The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has appointed Sir Julian Smith MP, a former senior member of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, as its new chair of the board of trustees.

Smith will be CEDR’s seventh chair in its 35-year history, replacing A&O Shearman partner Joanna Page. Smith is the third chair to have achieved CEDR’s internationally recognised accreditation as a civil and commercial mediator in 2021. CEDR promotes alternative dispute resolution and conflict resolution. The role is unpaid.

Smith said: “As CEDR enters its 35th year, I look forward to working with the trustees and executive team. There is a real opportunity to maximise the use of mediation in the justice system and help meet the government’s objectives across the economy to improve productivity by resolving disputes.” 

He added that CEDR’s skills were crucial in reducing conflict across society in an age when such skills have never been needed more.

James South, CEDR chief executive, said: “I speak on behalf of all of CEDR when I say we are enjoying working closely with him and are benefiting from the hugely valuable insight that his experience brings to the chair.”

Smith was elected to government in 2010 as the MP for Skipton and Ripon. He later served as Northern Ireland Secretary during the Brexit negotiations, having also been Chief Whip in Theresa May’s administration, where he was responsible for party discipline during a fractious time for the Conservative government. 

He previously held several junior posts in the Whips’ Office and became a Privy Councillor in 2017. Smith was appointed CBE in 2019 and knighted in 2024 in Rishi Sunak’s dissolution honours list.

In his various roles, he has led several high-level and challenging negotiations across multiple areas of public life, often working to achieve agreements. This includes restoring the power-sharing agreement in the Northern Ireland government, which he accomplished twice in 2020 as Secretary of State, an effort praised by differing sides of Northern Ireland’s political divide.

He served as an advisor to Rishi Sunak’s government in 2024, in which he helped negotiate the Windsor Framework between the EU, the Republic of Ireland, the UK government and others, paving the way for the return of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive. He also mediated the end of a nursing pay dispute with the NHS.

Conor Houston, founder of Conor Houston Public Affairs and former CEO of Northern Ireland’s Social Democratic & Labour Party, said: “Sir Julian was an outstanding Secretary of State for Northern Ireland – his ability to listen, negotiate fairly and build trusted relationships were critical in securing a deal to restore the NI Executive under the ‘New Decade New Approach’ political agreement.

“He was respected across the political spectrum in Northern Ireland. He stood out in this role as he demonstrated genuine care, commitment and passion for advancing the peace process in Northern Ireland.”

Smith is not the first Conservative politician to chair CEDR, with former Foreign Secretary Lord Hurd of Westwell being one of his predecessors. Other past chairs include senior businessmen Sir Alex Jarratt and Sir Peter Middleton; educator Dr Elizabeth Vallance; and City lawyers Alexandra Marks CBE – formerly of Linklaters and a judge of the Women and Diversity in Law Awards – and A&O Shearman partner Joanna Page, the previous incumbent.

Page, the former head of Allen & Overy’s corporate litigation group from 2010 to 2016 and head of insurance disputes until 2023, has been a partner at A&O for nearly 30 years. She combines her partnership with a part-time position teaching contract law as a by-fellow at Downing College, Cambridge.