Peter Lilley

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Peter Bruce Lilley (born August 23, 1943, Hayes, Kent, England, educated at Dulwich College and Clare College, Cambridge) has been a British MP since 1983. He currently represents the constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden and, prior to boundary changes, represented St Albans which was its predecessor seat.

He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nigel Lawson, and Financial Secretary to the Treasury before joining the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to replace Nicholas Ridley in mid-1990 after the latter was force to resign over an anti-German gaffe. After the 1992 UK General Election he became Secretary of State for Social Security and the coincidence of his youthful, good looks, right wing reputation and area of departmental responsibility resulted in the satirical television show Spitting Image portraying him as an SS Officer.

He contested the Conservative Party leadership election, 1997 coming fourth in a field of five candidates. In opposition he held the post of Shadow Chancellor from 1997 - 1998 and was Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party 1998 - 1999.

Peter Lilley has twice given singing performances at Conservative Party conferences. In 1992 as Secretary of State at the DSS, he sang a riff on "I have a little list", from The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan, condemning those who unfairly claimed benefits. In 1998, he changed the words of "Land of Hope and Glory", singing "Land of Chattering Classes", in condemnation of the apparent abandonment of British values and history by Tony Blair's New Labour.

During the Third series of Drop The Dead Donkey he was continually ridiculed for being the "Slimey bastard" of the week.

In 2001 Lilley provoked some controversy in his party and Britain more widely by calling for cannabis to be legalised in a Social Market Foundation pamphlet.[1]

In 2005 Lilley produced a report for the Bow Group centre-right think tank that was highly critical of Government plans to introduce national identity cards.[2]

When David Cameron was elected leader of the Conservatives in December 2005, Lilley was appointed Chairman of the Globalisation and Global Poverty policy group, part of Cameron's extensive 18-month policy review.

[edit] External links

• The Rt Hon Peter Lilley MP official site
• ePolitix.com - Peter Lilley
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Peter Lilley MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Peter Lilley MP
• The Public Whip - Peter Lilley MP
• BBC News - Peter Lilley profile 22 October, 2002
• BBC article about Lilley's legalise cannabis proposal 6 July, 2001
• Lilley speaks about his work as Chair of the Globalisation and Global Poverty policy group Clare Politics

[edit] Offices held

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Victor Goodhew	Member of Parliament for St Albans 1983–1997	Succeeded by Kerry Pollard
Preceded by (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Hitchin and Harpenden 1997 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Ian Stewart	Economic Secretary to the Treasury 1987–1989	Succeeded by Richard Andrew Ryder
Preceded by Norman Lamont	Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1989–1990	Succeeded by Francis Maude
Preceded by Nicholas Ridley	Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 1990–1992	Succeeded by Michael Heseltine
Preceded by Tony Newton	Secretary of State for Social Security 1992–1997	Succeeded by Harriet Harman