Labour principal spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, House of Lords
David Triesman is Labour’s principal spokesperson on Foreign Affairs in the House of Lords. David entered the Lords as a life peer in 2004.
David is an experienced member of parliament and held several ministerial positions in the previous Labour government. He was a government whip (2004-2005) and spoke from the government frontbench on a wide range of subjects including Transport (2004), Education and Skills (2004-2005), Trade and Industry (2004-2005), International Development (2004-2005), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2004-2007) being promoted to parliamentary under-secretary of state for FCO (2005-2007) and Intellectual Property and Quality (2007-2008).
In 2008, David left government to take up the position of national chair of the Football Association, a post he held until 2010. Before coming to the Lords, David was general secretary of the Labour Party (2001-2003) and also served as general secretary of the Association of University Teachers (1993-2001). David has been the chairman and a director in a number of large companies since the mid-1980s and is currently the chairman of the board of advisers of the merchant bank, Templewood, and a member of the board of property developer Augur Buchler.
Outside the House of Lords, he divides his time between his wife and young daughter, and his passion for Tottenham Hotspur.