Lord Waverley's interest is international affairs through first-hand engagement. An independent member of the House of Lords, he entered Parliament in 1993 and was elected to remain as a hereditary Peer in 1999. He contributes regularly to Parliamentary proceedings on a wide range of topics, covering drugs, terrorism, conflict and development, and has travelled widely from Afghanistan to Colombia, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Guinea and Eurasia.
He chairs the six All-Party Parliamentary Groups for Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in addition to heading the regional Central Asian Group - a position held since the foundation of the Groups. His prime objective is to put into place working-relationship mechanisms between the Parliaments in order to address a missing link to the bilateral relationships and to bring greater understanding of the strategic importance of Eurasia. He is co-Chair of the British Mongolia Parliamentary Group and vice Chair of the British Afghanistan All-Party Parliamentary Group. He is the creator of Parliament Revealed, a web based project which explains the workings of the Parliament in the United Kingdom, and is the convenor of Eurasia Dispatch, an initiative to bring greater exposure and understanding of Eurasia.
He is an advisor to the Chairman of KazMunaiGaz and to the Chairman of the CCC Group, is Chairman of the New Silk Road Forum and Honorary Co-Chairman of the Washington DC-based International Tax and Investment Centre (ITIC), Chairman of Global Infrastructure Finance Initiative (a non-profit making bureau of independent professionals in international banking, financial advisors, lawyers, engineering and construction sectors), Patron of the British Uzbek Society and Vice Chairman of the Britain Azerbaijan Business Council (BABC). He has worked in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Lord Waverley is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI).
Lord Waverley was honoured with a Yoruba Chieftaincy in Nigeria and has received State decorations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Colombia. Born 31st October 1949, John-Desmond, Viscount Waverley is the grandson of Sir John Anderson, who served in Churchill's War Cabinet in a number of capacities during a lifetime of public service.