Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmer and an active member of the House of Lords with a policy focus on digital technology for public good.
Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion with a particular interest in technologies such as AI and blockchain and areas of application such as fintech and trade.
In Parliament, he specializes in legislation that deals with technology and inclusion, introducing Private Members Bills on the regulation of artificial intelligence and banning unpaid work experience. He was integral to the passing of the ground-breaking Electronic Trade Documents Bill.
On technology, he has previously co-authored House of Lords Select Committee Reports on: Democracy and Digital Technologies [2020], Artificial Intelligence [2018], and Digital Skills [2015] and under his own auspices published an influential report encouraging government testing of blockchain solutions for policy delivery, DLT for Public Good: leadership, collaboration and innovation [2017] He is also adviser to several tech and fintech companies.
On inclusion, and again under his own auspices, he has published influential reports on accessibility in the public realm and support for disabled students as well as Lords reports on Financial Exclusion [2017], Social Mobility [2016] and, for the Cabinet Office, The Lord Holmes Review on opening up public appointments to disabled people. He continues to advise the government of diversity and inclusion.
Early life
As a boy Chris was a promising sportsman; on school teams for most sports and academically gifted with a distinct ambition to get to Cambridge University, by nomor means a normal next step from the Kidderminster Comprehensive he attended. At the age of 14 and completely unexpectedly Chris went blind overnight. His extraordinary courage and determination took him back into the pool, and just four years later to straight A’s for his A-levels and a place at Cambridge. At the end of his first year at Cambridge he won a record-breaking six gold medals at the Barcelona Paralympics.