In his previous career as an academic economist at Oxford University, he specialised in industrial economics and the industrial development of the Chinese economy. He then left Oxford to head the UK’s competition authority, subsequently returning to become the Provost of Oriel College, Oxford. His wife, Sue, originally a teacher, then retrained as a psychotherapist. They have two children, Alastair, who runs his own internet company, and Charlie, a professional classical musician.

The inspiration to write a political thriller arose from Derek’s perception that there were countless crime thrillers and a large number of spy thrillers, but many fewer political ones. The idea behind Harry’s first book, Pawn’s Gambit, stemmed from some of Derek’s economic work utilising Chaos Theory – the idea that very small changes in a given situation can have major, perhaps even global impact. Often known as the butterfly effect – the flapping of a butterfly’s wings may eventually cause a major storm – this seemed a good basis for a political thriller.