Geoffrey Cox Keynote Speaker

Geoffrey Cox has been the MP for Torridge and West Devon since 2005. He was promoted directly from the backbenches to the cabinet as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland and served as the senior law officer and chief legal adviser to the UK Government between July 2018 and February 2020. He was a central participant in the Brexit policy and negotiations of both the May and Johnson Governments in the lead up to Britain’s exit from the EU on 31 January 2020.

Geoffrey Cox was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1982 and appointed Queens Counsel in 2003. As a leading barrister, Geoffrey Cox has appeared in many high-profile cases receiving national and international publicity from trial to appeal before the Court of Appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the Supreme Court. He has advised and appeared frequently in overseas jurisdictions including Mauritius, Dubai and the Cayman Islands. Until he took silk, he was Standing Counsel to the Government of Mauritius, advising on legislation and representing the Government in a wide range of private law actions as well as constitutional, human rights and public law issues of which he has extensive experience.

He has lived with his wife, Jeanie, in West Devon for many years and his three children were brought up in the area. He is President of Tavistock AFC, a founding trustee of a local mental health charity and Vice President of the North Devon Hospice.