Dominic Grieve

The Right Honourable Dominic Grieve QC MP
Attorney General for England and Wales Advocate General for Northern Ireland
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 May 2010
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	The Baroness Scotland of Asthal
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Shadow Lord Chancellor
In office 19 January 2009 – 11 May 2010
Leader	David Cameron
Preceded by	Nick Herbert
Succeeded by	Jack Straw
Shadow Home Secretary
In office 12 June 2008 – 19 January 2009
Leader	David Cameron
Preceded by	David Davis
Succeeded by	Chris Grayling
Shadow Attorney General
In office 6 November 2003 – 7 September 2009
Leader	Michael Howard David Cameron
Preceded by	Bill Cash
Succeeded by	Edward Garnier
Member of Parliament for Beaconsfield
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Tim Smith
Majority	21,782 (41.5%)
Personal details
Born	Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (1956-05-24) 24 May 1956 Lambeth, London, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Caroline Hutton
Children	2
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford Polytechnic of Central London Middle Temple
Religion	Church of England
Website	www.dominicgrieve.org.uk

Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve, QC (born 24 May 1956)^[1] is a British Conservative politician, barrister, Queen's Counsel^[2] and a Member of the Privy Council. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield since 1997, and he has been Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland since 2010. He attends Cabinet.^[3]

Early life

Grieve was born in Lambeth, the son of Percy Grieve QC (the MP for Solihull 1964–83) and of an Anglo-French mother, Evelyn Raymonde Louise Mijouain.^[4] He was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle on Cromwell Road in South Kensington, Colet Court preparatory school in Barnes, Westminster School,^[2] and Magdalen College, Oxford,^[2] where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History^[2] in 1978. He was the President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1977.

He continued his studies at the Polytechnic of Central London (now the University of Westminster), where he received a Diploma in Law^[2] in 1979.

Legal career

He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1980^[5] and is a specialist in Occupational safety and health law. He was made a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 2005 and appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2008.

Political career

Local council

He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in 1982, remaining a councillor until 1986.^[2] He contested the Norwood constituency in the London Borough of Lambeth at the 1987 general election^[2] but finished in second place some 4,723 votes behind the veteran Labour MP John Fraser (although increasing the Conservative vote).

Member of Parliament

Grieve speaking in the House of Commons

He was elected to the House of Commons for the Buckinghamshire seat of Beaconsfield at the 1997 general election^[2] 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 21 May 1997.^[6]

He was a member of both the Environmental Audit and the Statutory Instruments select committees from 1997 to 1999.^[7] 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.^[2] He also had responsibility for community cohesion on behalf of the Conservative Party. 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.^[8]

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.^[9] He is not, however, an enthusiast for the EU.^{[citation needed]}

Grieve was criticised for investments in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.^[10]

In the last Conservative Shadow Cabinet reshuffle before the General Election of 2010, carried out on 19 January 2009, Grieve was moved to become Shadow Justice Secretary, opposite Jack Straw. According to the BBC, Grieve was said to be "very happy with the move" which would suit his talents better.^[11]

After the 2010 general election, Grieve was appointed as the new Attorney General. Grieve was one of four members of the cabinet who abstained in the May 2013 Same-Sex Marriage vote. He said that he believed that the Bill had been 'badly conceived'.^[12]

On 28 May 2010 he was appointed to the Privy Council as part of the 2010 Dissolusion of Parliament Honours List.^[13][14]

Corruption in minority claims

On 22 November 2013 he was reported as stating politicians need to "wake up" to the issue of corruption in some minority communities ^[15] and that "that corruption in parts of the Pakistani community is “endemic”".^[16] Two days later he apologised and said he had not meant to suggest there was a 'particular problem in the Pakistani community' ^[17]

Personal life

He is a practising Anglican and was a member of the London Diocesan Synod of the Church of England^[7] for six years from 1994. He married fellow barrister, Caroline Hutton^[7] in October 1990 in the City of London and they have two teenage sons.^[18]

He lists his hobbies as "canoeing, boating on the Thames at weekends, mountain climbing, skiing and fell walking, architecture, art and travel".^[7] He was a police station lay visitor^[7] for six years from 1990 and worked in Brixton on various bodies set up to reconcile the different communities after the riots.

Grieve's wealth is estimated at £3.1 million.^[19][20]

Styles

• Mr Dominic Grieve (1956–97)
• Mr Dominic Grieve MP (1997–2008)
• Mr Dominic Grieve QC MP (2008–2010)
• The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP (2010–)

References

External links

• Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP official constituency website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted

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