| Bill Cash MP | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Stone |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Constituency Created |
| Majority | 13,292 (28.1%) |
| Member of Parliament for Stafford |
|
| In office 3 May 1984 – 1 May 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Hugh Fraser |
| Succeeded by | David Kidney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 May 1940 Finsbury, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Bridget Mary Lee; 3 children |
| Alma mater | Stonyhurst College and Lincoln College, Oxford |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
William Nigel Paul "Bill" Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament for Stone.
Contents |
Cash was born in London to a political family, which included seven Liberal Members of Parliament, including John Bright.[1] He was educated at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire before attending Lincoln College, Oxford where he took a BA in History. He qualified as a solicitor in 1967, and since 1979 has practised as a solicitor in his own account (i.e. he is not employed by a law firm or a member of a partnership).[2]
Cash's father fought in World War II, and was killed in Normandy during Operation Overlord. He married Bridget Mary (née Lee) in 1965, and they have two sons, and a daughter. One of his sons is the controversial journalist William Cash. He lives at Upton Cresset Hall, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire.
Cash entered Parliament in 1984, when he was elected as MP for Stafford at a by-election in May following the death of Sir Hugh Fraser. Since the 1997 election he has been MP for Stone, Staffordshire.
He has served on various parliamentary committees. He was elected unopposed as Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee on 8 September 2010.[3] He has also served on the All-Party Committee on East Africa (since 1988), the All-Party Group for the Jubilee 2000 (1997–2000), but more notably the Select Committee on European Legislation (since 1985), and as chairman of the Conservative Backbench Committee on European Affairs (1989-91). He is known as a strong eurosceptic and at one point was ringleader of a rebellion over the Maastricht treaty that almost brought down John Major's government. He was described by Kenneth Clarke as the most "Eurosceptic" Member of Parliament.
In 1993 he founded and is chairman of the eurosceptic European Foundation which was created during the Maastricht Rebellion, the funding for which he organised. During 1994-1995 Cash was member of the Tindemans group. He is currently Secretary of the European Reform Forum, and is a Vice-President of the Conservative Small Business Bureau (since 1986).
After he became leader, fellow Maastricht rebel Iain Duncan Smith gave him the post of shadow Attorney General in 2001, and in 2003 was made a spokesman on Constitutional Affairs but he returned to the backbenches later that year after Duncan Smith was ousted as party leader.
Cash was cleared on appeal in February 2010 by former High Court judge and President of the Court of Appeal, the Rt Hon Sir Paul Kennedy[4] after it was reported on 28 May 2009, in the swirl of stories surrounding the 2009 Parliamentary Expenses scandal, that Cash had claimed £15,000 which he paid his daughter, Laetitia Cash, a prospective Conservative candidate, as rent for a Notting Hill flat, when he had a mortgaged flat of his own a few miles away, which his son Sam Cash was staying in rent-free. "It was only for a year, she was getting married, she wasn't there. My other flat wasn't round the corner, it was in Westminster. It was done through the rules", he said on Newsnight.[5] The following day Cash announced that he had agreed to pay the money back. Cash was rejecting calls for his resignation and said he was hopeful of getting a fair hearing. David Cameron was said to have ordered Cash to co-operate or risk having the Conservative whip withdrawn[6]
Cash faced a no-confidence vote by secret ballot by his constituency party on 2 July 2009. He was, however, re-selected with the overwhelming support over 98% of the vote. Cash also received a personal letter of support from Conservative leader David Cameron before the meeting thanking Cash for "the tireless contribution you make to the work of Parliament. You have a long record of serving your constituents with commitment and integrity".[7] Kennedy, in his letter to Cash regarding his appeal, wrote: "In my judgment there are special reasons why it would not be fair and equitable to require repayment of any money. They are that in 2004-05 you paid rent for accommodation. Such rent was recoverable under the Rules as they existed at the time unless there was some evidence of impropriety. There is no such evidence in your case."[4]
Cash has written a number of books and pamphlets on Europe. In November 2011, he published a biography of John Bright, whom he described as "one of the greatest parliamentarians of all time",[8] to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Bright's birth.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Hugh Fraser |
Member of Parliament for Stafford 1984–1997 |
Succeeded by David Kidney |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Stone 1997–present |
Incumbent |