Dominic Grieve

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.
Dominic Grieve MP
Dominic Grieve
Incumbent
Assumed office 
12 June 2008
Leader David Cameron
Preceded by David Davis
Member of Parliament
for Beaconsfield
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1 May 1997
Preceded by Tim Smith
Born 24 May 1956 (1956-05-24) (age 52)
Lambeth
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse Caroline Hutton
Alma mater Magdalen College, Oxford, University of Westminster

Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve QC, MP, (born May 24, 1956, Lambeth) British is a politician and barrister. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Beaconsfield and is both the Conservative Shadow Attorney General and the Conservative Shadow Home Secretary.[1] He also has responsibility for community cohesion on behalf of the Conservative Party.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Grieve was born in Lambeth, the son of Percy Grieve QC (the MP for Solihull 1964-83).

He was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle on Cromwell Road in South Kensington, Colet Court preparatory school in Barnes, the independent Westminster School and Magdalen College, Oxford where he was awarded a BA degree in Modern History in 1978. He also acted as the President of the Conservative Association whilst at Oxford in 1977. He finished his studies at the Polytechnic of Central London where he received a Diploma in Law in 1979. He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1980 and is a practising barrister specialising in health and safety law, continuing to appear in court as an advocate from time to time. He was made a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 2005 and appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2008.

[edit] Parliamentary career

He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in 1982, remaining a councillor until 1986. He contested the Norwood constituency in the London Borough of Lambeth at the 1987 general election but finished in second place some 4,723 votes behind the veteran Labour (although increasing the Conservative vote) MP John Fraser.

He was elected to the House of Commons for the Buckinghamshire seat of Beaconsfield at the 1997 general election following the retirement of Tim Smith. Grieve was elected with a majority of 13,987 votes and has remained the MP there since, increasing his majority at each successive election. He made his maiden speech on May 21, 1997.[2]

Grieve was instrumental in the defeat of the Labour Government in early 2006 in relation to the proposal that the Home Secretary should have power to detain suspected terrorists for periods up to 90 days without charge. He broadcasts in French on French radio and television. He is not, however, an enthusiast for the EU. Grieve has strongly opposed equal gay rights.[3] He was a member of both the Environmental Audit and the Statutory Instruments select committees from 1997 to 2001. William Hague promoted him to the frontbench in 1999 when he became a spokesman on Scottish affairs, moving to speak on home affairs as the spokesman on criminal justice following the election of Iain Duncan Smith as the new leader of the Conservative Party in 2001, and was then promoted to be shadow Attorney General by Michael Howard in 2003. He was retained as shadow Attorney General by the new Conservative Leader, David Cameron and was appointed Shadow Home Secretary on 12 June 2008 following the resignation of David Davis.[1]

[edit] Personal life

He was a police station lay visitor for six years from 1990 and worked in Brixton on various bodies set up to reconcile the different communities after the riots. He is a practising Anglican Christian and was a member of the London Diocesan Synod of the Church of England for six years from 1994. He married fellow barrister, Caroline Hutton in October 1990 in the City of London and they have two sons, James (born May 1994) and Hugo (born September 1995). James is educated outside of Grieve's constituency and attends Hall School Wimbledon. He lists his hobbies as walking and scuba diving.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b BBC News: David Davis resigns from Commons, accessed 12 June 2008
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ The Public Whip: Dominic Grieve MP, Beaconsfield voted strongly against the policy Homosexuality - Equal rights, accessed 12 June 2008

[edit] External links

[edit] News items

[edit] Video clips

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Tim Smith		 Member of Parliament for Beaconsfield
1997 – present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Bill Cash		 Shadow Attorney General
2003 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
David Davis		 Shadow Home Secretary
2008 – present		 Incumbent
Languages