James Paice
| The Right Honourable James Paice DL | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of State for Agriculture and Food | |
| In office 13 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Jim Fitzpatrick |
| Succeeded by | David Heath |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | |
| In office 15 March 2004 – 6 May 2005 | |
| Leader | Michael Howard |
| Preceded by | John Whittingdale |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Majority | 5,946 (10.3%) |
| Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 11 June 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Pym |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 April 1949 Felixstowe, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Ava Patterson |
| Alma mater | University of Essex |
| Website | Official website |
Sir James Edward Thornton "Jim" Paice, DL (born 24 April 1949) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South East Cambridgeshire, and was first elected in the 1987 general election. He was the Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2010–2012 until being removed in the 2012 government reshuffle.
Early life
Born in Felixstowe, Suffolk, Paice went to the independent Framlingham College. At the Writtle Agricultural College, he received a National Diploma in Agriculture in 1970.[1] He was a farm manager from 1970–73. From 1973–79, he was a farmer and contractor. From 1979–87, he was Training Manager at Framlingham Management and Training Services. At United Framlingham Farmers Ltd, he was non-executive Director from 1987–89, then Director from 1989–1994. From 1976 until 1987, he was on Suffolk Coastal District Council, becoming the youngest ever chairman in 1983.
Parliamentary career
He contested the Caernarfon seat in the 1979 general election but was defeated. Eight years later he was elected the Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire and has held the seat since.
At Westminster Paice first served as Secretary of the Backbench Employment Committee from 1988–1989 and of the Backbench Horticulture and Markets Sub-Committee (1988–1989). He was also a member of the Employment Select Committee from 1987 until 1989. He was made a minor member of the government in December 1989 as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Baroness Trumpington. A year later he became the PPS for John Gummer, who was then the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1990–1993) and later Secretary of State for the Environment (1993–1994). In July 1994 he was promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Employment (from July 1995 the Department for Education and Employment) and served until the Conservative defeat in the 1997 general election.
In Opposition, Paice became a spokesman for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1997–2001) and later on Home Affairs (2001–2003). Under the leadership of Michael Howard, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Home, Constitutional and Legal Affairs. From September 2004 until his return to government, he served as Shadow Minister for Agriculture, a post he later took up in government.
On 13 May 2010, Paice was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Agriculture and Food Minister) in the coalition government. He served until 4 September 2012 when he was removed as part of a Cabinet reshuffle.
On 10 July 2012, during an interview with BBC Radio 4's Farming Today, Paice he admitted that he did not know how much a pint of milk cost.[2] Nevertheless, in October 2013 he was appointed chairman of the Glasgow-based First Milk farmers’ cooperative on an annual salary of £125,000, for which it was proposed that he work one day a week.[3] Under Paice’s chairmanship, the cooperative announced in January 2015 that payments to dairy farmers would be deferred by two weeks and that 1.5 pence per litre would be deducted from the payments to pay for “capital investment”.[4][5] It also announced that from February 2015, it would pay its members an average 21.4 pence per litre – 10p per litre less than some major supermarkets criticised for the low levels of their payments to dairy farmers for milk.[6][3]
On 8 March 2013, Paice announced that he will stand down at the next general election.[7]
Personal life
He married Ava Patterson in 1973. They have two sons.
References
- ↑ "Writtle College – Edexcel (BTEC) National Diploma in Agriculture". Writtle.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
- ↑ "Dairy farmers 'pushed to brink' with price cuts". BBC News Online. 11 July 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ‘Bio-Waste Spreader’ (23 January 2015). "The Agri Brigade". Private Eye (London). p. 15.
- ↑ Briggs, Ben (8 January 2015). "First Milk will not pay January 12 milk cheque amid cash flow issues". Farmers Guardian (Preston). Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- ↑ Gander, Kashmira (20 January 2015). "How did milk become cheaper than water?". The Independent (London). Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- ↑ "MPs urge action on milk price cuts". BBC News. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- ↑ "Cambridgeshire MP Sir Jim Paice 'will not stand again'". BBC News Online. 8 March 2013.
External links
- James Paice MP official constituency website
- James Paice MP Conservative Party profile
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
- Website at ePolitix.com
- News articles
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Francis Pym |
Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire 1987–2015 |
Succeeded by TBD |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by John Whittingdale |
Shadow Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 2004–2005 |
Position abolished |
| Preceded by Jim Fitzpatrick |
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food 2010–2012 |
Succeeded by David Heath |