Decision

Advice letter: Tariq Ahmad, Co-Chair, World Humanitarian Forum

Updated 16 September 2025

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon KCMG, former Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, United Nations, and the Commonwealth. Paid appointment with the World Humanitarian Forum.

You sought advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (the Committee) under the government’s Business Appointment Rules for Former Ministers (the Rules) on your role as Co-Chair with the World Humanitarian Forum (the WHF).

The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the government. The Committee has considered the risks associated with the actions and decisions taken during your time in office, alongside the information and influence you may offer the WHF. The material information taken into consideration by the Committee is set out in the annex.

The Committee’s advice is not an endorsement of the appointment- it imposes a number of conditions to mitigate the potential risks to the government associated with the appointment under the Rules.

The Rules^{[footnote 1]} set out that a former minister must abide by the Committee’s advice. It is an applicant’s personal responsibility to manage the propriety of any appointment. Former ministers are expected to uphold the highest standards of propriety and act in accordance with the 7 Principles of Public Life.

2. The Committee’s consideration of the risks presented

The World Humanitarian Forum is a non-partisan forum focused on humanitarian aid and international development. As Co-Chair of the WHF summit, you will support the executive leadership in cultivating and maintaining strategic relationships with the host of the World Humanitarian Summit, the WHF’s key international event in 2026. You said you will play a facilitative role, ensuring political and messaging alignment, continuity, and engagement with key stakeholders.

As minister, you had dealings with various external organisations, foreign governments, and their officials including infrequent contact with the WHF via events. Whilst there is an overlap with your responsibilities in the humanitarian policy landscape, the FCDO confirmed that you did not have any involvement in decisions specific to the WHF. The Committee^{[footnote 2]} considered the risk this appointment could reasonably be perceived as a reward for decisions made, or actions taken in office, is low.

There is a general overlap between your proposed role with the WHF and your previous ministerial responsibilities, given that your ministerial portfolio covered human rights, open societies and the United Nations and other multilateral organisations. You would have been involved in a wide range of matters which could overlap with the WHF’s work/interests. The FCDO confirmed you had no access to privileged information that could unfairly benefit the WHF. In addition, it has been 12 months since you left office, and in that time there have been significant changes in this policy space, reducing the currency of any information you had access to in ministerial office.

As with any former minister, there are risks associated with your contacts and influence within government and the potential for the WHF to gain unfair access or influence as a result. You confirmed that your role as Co-Chair will not include any dealings with the UK government, reducing the risk you could be perceived to be lobbying in this role.

3. The Committee’s advice

In accordance with the government’s Business Appointment Rules, the Committee advises this appointment with the World Humanitarian Forum be subject to the following conditions:

• you should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of yourself or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to you from your time in ministerial office;

• for two years from your last day in ministerial office, you should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of the World Humanitarian Forum (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); nor should you make use, directly or indirectly, of your contacts in the government and/or ministerial office to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage the World Humanitarian Forum (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients);

• for two years from your last day in ministerial office, you should not provide advice to the World Humanitarian Forum on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matter of, a bid with, or contract relating directly to the work of the UK government or its arm’s length bodies.

The advice and the conditions under the government’s Business Appointment Rules relate to your previous role in government only; they are separate from rules administered by other bodies such as the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and the Registrar of Lords’ Interests^{[footnote 3]}. It is an applicant’s personal responsibility to understand any other rules and regulations they may be subject to in parallel with this Committee’s advice.

By ‘privileged information’ we mean official information to which a minister or Crown servant has had access as a consequence of his or her office or employment and which has not been made publicly available. Applicants are also reminded that they may be subject to other duties of confidentiality, whether under the Official Secrets Act, the Ministerial Code or otherwise.

The Business Appointment Rules explain that the restriction on lobbying means that you ‘should not engage in communication with government (ministers, civil servants, including special advisers, and other relevant officials/public office holders) – wherever it takes place – with a view to influencing a government decision, policy or contract award/grant in relation to their own interests or the interests of the organisation by which they are employed, or to whom they are contracted or with which they hold office’.

You must inform us as soon as you take up employment with this organisation, or if it is announced that you will do so. Please also inform us if you propose to extend or otherwise change the nature of your role as, depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary for you to make a fresh application.

Once the appointment has been publicly announced or taken up, we will publish this letter on the Committee’s website, and where appropriate, refer to it in the relevant annual report.

4. Annex - Material Information

4.1 The role

You said you have been offered a paid, part-time position as Co-Chair of the World Humanitarian Summit for the World Humanitarian Forum (WHF). The WHF is an inclusive nonpartisan forum focused on humanitarian aid and international development. The Forum engages the political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas on humanitarian aid and international development.

In your paid role as Co-Chair of the World Humanitarian Summit, you said that you will support the executive leadership in cultivating and maintaining strategic relationships with the host of the World Humanitarian Summit, the WHF’s key international event in 2026.

You said your role will not involve contact with the UK government.

4.2 Dealings in office

You said that you had no involvement in policy development, contractual and/or commercial decisions specific to the WHF. You also said that you had no access to privileged information that could offer unfair advantage to the WHF.

4.3 Departmental assessment

The FCDO said you had infrequent contact with the WHF in office, receiving invites to WHF events. The FCDO said that there is no formal relationship or funding relationship between the FCDO and the WHF however the FCDO do have occasional contact with them and FCDO officials do attend/ speak at WHF events.

The FCDO recommended Standard Conditions.

1. Which apply by virtue of the Civil Service Management Code, The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, The King’s Regulations and the Diplomatic Service Code. ↩

2. This application for advice was considered by Hedley Finn OBE; Sarah de Gay; Isabel Doverty; Dawid Konotey-Ahulu CBE DL; Michael Prescott; and. The Baroness Thornton ↩

3. All Peers and Members of Parliament are prevented from paid lobbying under the House of Commons Code of Conduct and the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords. Advice on obligations under the Code can be sought from the Parliamentary Commissioners for Standards, in the case of MPs, or the Registrar of Lords’ Interests, in the case of peers. ↩