Neil Sherlock, a former special adviser to ex-Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, has been charged in connection with an alleged historic sexual assault.
Sherlock served in Clegg’s office between January 2012 and March 2013, during the period when Clegg was Deputy Prime Minister in the coalition government.
The 62-year-old is accused of sexually assaulting a woman aged over 16 in Brighton, East Sussex, in September 2007. The allegation was reported to police in September 2023.
At the time of the alleged incident, Sherlock was a partner at professional services firm KPMG, where he worked from September 1985 until December 2011 before later joining Clegg’s team.
Sherlock, who is from Godalming in Surrey, was charged in May with one count of sexual assault.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 13, where he entered a not guilty plea and was granted unconditional bail. His next hearing is scheduled to take place at Portsmouth Crown Court on August 10.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Sherlock said: ‘I absolutely deny the charges that have been made against me.’
Sherlock, a former civil servant, was appointed CBE in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours list in recognition of his public and political service.
Neil Sherlock who was Nick Clegg’s special advisor while he was Liberal Democrat leader from January 2012 until March 2013 is facing a trial for sexually assaulting a woman
Sherlock was awarded a CBE in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for public and political service
Clegg was leader of the Liberal Demorats and was approinted Deputy Prime Minister
According to his LinkedIn, achievements during his time working for Clegg include bringing in shared parental leave and extending flexible working.
Clegg was appointed Liberal Democrat leader in 2007, before entering office as deputy PM in 2010, when his party’s coalition government with the Conservative Party was formed.
He resigned in 2015, after the Lib Dems performed disastrously at the general election.
Sherlock lives with his wife in a £1.3million detached house in the leafy market town of Godalming, Surrey. The couple have two adult children.
Sherlock is now a partner at Acuti Associates, which he co-founded in 2023. The firm advises CEOs across the public and private sector on navigating a ‘new, more uncertain’ age.
He has also served as special adviser to Jonathan Holt, UK chief executive KPMG, since 2021, as well as on the boards of several charities.
This includes The Britain Project, a cross-party political group in ‘the radical centre’ which aims ‘to put hope, decency and integrity at the heart of UK politics’.
Other organisations he works for include Surrey Drug and Alcohol Care, ‘reputation research’ firm Echo Research and Words Matter, which campaigns against verbal child abuse.
Sherlock has previously worked for the City professional services firm PwC, leading variously on communications, reputation strategy and the implications of Brexit for the firm.
His roles at PwC saw him publish a report on the company’s gender pay gap and help the firm fundraise for several charities, including Wellbeing of Women.
Previously, he was on the boards of the Centre for Justice Commission, the Armed Forces’ Pay Review and the National Literacy Trust.
Sherlock also served on the boards of charity Working Families, which advocates for flexible working, and the Prison Reform’s Trust Women’s Justice Taskforce.
He once sat on a civil service panel on fair access to the professions, as well as a City of London local authority advisory board on ‘the business of trust’.
Clegg and former Prime Minister David Cameron are pictured outside Number 10 Downing St
Sherlock will next appear at Portsmouth Crown Court on August 10. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Sherlock said: ‘I absolutely deny the charges that have been made against me.’
The former civil servant read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford, graduating with a first-class degree in 1984.
That year, he beat former prime minister Boris Johnson by more than 100 votes to become president of the Oxford Union, the university’s historic debating society.
A spokesperson for Sussex Police, which is leading the current investigation, said: ‘Police received a report in September 2023 of a non-recent sexual assault alleged to have taken place in Brighton in September 2007.
‘Following an investigation, Neil Sherlock, 62, of Godalming, Surrey, was charged on 15 May 2026 with one count of sexual assault on a female.
‘Sherlock will next appear at Portsmouth Crown Court on 10 August 2026.’
