The MoD also confirmed that there are “less than five” other officials currently seconded to private sector organisations.
Rothschild says its geopolitical advisory department provides clients with “insights and perspectives to navigate complex risks of an increasingly multi-polar world, a shifting political and regulatory landscape, a race for natural resources and the energy transition”.
Despite his position as a peer, the department’s chair, Lord Sedwill, is no longer barred from lobbying the government on behalf of his new employers as he left the civil service more than two years ago.
In May last year, Sedwill took part in a meeting with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, which was hosted by Rothschild and ADS, the arms industry lobbying group. Gareth Davies, the permanent secretary for the Department of Business and Trade, was also involved in the meeting.
And in September, Sedwill wrote on Rothschild’s website: “Defence is now a sustained investment opportunity… Yet traditional state-led procurement will not be sufficient. New industrial models will be needed to crowd in private finance, blending public financing with institutional and private capital to scale innovation and resilience at pace.”
Like many senior officials with experience in national security, since leaving government, Sedwill has taken up a number of lucrative roles with private sector organisations in the defence and finance sectors. He is among the many figures with financial ties to defence companies who have called for the UK to increase its defence spending in response to rising geopolitical tensions, particularly the threat of Russia.
Alongside his parliamentary work and position at Rothschild & Co, Sedwill currently holds several roles in the financial sector, including as a member of McKinsey & Company’s Geopolitics Advisory Council and Temasek’s EMEA Advisory Panel. He worked at BAE Systems, the major arms manufacturer, until late 2024.
Anita Bhadani, media manager at campaign group Global Justice Now said: "The revolving door between those who run our country and private finance threatens our democracy. We would expect our government to place the interests of people above the profit margins of corporations, but with officials and members of the House of Lords taking up positions with private capital there is a real risk of conflict of interest.
“The costs of increased militarisation to our planet - environmentally, socially and otherwise - far outweigh any supposed “investment opportunity” this presents. We need investment instead in socially useful sectors that make all of our lives better, and to stand against the corporate capture of our politics."
Sedwill is at the centre of efforts to create a European “rearmament bank” supported by private finance, alongside General Sir Nick Carter. Since stepping down as head of the armed forces in 2022, Carter has taken up advisory roles with German defence startup Helsing, Schroders bank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and, as reported by Declassified UK, an advisory firm that provides “strategic consulting services to Israeli companies operating in the defence sector”.
Rothschild & Co also has ties to Hakluyt & Company, a corporate intelligence and strategy consulting firm with close ties to the UK government, which was investigated by the UK’s lobbying watchdog after an openDemocracy probe last year. The watchdog ruled that despite arranging and attending meetings with senior government ministers and officials, its communications did not constitute lobbying as set out in legislation.
The bank is an investor in the AI-backing fund of Hakluyt Capital, which was founded by Varun Chandra, now No 10’s adviser on business and investment, in his previous role as managing partner of Hakluyt.
Chandra left the Hakluyt in July 2024 to join Keir Starmer’s government but retains a stake in both the company and the AI fund. Sedwill is an adviser to Westbury Partners, a strategic advisory consultancy set up by another former Hakluyt & Company boss, Keith Craig.
Asked whether Chandra was involved in establishing the secondment, the MoD declined to comment.
openDemocracy reached out to Rothschild & Co and Lord Sedwill directly for comment, but received no response.
