Tom leads the Food Security: Domestic Production and Trade Teams in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). He is responsible for working with internal and external experts to ensure that the impacts of trade and domestic policies (including agriculture, environment, climate and land use policy) on the sustainability and security of the agri-food supply chain are fully understood and integrated into policy development. In addition, he will oversee the production of the next iteration of the UK Food Security Report (due in 2024).

Prior to joining Defra, Tom spent 12 years in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, most recently leading the Global Issues Team in the British Embassy, Mexico City, covering a range of policy issues, including climate change, energy, economic policy, financial services, health and education. He has previously been posted with the FCDO to New Delhi, India, and has worked on a range of issues across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and South Asia, with a particular focus on energy and resource security, climate change, security policy, multilateral organisations and commercial diplomacy. Prior to joining the FCO he worked in consultancy in the metals and mining industry.

He has a BSc in Physics from the University of Bristol and an MA in Geopolitics and Grand Strategy from the University of Sussex.