1793), was the founder of the Liverpool textile trading business that later became the Swire Group, the multi-billion USD conglomerate based in Hong Kong.

Swire was sacked in the July 2007 Conservative frontbench reshuffle for suggesting his party would scrap free museum entry.

On 6 September 2013, he sent letters to the South China Morning Post and Ming Pao, commenting on the universal suffrage of Hong Kong SAR, emphasising the importance of democracy.

[citation needed] In January 2015, Hong Kong's leaders caused diplomatic outrage after declining to meet him to discuss political reform.

Swire believed the Chinese government feared it would cause pro-democracy unrest, though the purpose of the visit was also to support trade.

[14] Swire became Chairman of the Conservative Middle East Council (CMEC) in September 2016, having previously been a member of the group.

The journalist Peter Oborne has criticised the direction of CMEC away from its earlier focus on Palestine, to greater interest on the Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia.

[21] Swire correctly predicted in November 2016 that Donald Trump would win the election for President of the United States of America.

[22] Although a eurosceptic, Swire supported the official position of his party and campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union before the EU membership referendum on 23 June 2016.

[23] After the result was announced, Swire continued to support the party leadership and advocated leaving the European Union.