Education
French was educated in Dorset at Sherborne School, and graduated with a Bachelor in politics, sociology and psychology from Street John"s College, Durham.
French was educated in Dorset at Sherborne School, and graduated with a Bachelor in politics, sociology and psychology from Street John"s College, Durham.
Beginning his career in the commercial sector with Courages, the brewers, he then moved in 1971 to the National Council of Social Service where he became, in 1974, head of social services at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People. From 1997 until 2002 he was Director General of the Commonwealth Institute. In May 2009, on leaving WFD, he established Convener Associates, consultants in international political development, having recognised that conventional forms of intervention may have a low ceiling of value without an effective, balanced settlement among the political elites.
He is a Trustee of Gemin-i.org, a United Kingdom non-governmental organization promoting international understanding through e-learning.
During his time at WFD, French conceived and created The Westminster Consortium as the first initiative to coordinate the international work of the major Westminster parliamentary organisations (House of Commons, National Audit Office, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Westminster political parties et al).
French has held many trusteeships, and is currently a member of the Steering Group for the World Movement for Democracy and the International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies.