Nick Houghton

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Nick Houghton, Baron Houghton of Richmond, is a retired senior British Army field marshal and life peer. He was born on 18 October 1954 in Otley, West Yorkshire, England. He went to Woodhouse Grove School, studied Modern History at St Peter’s College, Oxford, and trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before joining the Green Howards as a second lieutenant in 1974.

Houghton rose through the ranks and held several key commands. He led the 1st Battalion The Green Howards in Northern Ireland during The Troubles (1991–1994) and commanded the 39th Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland (1997–1999). He also served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff at HQ Land Command (1994) and as Director of Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence (1999–2002). In 2002 he became Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

As a general, Houghton played major roles in Iraq and in British operations planning. He was the Senior British Military Representative and Deputy Commanding General of the Multi-National Force – Iraq (2005), then Chief of Joint Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters (2006–2009). He was promoted to Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in 2009 and became Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) in 2013, serving in that role until 2016. He spoke about reshaping the armed forces after Afghanistan and about budget pressures. He retired from the army in July 2016 and was succeeded as CDS by Sir Stuart Peach.

In 2016 he became Constable of the Tower of London, a ceremonial post he held until 2022. In 2017 he was made a life peer, becoming Baron Houghton of Richmond, sitting as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. He has served on the International Relations and Defence Committee and carried the Sword of Temporal Justice at the 2023 Coronation.

Houghton has received several honors: OBE (1993), CBE (2000), the United States Legion of Merit (2006), KCB (2008), and GCB (2011). He has also held honorary and ceremonial roles with various regiments, was Aide-de-Camp General to the Queen (2009), and received Malaysia’s Panglima Gagah Angkatan Tentera in 2015. He is married to Margaret Glover; they have a son, Tom Houghton, a comedian, and a daughter. His interests include golf, sailing, shooting, cooking, and history. In 2025 he was promoted honorary Field Marshal in the British Army.