George Eustice

Charles George Eustice (born 28 September 1971) is a British politician and former public relations executive who held office as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2020 and 2022. A former UKIP member, he later joined the Conservative Party, where he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Camborne and Redruth from 2010 to 2024.

In the 1999 European Parliament elections, Eustice stood unsuccessfully as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate in South West England. He later joined the Conservative Party and was the Director of Communications at CCHQ; and from 2005 to 2008, he served as David Cameron's Press Secretary during his tenure as Leader of the Opposition. In 2009, Eustice joined Portland Communications, a public relations company.

Eustice was elected to the House of Commons in 2010. In October 2013, as part of Prime Minister Cameron's ministerial reshuffle, Eustice was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. On 11 May 2015 he was promoted to Minister of State within the same department. He was retained by Prime Minister Theresa May; however, he resigned from this position on 28 February 2019. Eustice was reappointed to his previous role by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 25 July 2019. On 13 February 2020 he joined the Cabinet replacing Theresa Villiers as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a position he held until Johnson's successor Liz Truss dismissed him from it upon taking office in September 2022. He announced in January 2023 that he would not stand for reelection at the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

Eustice was born on 28 September 1971 into a farming family in Penzance. His parents were Adele and Paul Eustice. He grew up at Trevaskis Fruit Farm, near Hayle. He was privately educated at Truro Cathedral School and then Truro School, followed by studies at the state-sector Cornwall College at Pool. He was a member of Cornwall Athletic Club based at Carn Brea, Camborne and ran for Cornwall's cross country team.^{[citation needed]} After finishing his education, he worked for nine years in his family business, a fruit farm near the Cornish village of Connor Downs. He attended Writtle College for three years.^{[citation needed]}

At the 1999 European Parliament Elections Eustice stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for UKIP in the South West of England.

In 2000, Eustice was appointed as Campaign Director for "No", the campaign group to ensure that the UK did not adopt the Euro as the national currency.

Eustice became Head of Press under Conservative Party leader Michael Howard during the 2005 general election. Following the election, he was part of David Cameron's Leadership campaign team and, between 2005 and 2008, served as David Cameron's Press Secretary during his tenure as Leader of the Opposition. On leaving Cameron's office, George Eustice worked for Portland Communications, a public relations company.

On 6 December 2008, Eustice was selected as the official Conservative Party candidate for the Camborne & Redruth Constituency.