Born in Middlesbrough in 1967, Greg attended the local St Peter's Comprehensive, South Bank. He went on to study Economics at Cambridge University and was awarded his PhD at the London School of Economics.

Before entering politics, Greg worked for the Boston Consulting Group, one of the world's top business strategy firms, and was posted to the USA, Mexico, South America and Iceland, as well as working for clients in the UK.

Greg was Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry - the Rt Hon Ian Lang MP - from 1996 until the General Election in 1997. Subsequently, he was appointed the BBC's Controller, Commercial Policy.

Before becoming an MP, Greg was Director of Policy for the Conservative Party from March 2001 for three successive Leaders - William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard - before being elected to Parliament for Tunbridge Wells in 2005.

Greg was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in October 2008, having previously been Shadow Minister for Charities, Social Enterprises and Volunteering. Greg was responsible for two landmark policy papers in Energy and Climate Change policy: "The Low Carbon Economy" and "Rebuilding Security", which set out how a Conservative Government will make Britain a leading player in the low carbon economy. Greg was Shadow Minister for Teesside from 2006-2010

In May 2010, Greg was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government and in July 2011 he was appointed Minister for Cities. In September 2012, Greg was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury before becoming Minister of State in the Cabinet Office in October 2013 and, latterly, Minister for Universities, Science & Cities in July 2014.

Following the General Election, Greg was promoted to Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government in May 2015. In July 2016 Greg was appointed Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.