Oliver Heald

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Oliver Heald (born December 15, 1954), British politician and barrister, is Conservative Member of Parliament for North East Hertfordshire. He is both the Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Oliver Heald was born in Reading, Berkshire, and was educated at the Reading School and Pembroke College, Cambridge where he was awarded a master's degree in law. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1977 and was a practising barrister in London and East Anglia from 1979 until he became a government minister in 1995.

He became the chairman of the North Hertfordshire Conservative Association for two years from 1984. He unsuccessfully contested the London Borough of Southwark seat of Southwark and Bermondsey at the 1987 General Election but finished in third place some 12,550 behind the sitting Liberal MP Simon Hughes. He became the vice president of the Southwark and Bermondsey Conservative Association in 1988 for five years, becoming the president for five years from 1993. He was elected to the House of Commons for Hertfordshire North at the 1992 general election following the retirement of the Conservative MP Ian Stewart. He held the seat with a majority of 16,531 and has remained an MP since. He made his maiden speech on June 9, 1992 in which he spoke of his political beginnings on a soapbox at Speaker's Corner.[1] His seat was abolished and since the 1997 General Election he has represented the new seat of Hertfordshire North East.

In parliament he served on the education select committee for two years from 1992. He was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister of State at the Home Office Peter Lloyd in 1994. Later in the year he became the PPS to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food William Waldegrave. He was promoted to serve in the government of John Major in 1995 when he was appointed as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security, where he remained until the fall of the Conservative government in 1997. Following the 1997 general election he became an Opposition Whip under the new leadership of William Hague, before moved to become a spokesman on home affairs. He was made a spokesman on health by Iain Duncan Smith for a year in 2001, until he joined his shadow cabinet as the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2002. He was appointed as the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons by Michael Howard in 2003. Since 2004 he has served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and was appointed by David Cameron as the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 2005 and he currently holds both offices.

He is takes a particular interest in healthcare. He has been married to Christine Whittle and they have a son and two daughters, and live in the constituency in the market town of Royston. He cites Willie Whitelaw as his mentor. He introduced the Insurance Companies (Reserves) Act in 1995.[2]

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ian Stewart		 Member of Parliament for North Hertfordshire
1992–1997		 Succeeded by
(constituency abolished)
Preceded by
(new constituency)		 Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire North East
1997 – present		 Incumbent
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