Lieutenant General (Retired), Stuart Skeates CB CBE, served in the Army for 34 years, and after retiring became a Senior Civil Servant. Educated at the Judd School Tonbridge, King’s College London, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1988. During his career, he served in the United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Cyprus, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Stuart has extensive leadership experience on military operations and spent the latter 20 years of his career in joint operations, with coalitions, with the US Marine Corps and with NATO. He was also Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Stuart holds degrees from Kings College London and the Cranfield University Management School, and completed the advanced and Higher Command and Staff Course, the NATO Pinnacle Course, and the Major Projects Leadership Academy. After leaving the Army, he worked on small boats and illegal migration initially in the Cabinet and subsequently in the Home Office.