Zemo Partnership Summit 2024

Simon Lightwood was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Transport in the Department for Transport on 9 July 2024. 

Previously Simon was Shadow Transport Minister, appointed first in October 2022 and re-appointed in September 2023 with an expanded portfolio.  

Simon was first elected as MP for Wakefield in a by-election in June 2022 and was re-elected as MP for Wakefield and Rothwell in July 2024. 

Prior to being elected, Simon was a proud NHS worker, a Labour councillor and cabinet member for public health. He studied theatre acting at Bretton Hall College in Wakefield after moving to the city in the late nineties. 

Ken Skates MS serves as the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Transport and North Wales. 

Ken was previously a journalist at the Wrexham Leader newspaper, and a PA to Mark Tami MP.

In 2008, he was elected a community councillor. Ken’s policy interests include manufacturing, mental health, sport and leisure, eliminating poverty and political economy.

Ken was appointed to the Welsh Government as Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology in 2011. He was then appointed Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism in 2014 and promoted to Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure in May 2016. Ken was appointed Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport on 21 March 2024.

Fiona Hyslop was reappointed as Cabinet Secretary for Transport in May 2024.

Elected in the first session of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 she has been returned as the Constituency MSP for Linlithgow since 2011.

When the SNP formed a minority administration in 2007 Ms Hyslop was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning before serving in several ministerial roles, latterly Minister for Transport. She was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Transport in February 2024.

The Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben, is the founder and Chair of Sancroft International, a consultancy that advises businesses and investors on all areas of Sustainability and ESG. Between 2012 and 2023 he was Chair of the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee. Lord Deben was also the UK’s longest serving Secretary of State for the Environment (1993- 97) having previously been Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food. His sixteen years of top-level ministerial experience include Minister for London, Employment Minister, and Paymaster General in HM Treasury.

Lord Deben is currently Chair of Valpak Ltd and PIMFA, the trade body representing financial advisers and wealth managers. Throughout his political, business, and personal life, Lord Deben has consistently championed an accord between sustainability and business sense.

Jim Skea is the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He was awarded an OBE in 2004 and CBE in 2013 for his work on sustainable transport and sustainable energy respectively. In 2024, he was awarded a knighthood for his dedication to ensuring the challenges of climate change are understood, and action to avert them is undertaken. Sir Jim launched Zemo Partnership in 2003 (formerly known as LowCVP) and he will give the keynote closing address at the Zemo Partnership Summit.

Sir Jim Skea was a Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London from 2009 to 2023.  His research interests are in energy, climate change and technological innovation. He was also the Chair of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission from 2018 to 2023, and was a founding member of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, acting as its Scottish champion.