John Stanley (politician)

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Sir John Paul Stanley (born January 12, 1942) is a British politician, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Tonbridge and Malling.

He was educated at Repton School, Copthorne Prep School and Lincoln College, Oxford. He was first elected to Parliament at the first 1974 election, prior to which he had worked for the Conservative Research Department as an advisor on housing policy. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Margaret Thatcher from 1976 to 1979, during her time as Leader of the Opposition.

He was made Minister of State with responsibility for Housing at the Department of Environment upon the Conservative's victory at the 1979 general election. He then was moved sideway to become Minister of State for the Armed forces in the Ministry of Defence, serving until 1987. Stanley was then moved to the Northern Ireland Office, once again as Minister of State, but left the government payroll the following year. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1984 and is mainly interested in defence and foreign policy, having sat on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee since 1992.