New High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire

Sir David Arculus will be installed into the role at Peterborough Cathedral on Wednesday, March 30.

The office of the High Sheriff is the oldest, most continuous secular office under the Crown.

The selection of new High Sheriffs is made annually in a meeting of the Privy Council by the Sovereign each March.

Cambridgeshire-based Sir David is a publisher, businessman and former advisor to Mr Blair. He started his career as a BBC producer before moving to Peterborough in 1972 for a role at then publishers of the Telegraph, EMAP. He then led the management buyout and subsequent sale of IPC Media.

He served as chairman of Severn Trent and later of O2. Following the 2006 merger of O2 and Telefonica he sat on the Board of Telefonica. Sir David has also served as a director of Barclays and Pearson and of many private equity backed companies.

During his career he has also undertaken a number of non-business roles including four years as chairman of the Better Regulation Task Force, reporting to Mr Blair when he was then Prime Minister.

He has also served on the board of the National Consumer Council and as chairman of the Royal Institution and the British Library Advisory Board as well as being a trustee of various charitable organisations.

Alongside his role as High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, Sir David is currently the chairman of Energy UK.

He was born in 1946 and was educated at Bromsgrove School, Oriel College, Oxford and London Business School.