Oliver Heald
Oliver Heald (born
December 15,
1954)
British politician and
barrister. He is
Conservative Member of Parliament for
Hertfordshire North East. He is both the
Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and the Shadow
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Oliver Heald was born in
Reading, Berkshire and was educated at the
Reading School and
Pembroke College, Cambridge where he was awarded a
master's degree in
law. He was
called to the bar at the
Middle Temple in
1977 and was a practising
barrister in
London and
East Anglia from
1979 until he became a government minister in
1995.
He became the chairman of the
Hertfordshire North Conservative Association for two years from
1984. He unsuccessfully contested the
London Borough of Southwark seat of
Southwark and Bermondsey at the
1987 General Election but finished in third place some 12,550 behind the sitting
Liberal MP
Simon Hughes. He became the vice president of the Southwark and Bermondsey Conservative Association in
1988 for five years, becoming the president for five years from
1993. He was elected to the
House of Commons for
Hertfordshire North at the
1992 General Election following the retirement of the Conservative MP
Ian Stewart. He held the seat with a majority of 16,531 and has remained an MP since. He made his
maiden speech on
June 9,
1992 in which he spoke of his political beginnings on a
soapbox at
Speaker's Corner.[
1] His seat was abolished and since the
1997 General Election he has represented the new seat of
Hertfordshire North East.
In
parliament he served on the
education select committee for two years from
1992. He was appointed as the
Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the
Minister of State at the
Home Office Peter Lloyd in
1994. Later in the year he became the PPS to the
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food William Waldegrave. He was promoted to serve in the government of
John Major in
1995 when he was appointed as the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the
Department of Social Security, where he remained until the fall of the Conservative government in
1997. Following the 1997 General Election he became an
Opposition Whip under the new leadership of
William Hague, before moved to become a spokesman on
home affairs. He was made a spokesman on
health by
Iain Duncan Smith for a year in
2001, until he joined his
shadow cabinet as the Shadow
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in
2002. He was appointed as the Shadow
Leader of the House of Commons by
Michael Howard in
2003. Since
2004 he has served as the Shadow
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and was appointed by
David Cameron as the shadow
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in
2005 and he currently holds both offices.
He is takes a particula interest in
healthcare. He has been married to Christine Whittle and they have a son and two daughters, and live in the constituency in the market town of
Royston. He cites
Willie Whitelaw as his mentor. He introduced the
Insurance Companies (Reserves) Act in
1995.[
2]
*
Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK)*
Oliver Heald MP official site
*
Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Oliver Heald MP*
TheyWorkForYou.com - Oliver Heald MP
