A former cabinet minister, Lord Hunt of Wirral (the solicitor David Hunt), is to head the Law Society’s review of professional regulation.

Lord Hunt, who was senior partner at Beachcroft between 1996 and 2005, is chairman of Beachcroft’s financial services division. Between 1979 and 1995 he occupied the cabinet posts of secretary of state for Wales, secretary of state for employment and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Law Society President Paul Marsh said: ‘We wanted to commission a distinguished individual who can advise on what effective modern regulation means in the context of the legal profession. Lord Hunt has broad experience of both the legal profession and of regulation in other sectors.

‘We expect Lord Hunt to seek the views of all significant stakeholder groups in order to come up with conclusions that gain wide support.’