Lord Edward Lister 

Senior Adviser

Lord Edward Lister is a Senior Adviser to Gemcorp Capital and Chair of Gemcorp Capital Management (Middle East) Ltd, the firm’s Abu Dhabi-based business. He is also a member of the House of Lords and Joint Chair of the UK-UAE Business Council, with a long-standing focus on international trade, investment and strategic relations between the UK and global partners.

Lord Lister brings decades of experience in government, policy and international business. He served as Downing Street Chief of Staff from 2019 to 2021, initially advising the Prime Minister on strategy before being appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the Gulf, where he played a key role in strengthening diplomatic and commercial ties across the region.

Earlier in his career, Lord Lister was Deputy Mayor of London for Policy from 2011 to 2016, helping shape the capital’s economic development, infrastructure and planning agenda. Prior to that, he served for nearly two decades as Leader of Wandsworth Council, one of the UK’s largest local authorities, where he built a reputation for financial discipline and administrative reform.

Across his public and advisory roles, Lord Lister has developed extensive experience in international trade, cross-border investment and the policy frameworks that support long-term economic growth, expertise that supports Gemcorp’s work across emerging markets.