James Arbuthnot
Encyclopedia
James Norwich Arbuthnot, MP
(born 4 August 1952) is a British
Conservative Party
politician. He is the Member of Parliament
(MP) for North East Hampshire.
, the son of Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet
and Margaret Jean Duff.The Peerage.com - Rt. Hon. James Norwich Arbuthnot He was educated at Wellesley House School
in Broadstairs
, Eton College
, where he was Captain of school, and Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he obtained a law degree in 1974.
Arbuthnot was called to the Bar
by Lincoln's Inn
in 1975 and became a practising barrister
. An active member of the Chelsea Conservative Association, he was elected as a councillor to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
in 1978 and remained a councillor until his election as a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1987. In 1980 he became the vice-chairman of the Chelsea Conservative Association.
Arbuthnot contested the Cynon Valley
seat, in the Labour
heartland of industrial South Wales
, at the 1983 general election
and was defeated by Ioan Evans
. A year later in 1984, Evans died and Arbuthnot fought the resulting by-election
, but he was again defeated by the Labour candidate, Ann Clwyd
.
Arbuthnot was chosen to contest the safe Conservative seat of Wanstead and Woodford
as the sitting MP, Patrick Jenkin, was standing down. Arbuthnot held the seat, increasing the Conservative majority by over two thousand to 16,412.
In 1988 he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary
(PPS) to Archie Hamilton
at the Ministry of Defence
, and in 1990 became the PPS to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
, Peter Lilley
. He entered the John Major
government after the 1992 general election
when he was made an assistant government whip
. He was promoted in 1994 as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security
. The following year he was promoted to Minister of State
at the Ministry of Defence, where he remained until the end of the Major government in 1997.
Arbuthnot's seat of Wanstead and Woodford was abolished at the 1997 general election
, and he found a new seat at North East Hampshire. In opposition, he was a member of William Hague
's Shadow Cabinet as the Party's Chief Whip until the 2001 general election
when he returned to the backbenches
. He was made a Member of the Privy Council
in 1998.
Arbuthnot returned to the Shadow Cabinet under Michael Howard
as Shadow Trade Secretary in 2003, but stood down after the 2005 general election
. Since the election he has served as the chairman of the influential Defence Select Committee
and is a council member of the Royal United Services Institute
.
Arbuthnot stated that one of his proudest parliamentary achievements was "organising an all-party meeting with the prime minister for the exoneration of the pilots of the Chinook that crashed on the Mull of Kintyre
in 1994."
Arbuthnot is the Parliamentary Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel
. He is also a member of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation
, established in October 2009.
In June 2011 Arbuthnot announced he would not contest the next general election
.
. On 6 September 1984, he married Emma Broadbent, now District Judge Arbuthnot, daughter of Michael Broadbent
, Wine Director of Christie's, and has one son and three daughters.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(born 4 August 1952) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician. He is the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for North East Hampshire.
Early life
Arbuthnot was born in Deal, KentDeal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
, the son of Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet
Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet
Major Sir John Sinclair Wemyss Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet, MBE, TD was a British Conservative politician....
and Margaret Jean Duff.The Peerage.com - Rt. Hon. James Norwich Arbuthnot He was educated at Wellesley House School
Wellesley House School
-History:It was first established as 1866 as Conyngham House in Ramsgate with the first of the buildings on the present site being built 1898. During the Second World War the British Army used the school buildings while the school was temporarily housed at Rannoch. In 1969 the amalgamation with St...
in Broadstairs
Broadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...
, Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, where he was Captain of school, and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he obtained a law degree in 1974.
Arbuthnot was called to the Bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
by Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
in 1975 and became a practising barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. An active member of the Chelsea Conservative Association, he was elected as a councillor to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
in 1978 and remained a councillor until his election as a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1987. In 1980 he became the vice-chairman of the Chelsea Conservative Association.
Arbuthnot contested the Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Cynon Valley is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
seat, in the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
heartland of industrial South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, at the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
and was defeated by Ioan Evans
Ioan Evans
Ioan Lyonel Evans was a British politician. He served as a Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 until his death.-Early life:...
. A year later in 1984, Evans died and Arbuthnot fought the resulting by-election
Cynon Valley by-election, 1984
The Cynon Valley by-election, 1984 was a parliamentary by-election held on 3 May 1984 for the British House of Commons constituency of Cynon Valley.- Previous MP :The seat had become vacant on 10 February 1984...
, but he was again defeated by the Labour candidate, Ann Clwyd
Ann Clwyd
Ann Clwyd Roberts is a Welsh Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Cynon Valley since 1984.-Early life:Ann Clwyd is the daughter of Gwilym Henri Lewis and Elizabeth Ann Lewis...
.
Member of Parliament
At the 1987 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
Arbuthnot was chosen to contest the safe Conservative seat of Wanstead and Woodford
Wanstead and Woodford (UK Parliament constituency)
Wanstead and Woodford was a constituency in north-east London, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
as the sitting MP, Patrick Jenkin, was standing down. Arbuthnot held the seat, increasing the Conservative majority by over two thousand to 16,412.
In 1988 he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
(PPS) to Archie Hamilton
Archie Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom
Archibald Gavin Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom, PC is a British Conservative Party politician.-Background and education:...
at the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
, and in 1990 became the PPS to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. Its secondary title is the President of the Board of Trade...
, Peter Lilley
Peter Lilley
Peter Bruce Lilley MP is a British Conservative Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament MP since 1983. He currently represents the constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden and, prior to boundary changes, represented St Albans...
. He entered the John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
government after the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
when he was made an assistant government whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
. He was promoted in 1994 as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security
Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security is the name of a defunct governmental agency in the United Kingdom.The DSS replaced the older Department of Health and Social Security, from 1988 until 2001, when it was itself largely replaced as a department of the Government of the United Kingdom by the...
. The following year he was promoted to Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
at the Ministry of Defence, where he remained until the end of the Major government in 1997.
Arbuthnot's seat of Wanstead and Woodford was abolished at the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, and he found a new seat at North East Hampshire. In opposition, he was a member of William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
's Shadow Cabinet as the Party's Chief Whip until the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
when he returned to the backbenches
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
. He was made a Member of the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
in 1998.
Arbuthnot returned to the Shadow Cabinet under Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
as Shadow Trade Secretary in 2003, but stood down after the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
. Since the election he has served as the chairman of the influential Defence Select Committee
Defence Select Committee
The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the British House of Commons, having been established in 1979. It oversees the operations of the Ministry of Defence and its associated public bodies, including the armed forces.-Membership:...
and is a council member of the Royal United Services Institute
Royal United Services Institute
The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies , officially still known by its old name, the Royal United Services Institution, is a British defence and security think tank. It was founded in 1831 by The Duke of Wellington.RUSI describes itself asIt won Prospect Magazine's...
.
Arbuthnot stated that one of his proudest parliamentary achievements was "organising an all-party meeting with the prime minister for the exoneration of the pilots of the Chinook that crashed on the Mull of Kintyre
Mull of Kintyre
The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula in southwest Scotland. From here, the Antrim coast is visible and an historic lighthouse, the second commissioned in Scotland, guides shipping in the intervening North Channel...
in 1994."
Arbuthnot is the Parliamentary Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel, abbreviated to CFI, is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party and dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel. CFI is an unincorporated associationIt was founded by the late...
. He is also a member of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation
Top Level Group
The Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation is a cross-party parliamentary group in the United Kingdom, whose primary focus is the advancement of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agenda in Britain and internationally...
, established in October 2009.
In June 2011 Arbuthnot announced he would not contest the next general election
Next United Kingdom general election
The United Kingdom general election of 2010 was held on Thursday 6 May 2010 to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system. None of the parties achieved the 326 seats needed for an overall majority...
.
Personal life
He is a direct descendant from James V of ScotlandJames V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...
. On 6 September 1984, he married Emma Broadbent, now District Judge Arbuthnot, daughter of Michael Broadbent
Michael Broadbent
John Michael Broadbent MW is a British wine critic, writer and auctioneer in a capacity as a Master of Wine...
, Wine Director of Christie's, and has one son and three daughters.
External links
- James Arbuthnot MP official constituency website
- James Arbuthnot MP Conservative Party profile
- North East Hampshire Conservative Association
- Arbuthnot family tree