Jeremy Browne
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Richard Browne is a British
Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Taunton Deane
since 2005
and a Minister of State
at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
since 2010.
, Browne is the son of British diplomat
Sir Nicholas Browne, and lived in many different countries during his young childhood including Iran
, Zimbabwe
, and Belgium
.
Browne was educated at Bedales School
, and the University of Nottingham
where he studied politics. He became Editor of the University Newspaper and was elected President of the Students' Union
in 1992.
in 1993. He worked for financial-consultancy Dewe Rogerson and has also worked for a public relations firms Edelman
and Reputationinc. He worked for the Liberal Democrats nationally and rose to be their Director of Press and Broadcasting under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown
and Charles Kennedy
.
, he came third, behind Labour's
Stephen Twigg
whose shock ousting of the then Secretary of State for Defence
Michael Portillo
was a seminal moment in the election. Browne was then chosen to contest the ultra marginal seat of Taunton
which had been gained by the Conservative
Adrian Flook in 2001
from the Liberal Democrat Jackie Ballard
by just 235 votes. The 2005 general election
proved to be another close battle and Browne ousted Flook by 573 votes, against the national swing. In the 2010 general election, Browne defended his renamed seat of Taunton Deane
and increased his majority to 3,993.
and as Member of the Home Affairs Select Committee
.
During the 2006 Liberal Democrat leadership campaign
, Browne was campaign press secretary to Menzies Campbell
. He was later promoted to the Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team
to become the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Home Affairs
.
In 2007 Browne was appointed Vice President of Parkinson's UK. He has campaigned prominently locally and nationally in favour of greater funding for care and research. His father suffers from Parkinson's.
During the 2007 leadership election
, he was a supporter of Nick Clegg and a member of his campaign team. In 2008, Browne became Lib Dem Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
.
Browne presented a private member's bill
entitled the Organ Donation (Presumed Consent) Bill 2008-09. The bill aimed to combat the lack of organs available for transplant in the UK, leading to over 1000 people a year dying whilst on waiting lists for organs.
During the 2009 expenses scandal
, Browne was initially asked to pay back £17,894 in mortgage payments by the Legg Report
, after re-mortgaging his London home to provide a deposit for his constituency home. He appealed this decision, making him the first MP to do so, and argued that he was being penalised for using his own money instead of claiming from the taxpayer. He succeeded, with Sir Paul Kennedy
accepting that the arrangement cost less than the alternative options and saying that Browne had acted "openly and honestly, and for the very purpose for which ACA was established". In the final report, Browne was not required to repay anything.
with the responsibility for South East Asia & Far East, Caribbean, Central & South America, Australasia & Pacific, human rights, consular, migration, drugs and international crime, public diplomacy and the Olympics at the Foreign Office
as a member of the coalition government. He is also the Liberal Democrat member of the advisory board of the think tank
Reform
.
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...
Liberal Democrat politician. He has been 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 Taunton Deane
Taunton Deane (UK Parliament constituency)
Taunton Deane is a county constituency represented in 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....
since 2005
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....
and a 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 Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
since 2010.
Early life and education
Born in IslingtonIslington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, Browne is the son of British diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
Sir Nicholas Browne, and lived in many different countries during his young childhood including Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
Browne was educated at Bedales School
Bedales School
Bedales School is a co-educational independent school situated in Hampshire, in the south east of England. Founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventional Victorian schools, today the school is one of the most expensive in the UK, charging £9,985 per term for a...
, and the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
where he studied politics. He became Editor of the University Newspaper and was elected President of the Students' Union
University of Nottingham Students' Union
The University of Nottingham Students' Union is the students' union at the University of Nottingham, England. The Students' Union is housed in the Portland Building on University Park campus a building shared with some non-Student Union activities...
in 1992.
Early career
Browne became a researcher for the Liberal Democrat MP Alan BeithAlan Beith
Sir Alan James Beith is a British Liberal Democrat politician and Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed.-Early life:Alan Beith was born in 1943 in Poynton, in Cheshire...
in 1993. He worked for financial-consultancy Dewe Rogerson and has also worked for a public relations firms Edelman
Edelman (firm)
Edelman is a global public relations firm with consumer, finance, healthcare, technology and industrial practices. It employs over 3,600 people in 53 offices around the globe. Edelman was founded in 1952 by Daniel J. Edelman and is today led by his son President & CEO Richard Edelman...
and Reputationinc. He worked for the Liberal Democrats nationally and rose to be their Director of Press and Broadcasting under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown
Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC , usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat....
and Charles Kennedy
Charles Kennedy
Charles Peter Kennedy is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who led the Liberal Democrats from 9 August 1999 until 7 January 2006 and is currently a Member of Parliament for the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency....
.
Becoming an MP
Browne contested the Enfield Southgate parliamentary constituency at the 1997 general electionUnited 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...
, he came third, behind Labour's
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...
Stephen Twigg
Stephen Twigg
Stephen Twigg is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby since 2010. He previously served as the Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, when he lost his seat. He came to national prominence in 1997...
whose shock ousting of the then Secretary of State for Defence
Secretary of State for Defence
The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...
Michael Portillo
Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
was a seminal moment in the election. Browne was then chosen to contest the ultra marginal seat of Taunton
Taunton (UK Parliament constituency)
Taunton was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors from 1295 to 2010, taking its name from the town of Taunton in Somerset...
which had been gained by the Conservative
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...
Adrian Flook in 2001
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...
from the Liberal Democrat Jackie Ballard
Jackie Ballard
Jacqueline Margaret Ballard has been a politician and journalist in the United Kingdom. She was the Director General of the RSPCA, and took up post as CEO of the RNID on 22 October 2007....
by just 235 votes. 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....
proved to be another close battle and Browne ousted Flook by 573 votes, against the national swing. In the 2010 general election, Browne defended his renamed seat of Taunton Deane
Taunton Deane (UK Parliament constituency)
Taunton Deane is a county constituency represented in 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....
and increased his majority to 3,993.
Opposition MP
Following his election in 2005, Browne was appointed a spokesman on Foreign AffairsForeign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
and as Member of the Home Affairs Select Committee
Home Affairs Select Committee
The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Remit:The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select Committees related to government departments: its terms of reference are to examine "the expenditure,...
.
During the 2006 Liberal Democrat leadership campaign
Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2006
In the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election, Sir Menzies Campbell was elected to succeed Charles Kennedy as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom....
, Browne was campaign press secretary to Menzies Campbell
Menzies Campbell
Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record...
. He was later promoted to the Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team
Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team
The Liberal Democrats are the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom. While in opposition, the Liberal Democrat leader appointed a team of Members of Parliament and Peers to speak for the party on different issues. Their areas of responsibility broadly corresponded to those of...
to become the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Home Affairs
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
.
In 2007 Browne was appointed Vice President of Parkinson's UK. He has campaigned prominently locally and nationally in favour of greater funding for care and research. His father suffers from Parkinson's.
During the 2007 leadership election
Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2007
The 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as leader on 15 October 2007, after 19 months as leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom. Vincent Cable, the deputy leader of the parliamentary...
, he was a supporter of Nick Clegg and a member of his campaign team. In 2008, Browne became Lib Dem Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
.
Browne presented a private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
entitled the Organ Donation (Presumed Consent) Bill 2008-09. The bill aimed to combat the lack of organs available for transplant in the UK, leading to over 1000 people a year dying whilst on waiting lists for organs.
During the 2009 expenses scandal
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
, Browne was initially asked to pay back £17,894 in mortgage payments by the Legg Report
Thomas Legg
Sir Thomas Stuart Legg, KCB, QC , is a senior former British civil servant, who was Permanent Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, United Kingdom, 1989-1998.-Biography:...
, after re-mortgaging his London home to provide a deposit for his constituency home. He appealed this decision, making him the first MP to do so, and argued that he was being penalised for using his own money instead of claiming from the taxpayer. He succeeded, with Sir Paul Kennedy
Paul Kennedy
Paul Michael Kennedy CBE, FBA , is a British historian at Yale University specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He has published prominent books on the history of British foreign policy and Great Power struggles...
accepting that the arrangement cost less than the alternative options and saying that Browne had acted "openly and honestly, and for the very purpose for which ACA was established". In the final report, Browne was not required to repay anything.
Coalition government
Following the 2010 general election Browne was appointed Minister of StateMinister 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...
with the responsibility for South East Asia & Far East, Caribbean, Central & South America, Australasia & Pacific, human rights, consular, migration, drugs and international crime, public diplomacy and the Olympics at the Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
as a member of the coalition government. He is also the Liberal Democrat member of the advisory board of the think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
Reform
Reform (think tank)
Reform is a British centre-right, liberal, think tank based in London, whose declared mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity via private sector involvement and market de-regulation. Reform describes itself as independent and non-partisan...
.
External links
- Jeremy Browne MP official site
- Jeremy Browne MP official Liberal Democrats profile
- Taunton Liberal Democrats
- Allowances by MP - Jeremy Browne at Parliament.uk
- Jeremy Browne MP Expenses at The Daily Telegraph