Bethell was educated at the independent, fee-paying Harrow School before going on to study for a Scottish Master of Arts (an undergraduate degree) at the University of Edinburgh.

[2] Bethell worked as a journalist, and then managed the Ministry of Sound nightclub, before founding Westbourne Communications which he sold to Cicero Group after succeeding to his family titles.

[1][6] In November 2020, The Times reported Bethell's appointment as the Minister for NHS Test and Trace, formed as part of the Johnson ministry's efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

"[7] He became the subject of allegations of "cronyism" published in The Guardian over his selection to an advisory role of lobbyists like George Pascoe-Watson, whose clients include the Boston Consulting Group "which has won several large government contracts during the pandemic.

[14] In November 2021, it emerged that Lord Bethell had been part of a government meeting regarding a £600 million contract with Randox, the clinical diagnostics firm for which Owen Paterson was found to have breached[15] parliamentary standards in which, against protocol, no minutes were taken.