| The Right Honourable David Curry MP |
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|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon |
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| In office 11 June 1987 – 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | John Watson |
| Succeeded by | Julian Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 June 1944 Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Helene Maud Roullet |
| Alma mater | Corpus Christi College, Oxford Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University |
| Occupation | Journalist |
David Maurice Curry (born 13 June 1944) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Skipton and Ripon from 1987 to 2010.
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Curry, the son of a teacher, was educated at the Ripon Grammar School where he was head boy in 1962, and then at Corpus Christi College, Oxford where he received a BA degree in Modern History in 1966. He also attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as a Kennedy Scholar. He began his career as a reporter on the Newcastle Journal in 1966. In 1970, he became the world trade editor at The Financial Times where he remained until he was elected to the European Parliament. In 1977, he founded the Paris Conservative Association. He contested the safe Labour seat at Morpeth at the February 1974 general election, but was soundly beaten by the sitting Labour MP George Grant by 13,034 votes. The two met again at the October 1974 general election, when on this occasion Grant won by 14,687. Curry was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 1979 for Essex North East, he served in Strasbourg (and Brussels) until 1989.
Curry was elected to the House of Commons for the very safe Conservative seat of Skipton and Ripon at the 1987 general election on the retirement of the sitting Conservative MP John Watson. Curry held the seat with a strong majority of 17,174 and has held the seat safely since. On his election he became a member of the Agriculture Select Committee until he was promoted to the government of Margaret Thatcher in 1989 as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and was promoted within the same department to Minister of State after the 1992 general election by John Major, a year later he moved sideways to the Department for the Environment where he remained until the Major government fell at the 1997 general election. He became a Member of the Privy Council in 1996. In opposition he became the Shadow Agriculture Secretary, but resigned from the Shadow Cabinet in December 1997 in protest at the policy of ruling out Britain joining the single European currency for the next ten years. In 1998, he became the chairman of the Agriculture Select Committee, and after the 2001 general election, its successor the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee until 2003 when he promoted again to the Shadow Cabinet by Michael Howard as the Shadow Local and Devolved Government Secretary until he resigned again, this time citing 'family reasons' in 2004 [1], he was replaced by Caroline Spelman. He was a member of the Public Accounts Select Committee from 2004.
On 5 February 2009, Curry announced that he would not stand again at the 2010 election.[1]
On 19 November 2009 Curry stood down from his position as chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Standards and Privileges after claims from the Telegraph newspaper regarding his expenses and has reportedly referred himself to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority for investigation.[2]
His wife is a sculptor who was asked to sculpt Roy Jenkins by the Works of Art Committee. He is a patron of the Tory Reform Group. He writes a monthly column for the Local Government Chronicle. He enjoys growing vegetables and dinghy sailing.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Watson |
Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon 1987–2010 |
Succeeded by Julian Smith |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by David Davis as Shadow Deputy Prime Minister |
Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government 2003–2004 |
Succeeded by Caroline Spelman |