Sir David Cavendish Charles Carnegie-Bruce KCMG FRGS (born 12 May 1948) is a retired British diplomat and politician who served most recently as interim Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 12 August 2019 to 27 December 2019.
Prior to his sudden national political career, he had been Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General with responsibility for economic and social affairs (he held the post from 1996 until his retirement in 2002).
Early life
He is the younger son of Sir Charles Reginald Legge Carnegie-Bruce, 1st Baronet, the former British Ambassador to China, and his wife Lady Anne Evelyn Beatrice Cavendish, daughter of Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire. His elder brother is Anthony Carnegie-Bruce, Baron Carnegie-Bruce of Kimmeridge.
He was educated at Eton College and and St Catharine's College, Cambridge.
Career
He entered the foreign service in 1975 and became British Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1982-85 and British Ambassador to Argentina from 1990-1993. Following his ambassadorial career he was appointed Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 1993–1996. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1996 New Year Honours.
Prime Minister
On 12 August 2019, Sir David was elected MP for South Dorset following the immediate departure of his elder brother, Anthony. Moments into his election, it was announced that the Prime Minister, John De La Warr, was resigning the leadership of the Conservative Party and appointing Carnegie-Bruce in his place, thus making Sir David acting Prime Minister by default.
During his acting premiership, which was only intended to go on for the course of the August 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, expected to take no longer than a week, Sir David was embroiled in multiple scandals.
The economy experienced a minor recession during Sir David's interim premiership, following on from that experienced during John De La Warr's, as the productivity-infrastructure policies pursued by Sir Anthony Carnegie-Bruce were slowly abandoned.
Anthony Carnegie-Bruce, Sir David's elder brother, is reported to have dismissed his brother's premiership as 'appalling'.
Scandals
Foreign trips
Immediately after his appointment as interim Prime Minister, Sir David announced that he was to embark on a 'foreign tour to boost relations for his successor', which attracted criticism from national and international leaders alike, questioning not only how an interim leader could possibly dictate the foreign policy of his successor but why an interim leader should themselves purport to represent the United Kingdom. Sir David's defendants, notably his predecessor John De La Warr, argued that, in his defence, Sir David was 'simply keeping the boat from rocking instead of changing the destination'. On this trip, Sir David travelled to South America, New Zealand and Japan. Sir David stayed at the Four Seasons Bora Bora for three days of his trip, in a villa costing £6,800 a night. A Freedom of Information request confirms that £781,191.29 was spent on Sir David's first diplomatic tour, a particularly high sum for an interim leader on a trip spanning one week[1].
In December 2019, Sir David announced that he was to stand down as interim leader of the Conservatives, in what he called 'an effort to prompt the party into action'. After this announcement, he embarked on what he called a 'farewell tour to ensure that our good diplomatic relations remain good'. Sir David and his wife spent Christmas in Paris at the Hôtel de Crillon in a suite worth £4,200 a night for three nights. The tour subsequently went to Italy, where Sir David spent some nights in Sicily. In France, Carnegie-Bruce is reported to have 'knocked on President Macron's door' and was 'lucky enough to be fitted in for a late supper with the French President'. The Italian leader was unavailable, but Sir David was reported 'to have had a great conversation over the phone with the secretary of the Italian leader'. According to the French and Italian governments, Sir David did not inform them of his tour until the day of his respective arrival. It was on Sir David's Italian trip that he was embroiled in a scandal with Sicily's mafia, the Cosa Nostra, more on which below.
Sexual misconduct allegations
Whilst interim Prime Minister, Sir David was accused of having offered internships in the Commonwealth of Nations, when he was Deputy Secretary-General, to prospective females if they were to have sex with him, a claim strongly denied.
Sir David is also reported to have hosted parties at 10 Downing Street for 'ladies and eligible nighttime male partners for them'. Carnegie-Bruce is alleged to have sent out a memo asking for 'pretty totty to be presented to the Prime Minister' on a 'quid pro quo basis'. One girl, photographed with the interim leader, Jane Stokes, said that the interim Prime Minister offered her a job in his office in return for sexual favours but she declined, thinking it to be a joke.
It was revealed that Carnegie-Bruce was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein and had attended numerous parties hosted by Epstein at which underage women are known to have attended.
On BBC Newsnight, Sir David said of the allegations, 'It's a total fabrication! You know that, I know that, anyone with a brain knows it!'
Sir David also called those who made such allegations 'deceived'.
Sicilian mafia relations
On an official diplomatic tour to Italy, the interim Prime Minister, unable to receive an audience with the Italian Prime Minister, went to Sicily. There he met with 35-year-old Elena Russo, the wife of a senior member of the Cosa Nostra, with whom he is alleged to have had an affair. The boat on which he and Russo were travelling was blown up by the Cosa Nostra as Sir David swam in the sea. The Cosa Nostra claimed that they were taking revenge on both Sir David and Elena Russo, who they declared to be enemies. Subsequently, the Cosa Nostra declared war on the British government.
Sir David Carnegie-Bruce has hitherto denied any link to the Cosa Nostra, despite evidence to the contrary.
Captain Alessandro Grelli, chief of the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian law enforcement agency responsible for organised crime, has appealed to Sir David Carnegie-Bruce to arrange a date to present himself at the Italian embassy to meet with the chief and answer questions. Sir David has not yet responded.
Resignation
On 27 December 2019, after returning to London following the Sicilian mafia scandal, Sir David announced that he was resigning as interim Prime Minister, leaving Britain without a Prime Minister for 24 hours. He faced widespread criticism for failing to nominate a successor, reportedly telling the Queen that 'it is not my duty to do so'.
'Brr, it's cold isn't it! Right, I'm off! No speech from me... I'm interim anyway. You've heard enough from me! That's it... and for that reason, I'm out, as they say on Dragon's Den! Bye! Let's hope that they elect a new leader to sort you out...' said Sir David, in what was to become his infamous resignation speech.
Following his resignation as Prime Minister, Quincy Duval was elected leader and became default Prime Minister on the 28th of December 2019. During an extraordinary sitting of Parliament, Sir David and John De La Warr sat behind the new Prime Minister. Sir David was filmed making breast gestures and sexual remarks to the Leader of the Opposition, Kate Hastings, before he stood up and spoke in favour of his term as interim Prime Minister, how he 'boosted diplomatic relations' and how his successor will do the same, all of which Duval endorsed.
Personal life
In 1968 he married Lady Teresa Caroline Stewart-Seymour-Somerset (born 23 February 1947), daughter of William Stewart-Seymour-Somerset, 17th Duke of Somerset and Lady Primrose Spencer-Churchill, a daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough. They have two sons: Henry (born 1969) and William (born 1973).
In 2007 he worked for Christie's of London, and subsequently became director and chairman of antique-dealing firms.
Business interests
- Non-Executive Director of the Duchy of Somerset Ltd
- Advisor to the Board of Carnegie-Bruce Limited
- Director of the Tree Life Foundation
- Chairman of the Wilderness Trust
- President of the Tibetan Spaniel Association
Sir David Carnegie-Bruce, as Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, talking about the dangers of copies of valuable furniture being sold.
BAKER - SIR HUMPHRY WAKEFIELD