The Lord Aberdare, MA (Oxon), DL

Alastair Aberdare was elected as an independent (Crossbench) hereditary member of the House of Lords in 2009. His interests include education, skills and employment, pancreatic cancer, the arts (especially classical music), Welsh affairs and corporate responsibility issues.

Alastair worked for IBM for 21 years in the UK, USA and Belgium, before leaving to set up one of the UK’s first dedicated Public Affairs consultancies, later extended to advise on corporate reputation management more broadly. Subsequently he was a founder director of a small business helping to prepare unemployed and disadvantaged young Londoners for work.

He has served as a Trustee of charities including the National Botanic Garden of Wales, St John Cymru–Wales, the National Library of Wales and the Parliament Choir (in which he sings). Current Trusteeships include the Berlioz Society (of which he is Chairman), the Stephen Dodgson Charitable Trust and the UK Focused Ultrasound Foundation. Alastair is an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University and a Deputy Lieutenant of Dyfed. He is married to Libby, with two grown-up children and two grandchildren.