| The Right Honourable The Lord Wei 韋鳴恩 |
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|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nathanael Ming-Yan Wei 19 January 1977 Watford, Hertfordshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Cynthia Wei |
| Residence | Shoreditch, London, England |
| Alma mater | Jesus College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Member of the House of Lords Social entrepreneur |
Nathanael Ming-Yan Wei, Baron Wei (traditional Chinese: 韋鳴恩; simplified Chinese: 韦鸣恩; Mandarin Pinyin: Wéi Míng'ēn; Jyutping: Wai5 Ming4 Jan1)[1] (born 19 January 1977), also known as Nat Wei, is a social entrepreneur, interested in social reform, the youngest member of the House of Lords[2] (as of 30 September 2011[ref]) and was previously an adviser to the UK Government on their Big Society project. Lord Wei is the founding and former[3] partner of the Shaftesbury Partnership,[4] a member of the founding team of Teach First[4] and a former adviser at Absolute Return For Kids.[5] Lord Wei is a former fellow of the Young Foundation.[6]
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Lord Wei is the son of Hong Kong parents[7] with Chinese ancestry.[8] Wei's father was a pastor who moved to the UK in the 1970s. Lord Wei was born in Watford and grew up in Milton Keynes and Tooting, London. He was educated in a state school where students snorted cocaine and even burned down a wing of the school, bullying Wei for taking his studies seriously. [9] The only student from his school year to attend Oxford, Lord Wei studied Modern Languages at Jesus College, Oxford.[10]
He is fluent in English, has a working knowledge of Cantonese, French and German. Lord Wei is also actively learning Mandarin at London School of Economics.
After graduating from Oxford, Wei worked at McKinsey & Company for three years,[11] where he came to know Brett Wigdortz, who founded Teach First in 2002. In 2006, after three years at Teach First and a short stint in social venture capital, Wei joined the children's charity Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) where he helped to set up Future Leaders,[12] a programme seeking to attract, develop and place high potential teachers and future leaders of urban schools.
Around the same time as helping to set up Future Leaders, in early 2006, Wei founded the Shaftesbury Partnership,[4] an organisation which seeks to emulate the great social reformers of the Victorian era by creating scalable social reforms. The Shaftesbury Partnership are currently working on a number of projects around housing, unemployment and healthcare. Through the Shaftesbury Partnership, Wei co-founded The Challenge Network,[13] an independent charity which exists to "inspire and enable a generation to lead social change". The Challenge Network runs a two month civic service programme called The Challenge which has attracted strong interest from both government and opposition.[14]
Responding to the emerging unemployment crisis, in early 2009 the Shaftesbury Partnership researched the history of effective interventions in labour markets. This research highlighted the potential of the franchise model to create sustainable jobs and businesses. FranchisingWorks is an innovative programme to raise awareness and understanding of franchising and to facilitate the introduction of prospective franchisees to reputable franchisors to create significant numbers of new jobs with the consequent social and economic benefits to local communities. They are currently working with a number of cities to foster partnerships between public, private and third sectors that can support the creation of multiple start-up businesses using franchise formats.
On 18 May 2010 at the launch of the New Coalition Government policies on Big Society to a group of community leaders, Lord Wei was appointed as an unpaid Government Adviser on Big Society. He is to be based at the Office for Civil Society in the Cabinet Office.[15]
Wei advised the Government on all aspects of taking forward the Big Society and driving implementation across government. During the initial phase, Wei worked on designing the approach to building the Big Society and engaged with civil society groups, alongside Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General and Nick Hurd MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Charities, Social Enterprise and Volunteering.
At the event, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced that Wei would also be appointed a life peer. He was introduced in the House of Lords on 3 June 2010 as Baron Wei, of Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.[16][17] He is only the third ethnic Chinese member after Baroness Dunn (who is not domiciled in the UK) and the late Lord Chan, and is one of the youngest people to have been made a life peer, at the age of 33.[18]
Due to his role as Government Advisor Lord Wei has stepped down from any direct, formal involvement in the organisations he has previously been involved with. These include the Shaftesbury Partnership, the ACT Network charity, ARK and the Big Society Network.[3]
In February 2011 it was reported in the press that Wei had reduced his voluntary hours from three days a week to two. He explained that, "The idea was that I'd come on a paid basis, but because the quota for paid government advisers was full, at the last moment it turned out to be unpaid. I committed myself to two days a week and ended up doing three, but in the autumn I asked to go back to two days", and that he needed to balance "...making a living, seeing my family, and helping to change society..."[19]
On 24 May 2011, Lord Wei announced his decision to step down from his role as Government Advisor on Big Society.[20] The Prime Minister, David Cameron said ‘Nat has worked incredibly hard over two years to help develop policies that support the Big Society. He has played an important role in delivering key initiatives like Community Organisers, National Citizen Service, and the Big Society Bank. I wish him every success in his new role with the Community Foundation Network.” [21]
Lord Wei will now join the Community Foundation Network as a volunteer advisor to help drive the practical development of Big Society ideas in communities.[22]
Lord Wei’s ancestry can be traced back to a village in Zhuhai, on the southern coast of the Guangdong province. His ancestral home is 2 villages away from that of the Sun Yat-sen, whom incidentally, Lord Wei enjoys reading and learning about.
As the only ethnic Chinese peer in The House of Lords, Lord Wei also takes an interest in British Chinese community issues, particularly in social reform and also economic, cultural and cultural ties between the UK and China. [23]
In April 2011, when Lord Wei was visiting China, he was awarded an award by Phoenix Television for his achievements. [24] [25] Lord Wei is the most senior ethnic Chinese politician in the European Union.
In his blog entry after his trip to China, Lord Wei has stated that ‘…of particular personal interest to me as a British citizen with a Chinese background: how Chinese companies as they globalise could build businesses and brands with partners in places like the UK that are more environmentally and socially conscious; how different Chinese cities could partner with, exchange experiences, and learn from their counterparts and from the social sector in the UK and the West to bring Big Society type innovations to China for mutual benefit; and how the Chinese diaspora globally, including in the UK (and Hong Kong), could be mobilised to play a more prominent bridging role as civic entrepreneurs to strengthen economic, cultural, and social ties between countries like the UK and China.’ [26]
Lord Wei is currently speaking to the British Chinese community to better understand about the issues it is facing. [27]
In June 2011, Lord Wei was elected as the Treasurer to the Chinese in Britain APPG and joined the All Party Parliamentary China Group.
Lord Wei is married to Cynthia and they have two children. They live in Shoreditch, in London.[19]