Peter Ainsworth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Peter Ainsworth MP | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 6 December 2005 |
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| Leader | David Cameron |
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| Preceded by | Tim Yeo |
| In office 18 September 2001 – 23 July 2002 |
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| Leader | Ian Duncan Smith |
| Preceded by | Archie Norman (Environment) Tim Yeo (Food) |
| Succeeded by | David Lidington |
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| In office 11 June 1997 – 18 September 2001 |
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| Leader | William Hague |
| Preceded by | Francis Maude |
| Succeeded by | Tim Yeo |
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Member of Parliament
for East Surrey |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 9 April 1992 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Geoffrey Howe |
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| Born | 16 November 1956 Wokingham, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Lincoln College, Oxford |
Peter Michael Ainsworth (born 16 November 1956) is a British politician of the Conservative Party, the Member of Parliament for East Surrey and the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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[edit] Early life
The son of a naval officer, he was educated at the Ludgrove School in Wokingham, Bradfield College, and Lincoln College, Oxford, he graduated in 1979 with an MA in English Literature and Language.
He became a researcher to the former Conservative Member of the European Parliament, Sir John Stewart-Clark and on leaving University and then in 1981 became a merchant banker and married Claire Burnett in Hatfield, with whom he had a son (born December 1991) and two daughters (born August 1988 and July 1990). He worked as an investments analyst for Laing & Cruickshank Investment Management (bought by UBS in 2004) from 1981-5, then S.G. Warburg Securities (bought by UBS in 1994) from 1985-92, working in Corporate Finance, becoming a Director from 1990-2.
[edit] Member of Parliament
He was elected as a councillor to the London Borough of Wandsworth in 1986 and was elected at the 1992 General Election for East Surrey succeeding Sir Geoffrey Howe in the House of Commons.
[edit] Shadow Cabinet
In 1994 he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Jonathan Aitken, and in 1995 became PPS to the Secretary of State for National Heritage, Virginia Bottomley. He was promoted by John Major in 1996 to the Whips' Office. When the Major government fell the following year. he remained a Whip in Opposition and was promoted to Deputy Chief Whip by William Hague. In 1998 he entered the Shadow Cabinet, shadowing the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and from 2001 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Ainsworth resigned from Iain Duncan Smith's frontbench for family reasons in 2002. From 2003 he chaired the Environmental Audit Select Committee, before rejoining the Shadow Cabinet under David Cameron in December 2005 as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Ainsworth is the only shadow cabinet member to have voted against the war in Iraq.
The post has a much heightened importance given the new emphasis being given to Environmental policies by the Conservative leader David Cameron.
Speaking in March 2006 Ainsworth set out the possible new direction for Conservative policy stating that "Achieving a sustainable world and combating the threat of climate change will require some really fresh ideas and radical thinking. We cannot expect to meet the challenges of this century by toying with the structures and technologies we have inherited from the past, and the concept of Decentralised Energy should to be taken seriously."[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Conservatives focus on decentralised power to combat climate change. Conservative Party (1 March, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
[edit] External links
- Peter Ainsworth official site
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Peter Ainsworth
- They Work For You - Peter Ainsworth MP
- The Public Whip - Peter Ainsworth MP voting record
- BBC News - Peter Ainsworth profile 10 February, 2005
- Open Directory Project - Peter Ainsworth directory category
[edit] News items
[edit] Offices held
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by Sir Geoffrey Howe |
Member of Parliament for East Surrey 1992 – present |
Incumbent |
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