David Lidington

The Right Honourable David Lidington
Minister of State for Europe
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Chris Bryant
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 10 November 2003 – 2 July 2007
Leader	Michael Howard David Cameron
Preceded by	Quentin Davies
Succeeded by	Owen Paterson
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In office 23 July 2002 – 6 November 2003
Leader	Iain Duncan Smith
Preceded by	Peter Ainsworth
Succeeded by	Caroline Spelman (Environment)
Member of Parliament for Aylesbury
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Timothy Raison
Majority	12,618 (23.7%)
Personal details
Born	David Roy Lidington (1956-06-30) 30 June 1956 London, England
Political party	Conservative
Children	4
Alma mater	Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Website	Official website

David Roy Lidington PC (born 30 June 1956) is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been Member of Parliament for Aylesbury since 1992. He is currently a Minister of State at the Foreign Office, serving as Minister for Europe.^[1] This responsibility includes the overseas territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

Education

Lidington was educated at the-then direct grant The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree in Hertfordshire, followed by Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge, where he took an Honours degree in History and a PhD in 1988 entitled "The enforcement of the penal statutes at the court of the Exchequer c.1558-c.1576" on Elizabethan history. His passion for history is shared by his brother, Peter "Lidders" Lidington, who is a history teacher at Clifton College in Bristol. Whilst at Cambridge, he was Chairman of Cambridge University Conservative Association and Deputy President of the Cambridge University Students' Union.

Life and career

Lidington's early jobs involved work for BP and Rio Tinto Group before being appointed in 1987 as special adviser to the then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd. He moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1989 when Mr Hurd was appointed Foreign Secretary.

Lidington is married with four children. He was brought up as a Congregationalist but is now an Anglican. He was the Captain of the Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge team that won the 1978 series of University Challenge. The team returned for the 2002 University Challenge - Reunited "champion of champions" series for the show's 40th anniversary, and they won the series in convincing style, beating Keele University in the final 375-185.

Political career

In the 1987 general election, Lidington stood unsuccessfully in the Vauxhall constituency. He was then selected as the Conservative candidate for the safe seat of Aylesbury in December 1990. He was successful at the 1992 general election, and held his seat ever since.

At Westminster, Lidington previously participated in the Education Select Committee and Conservative Backbench Home Affairs Committee. In 1994, he successfully promoted a Private Members Bill which became the Chiropractors Act 1994.

Lidington first joined the Conservative front bench team in August 1994, when he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Secretary Michael Howard. In June 1997, with the Conservatives in opposition, he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Leader of the Opposition William Hague. Two years later, in June 1999, he was promoted to become Shadow Home Affairs Minister (deputy to Ann Widdecombe). In September 2001, Lidington was promoted to become Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

Lidington became a member of the Shadow Cabinet in May 2002, replacing Ann Winterton as Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (later Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) after she resigned. When Michael Howard was elected Conservative Party leader in November 2003, Lidington became Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, but was not included as a member of the Shadow Cabinet. In May 2005, Howard enlarged the Shadow Cabinet, granting Lidington the right to attend it again. He was one of the few Shadow Cabinet ministers left in his old post by David Cameron when the latter became leader in December 2005. But on 2 July 2007, Lidington was demoted to be a junior Foreign Affairs spokesman.

Following the 2010 general election, Lidington was appointed Minister for Europe.

Expenses

In May 2009, the Daily Telegraph revealed Lidington had claimed nearly £1,300 for his dry cleaning and had also claimed for toothpaste, shower gel, body spray and vitamin supplements on his second home allowance.^[2] Lidington decided to repay the claims for the toiletries, saying “I accept that many people would see them as over-generous."

Lidington was also criticised by local newspaper the Bucks Herald for claiming £115,891 in expenses in one year, almost double his salary.^[3]

HS2

In November 2013 Lidington was criticised in an editorial of the local newspaper the Bucks Herald for his repeated failure to vote against the HS2 rail project which is set to affect large areas of his constituency.^[4]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Lidington.

• David Lidington 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
• Debrett's People of Today
• Bucks TV - A Day In The Life Of

Ministers of State for Europe 1979-1990 Hurd Rifkind Chalker Maude 1990-1997 Garel-Jones Heathcoat-Amory Davis 1997-2007 Henderson Quin Hoon Vaz Hain MacShane Alexander Hoon 2007-2010 Murphy Flint Kinnock Bryant 2010-2015 Lidington