She rose to become vice-president for corporate strategy and public affairs in 1994 and then vice-president, UK aerospace services in 1995. She oversaw the sale of several of the group's other titles during her tenure.

In August 2014 Culture Secretary Sajid Javid recommended Fairhead as the preferred candidate for the chairmanship of the BBC Trust, following the departure of Chris Patten, who resigned on health grounds in May. She was formally appointed by the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 8 October 2014, for a four-year term beginning the following day.

In September 2016, Fairhead announced that she would not be applying to head the new unitary board replacing the BBC Trust.

In July 2019, Fairhead joined the Board of Directors of Oracle Corporation as a non-executive director. She joined the Board of RS Group plc ( formerly Electrocomponents plc) in November 2020, stepping up as Chair in January 2021.

In February 2023, she was named a member of the McKinsey & Company External Advisory Group.

Appearance before Public Accounts Committee In March 2015 Fairhead appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons as a non-executive director of the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC. Margaret Hodge, the chair of the committee, stated that in the light of her performance as an HSBC director, she was no longer fit to continue in her role heading the BBC Trust. Hodge was accused of making a "bullying" attack.

Ministerial and parliamentary career On 28 September 2017 the government announced that Fairhead would become an unpaid Minister of State at the Department for International Trade, succeeding Mark, Lord Price. In addition, it was announced that Fairhead would be granted a life peerage. On 19 October, she was created Baroness Fairhead, of Yarm in the County of North Yorkshire.

Baroness Fairhead resigned her ministerial position on 7 May 2019.

Personal life Baroness Fairhead's husband, Thomas Edwin Fairhead, is a businessman and director of Campbell Lutyens. He was a Conservative councillor for Earl's Court in West London from 1994 to 2010. He now serves as an honorary alderman of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The couple have three children.

Rona Fairhead is a qualified pilot and her hobbies include flying and scuba diving. Towards the end of her tenure with the Financial Times Group, Fairhead was treated for breast cancer.