Lord St John of Bletso, (Anthony) took up his seat as a Crossbench Member of the House of Lords in 1978. He was brought up in South Africa where he qualified as an attorney before working for Shell as their internal auditor and legal counsel.
He completed his Masters in Law at London University in Chinese and Maritime Law and spent a year living in China and Hong Kong. He worked for over 15 years in financial services in London, initially as an oil analyst and then equity sales and investor relations with Smith New Court and then Merrill Lynch focussed on Sub Saharan Africa and the Far East.
He has served as a director on many listed and unlisted companies ranging from oil, telecommunications, IT, renewable energy, financial servicesandmanufacturing. Hismain focus is now on promoting business opportunities in Africa, through African Business Solutions Ltd. He is Chairman of Strand Hanson Group, Global Resources Investment Trust and Integrated Diagnostic Holdings Plc.
Lord St John was appointed Extra Lord in Waiting to Her Majesty The Queen in 1998.
He has served on many House of Lords Select committees, including Communications Information, PICT and European Union Trade Finance and Foreign Affairs. He remains Vice Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary South Africa Group as well as a Member of the Executive Committee of the All Party Parliamentary Africa Group. He is currently Chairman and Trustee of six charities.