Conor Burns
Former UK Trade Minister, Geopolitical Advisor & Chairman of the Margaret Thatcher Centre
Dallas, London
Conor's Keynote Topics
AI
Sovereignty and the Race for Economic Power The Gulf in the New Global Economy Global Britain
Global Markets: Inside International Trade The Cold War World Order died in the Gulf in 2026: Geopolitics
Trade and the Future of Business Where Government Meets Global Business How Governments Think—and Why Business Needs to Understand It
Biography
Sir Conor Burns is a former UK Government Minister who served twice as Minister of State for Trade Policy during one of the most significant periods in modern British economic history, helping shape the UK's international trading relationships following Brexit. As the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to the United States, he worked with political and business leaders to strengthen commercial partnerships, attract investment, and deepen one of the world's most important strategic relationships. Now Chairman of the Margaret Thatcher Centre, having enjoyed a close friendship with Lady Margaret Thatcher, he continues to champion the values of enterprise, free markets, and principled leadership.
His ministerial career placed him at the heart of international negotiations, economic diplomacy, and government decision-making, working extensively across Europe, North America, the Gulf, and beyond. Today, Sir Conor advises multinational companies, investors, family offices, and entrepreneurs on international expansion, market access, geopolitical risk, and strategic relationships. His work spans international trade, foreign direct investment, sovereign investment, AI policy, economic diplomacy, and the changing relationship between governments, technology, and business.
Sir Conor brings audiences a rare personal insight into one of the defining political leaders of the modern era through his close friendship with Lady Margaret Thatcher, while drawing timeless lessons on conviction, leadership, and economic transformation. Rather than offering theory, he shares practical lessons drawn from Cabinet government, international negotiations, and decades of building relationships with presidents, prime ministers, ministers, CEOs, and investors around the world. An accomplished and engaging keynote speaker, he is recognised for making complex global issues accessible, relevant, and commercially valuable.
Whether speaking about geopolitics, global trade, leadership, AI, economic transformation, or the future of the international economy, Sir Conor challenges audiences to think differently. His central message is simple: organisations that understand how government, markets, and technology interact will be the ones that lead the next generation of global growth. Insightful, optimistic, and engaging, Sir Conor equips audiences not simply to understand a changing world, but to succeed in it.