Charles George Eustice (born 28 September 1971) is a British politician and former public relations executive who held office as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2020 and 2022.

He later joined the Conservative Party and was the Director of Communications at CCHQ; and from 2005 to 2008, he served as David Cameron's Press Secretary during his tenure as Leader of the Opposition.

In October 2013, as part of Prime Minister Cameron's ministerial reshuffle, Eustice was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

On 13 February 2020 he joined the Cabinet replacing Theresa Villiers as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a position he held until Johnson's successor Liz Truss dismissed him from it upon taking office in September 2022.

[citation needed] After finishing his education, he worked for nine years in his family business, a fruit farm near the Cornish village of Connor Downs.

[15] Eustice was elected as Member of Parliament for Camborne & Redruth on Thursday 6 May 2010 with a majority of 66 votes over the Liberal Democrat incumbent Julia Goldsworthy.

[22] In September 2011, Eustice, with two other Conservative MPs Andrea Leadsom and Chris Heaton-Harris launched the Fresh Start Group to examine the options for a new UK-EU relationship.

[24] On 10 July 2012 the Fresh Start Group released a research paper, which according to The Financial Times, called for "reducing the overall size of the EU budget, overhauling the Common Agricultural Policy to which the UK contributes about £1bn a year and repatriating structural funds.

On 21 June 2012, he made a submission to the Leveson Inquiry and wrote an article in The Guardian[27] urging both journalists and politicians to back a royal charter.

[30] In April 2013, Downing Street announced Eustice's appointment to the "Number 10 Policy Board", to advise David Cameron on Energy and Environment issues.

[32] He was criticised by The Daily Telegraph in November 2012 for signing a letter calling for tougher regulation of the press on the grounds that he had previously been the subject of negative media coverage.

The newspaper reported that he had previously been nicknamed "Useless" by some sections of the press and had a difficult relationship with the media because of its treatment of David Cameron when they were working closely together.

[37] In August 2016, Eustice was one of two Conservative environment ministers who were accused by environmental campaigners of having a conflict of interest over receiving subsidies on their family businesses whilst being involved in developing the plans for the replacement system to the EU farming support.

[42] Later in February 2020, in an interview on Sky News, Eustice refused to guarantee that the UK government would ban chlorinated chicken outright as part of a UK–US trade deal.

Eustice declined to condemn the supporters' behaviour or to recognise it as racist, stating that he had not seen the incident and that "the issue of race and racial discrimination is something that we all take very seriously".

[55][56] The St Ives Times & Echo reported in November 2023 that the consultancy, called Penbroath Ltd, had started work in September, receiving a £2,000 fee from a waste management company.

[58] According to the West Briton newspaper, Eustice had lobbied ministers over the issue and further argued local social enterprises and community trusts should be actively involved in regeneration plans.

At a meeting of the Environmental, Farming and Rural Affairs Select Committee in October 2010 he raised the issue of higher water rates paid by South West England consumers and challenged Regina Finn, chief executive of Ofwat[60] to implement the recommendations of the Walker Review[61] which could lead to a decrease in water rates for South West consumers.

[64] In March 2013, Eustice called for the Cornwall Centre,[65] the new facility to house the county's store of historic manuscripts and Cornish materials, to be based in Redruth.