Dido Harding

Dido Harding, Baroness Harding of Winscombe
Born	Template:Birth year and age
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, life peer
Known for	Chair of NHS Improvement (2017–2021), interim CEO of UK Health Security Agency (2020–2021), CEO of TalkTalk Group (2010–2017)
Notable work	Cool Dawn: My National Velvet

Diana Mary "Dido" Harding, Baroness Harding of Winscombe (born November 1967) is a British entrepreneur and life peer who led NHS Improvement as chair from 2017 until 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, she held the interim chief executive position at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and oversaw NHS Test and Trace.

From 2010 to 2017, Harding was the chief executive officer of the TalkTalk Group. A Conservative Party member, she is married to John Penrose, a former Conservative Member of Parliament, and maintains a close association with former Prime Minister David Cameron, who appointed her to the House of Lords in 2014. Additionally, Harding serves on the board of the Jockey Club, which organizes prominent horse racing events including the Cheltenham Festival.

In May 2020, Health Secretary Matt Hancock tasked Harding with leading NHS Test and Trace, an initiative established to monitor and reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in England. Following the decision to dissolve Public Health England in August 2020, she was named interim chief executive of its successor body, initially called the National Institute for Health Protection and later rebranded as UKHSA. Harding stepped down shortly after the agency's launch in April 2021.

Early life

Harding is descended from notable military lineage; her father is John Harding, 2nd Baron Harding of Petherton, and her grandfather was Field Marshal John Harding, 1st Baron Harding of Petherton, who briefly commanded the Desert Rats during World War II. Growing up on a family pig farm in Dorset, she attended St Antony's Leweston, an all-girls private Catholic school, from 1978 until 1985. She completed a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford, where she studied under Vernon Bogdanor and was a contemporary of David Cameron. Harding later obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Career

Upon graduating in 1988, Harding embarked on her professional journey at management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company. By 1995, she had become marketing director at Thomas Cook Group, followed by positions at ManpowerGroup, Kingfisher plc, and Woolworths (United Kingdom) during 1998–1999. Between 2000 and 2004, she held roles at Tesco including commercial director for value-added foods and international support director. In 2007, she joined Sainsbury's as director of convenience stores and secured a place on its operating board in 2008.

TalkTalk chief executive

In 2010, Harding was appointed as the inaugural CEO of TalkTalk, after its separation from Carphone Warehouse’s telecoms and retail divisions. She also served as a non-executive director on The Court of The Bank of England starting July 2014 and held board memberships at both British Land and Cheltenham Racecourse.

In October 2015, TalkTalk experienced a significant cyber breach that exposed personal and financial data belonging to up to four million customers, some of which was not encrypted. Harding’s initial handling faced criticism for being overly optimistic; she expressed uncertainty regarding data encryption practices and maintained a firm position on termination fees. The breach resulted in losses amounting to £60 million for TalkTalk and led to a customer base decline by 95,000. The Information Commissioner's Office imposed a £400,000 fine on the company due to inadequate cybersecurity safeguards.

Harding announced her resignation as CEO in February 2017 to dedicate more time to public service commitments. In January 2018, she joined the main board of the Jockey Club, responsible for managing elite British horse racing events such as the Grand National, the Cheltenham Festival, and the Derby.

Political involvement

On 20 October 2014, Harding was appointed as a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords. Since June 2017, she has been a member of the Economic Affairs Committee, consistently aligning her votes with her party's stance.

Leadership in public healthcare

Harding assumed the position of chair at NHS Improvement in October 2017, where she was responsible for overseeing NHS hospitals, foundation trusts, NHS trusts, and independent providers funded by the NHS. Although the Health Select Committee advised that she relinquish the Conservative whip to reinforce public trust in her impartiality, she chose to retain it. Her tenure concluded in July 2022 when NHS Improvement was integrated into NHS England.

During the COVID-19 crisis in May 2020, Health Secretary Matt Hancock appointed Harding to head the "track, test and trace" initiative (NHS Test and Trace). This appointment was challenged legally by the Good Law Project and the Runnymede Trust, resulting in a 2022 High Court decision that found Hancock violated the Equality Act 2010 during her selection. The ruling disclosed Harding’s involvement in shaping the shortlist of candidates, which included her former associate Mike Coupe.

In June 2020, Harding directed a pivotal change from a centralized NHS COVID-19 app to a decentralized model developed by Apple and Google, prompted by concerns over privacy and technical difficulties. This move was widely interpreted as a government reversal. To aid this transition, an ex-Apple executive joined Harding’s team to oversee the project.

In August 2020, Harding was appointed interim chief executive of the newly established National Institute for Health Protection, formed by merging Public Health England with NHS Test and Trace. Her appointment attracted criticism due to her limited experience within the health sector and allegations of political patronage. Advocates highlighted her business expertise and previous achievements at NHS Improvement. However, accusations of cronyism accompanied her advancement within public health institutions, raising questions about potential effects on public welfare.

During the late 2020 second wave of the pandemic, Harding faced parliamentary scrutiny concerning Test and Trace’s effectiveness and its substantial consultancy expenses, which she justified as essential given emergency circumstances.

The agency was renamed the UK Health Security Agency in April 2021, with Jenny Harries succeeding Harding as chief executive.

Between June and August 2021, Harding took a leave of absence from NHS Improvement to pursue the role of NHS England chief executive; however, she was eliminated early in the selection process, with Amanda Pritchard appointed instead. After Harding stepped down in October 2021, Sir Andrew Valentine Morris became the permanent chair of NHS Improvement.

Honours and awards

In February 2013, Harding was recognised among the top hundred most influential women in the UK by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. The subsequent year, she featured within the top ten most powerful women on the BBC Woman's Hour Power List 2014.

She was granted a life peer title on 15 September 2014, adopting the designation Baroness Harding of Winscombe in Somerset.

Harding also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration awarded by Anglia Ruskin University.

Personal life

In October 1995, Harding wed John Penrose, who represented Weston-super-Mare as an MP from 2005 until 2024 and held various junior ministerial positions between 2010 and 2019. The pair first connected while working at McKinsey, have two daughters together, and divide their residence between London and Somerset. Penrose is also a member of the advisory board for the think tank 1828, which campaigns for replacing the NHS with a health insurance model.

An avid horse racing fan, Harding is affiliated with the Jockey Club and joined its main board in January 2018. In 1993, she invested £7,000 to acquire an Irish thoroughbred specifically for ladies' point-to-point competitions. Her horse, Cool Dawn, secured victory in the esteemed Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1998. Harding personally rode Cool Dawn over three seasons, including a runner-up finish in the 1996 Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham. She attributes this period to influencing her professional journey, remarking that her experience with the horse demonstrated that "dreams come true" and "miracles can happen."

Books

• Cool Dawn: My National Velvet by Dido Harding, released by Mainstream Publishing on 8 March 1999. This work is Harding’s personal memoir.