Nicholas Boles
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Edward Coleridge "Nick" Boles (born 2 November 1965) is a British
Conservative Party
politician who is the Member of Parliament
(MP) for the Grantham and Stamford constituency in Lincolnshire
. He was previously a Westminster City council
lor and the Director of Policy Exchange
, a think tank
based in Westminster
.
before studying PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford
, then winning a Kennedy Scholarship
to study for a Master's in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government
, Harvard University
.
In 1995, he founded a small DIY supply small business—Longwall Holdings Limited—of which he is non-executive chairman, having served as the chief executive until 2000. In 1998, he was elected to Westminster City Council for the West End ward comprising Mayfair
and Soho
. He was chairman of the Housing Committee from 1999 to 2001, before stepping down in 2002. During much of this time, Boles flatshared with fellow Conservative activists Michael Gove
and Ivan Massow
. He and Gove, along with fellow Westminster Conservatives Ed Vaizey, David Cameron
, George Osborne
and Rachel Whetstone
, are sometimes referred to as the 'Notting Hill Set
' an influential group of relatively young Conservatives. He founded the think tank Policy Exchange
in 2002 and served as the Director until leaving the organisation in 2007 to avoid a potential conflict of interest. During his tenure Policy Exchange became one of the most influential think tanks in the country, especially after David Cameron was elected Conservative Party
leader in 2005.
Boles was the Conservative Party candidate for the Labour
-held marginal seat of Hove
for the May 2005 general election
. He received some media attention during 2005 election by being an openly gay Conservative candidate for a winnable seat. However, Celia Barlow
retained the seat for Labour. The share of the Conservative vote fell by 2% in this target marginal constituency. He was a candidate in the Conservative primary for the London mayoral election, 2008
, but withdrew after being diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Boles recovered from his illness and in October 2007 was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate to contest Grantham and Stamford, the seat previously occupied by Quentin Davies, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives to Labour earlier in 2007. In May 2008, he was appointed as the Chief of Staff
for the new Conservative Mayor of London
Boris Johnson
for a period of three months. In the later half of 2008 he started work on preparing the Conservatives for potential government by meeting senior civil servants
to discuss how to implement Conservative policies if they won the next general election.
He was elected as member for Grantham and Stamford on 6 May 2010 with a majority of 14,826 votes. He was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb
in 2010.
Nick Boles is a member of the Cambridge-based think tank the Henry Jackson Society
, which advocates a pro-active approach to the spread of liberal democracy in the world.
On Newsnight
, 18 July 2011, Boles said the News Corporation phone hacking scandal was a "little local difficulty puffed up by Labour".
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 who 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 the Grantham and Stamford constituency in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He was previously a Westminster City council
Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council and is entitled to be known as a city council, which is a rare distinction in the United Kingdom. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors...
lor and the Director of Policy Exchange
Policy Exchange
Policy Exchange is a British conservative think tank based in London. The Daily Telegraph has described it as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right"...
, a 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...
based in Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
.
Career
Boles was a scholar at Winchester CollegeWinchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
before studying PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, then winning a Kennedy Scholarship
Kennedy Scholarship
Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for six to eight British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
to study for a Master's in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
In 1995, he founded a small DIY supply small business—Longwall Holdings Limited—of which he is non-executive chairman, having served as the chief executive until 2000. In 1998, he was elected to Westminster City Council for the West End ward comprising Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
and Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
. He was chairman of the Housing Committee from 1999 to 2001, before stepping down in 2002. During much of this time, Boles flatshared with fellow Conservative activists Michael Gove
Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...
and Ivan Massow
Ivan Massow
Ivan Massow is a British entrepreneur and financial adviser. He founded PayMeMy.com in September 2011; a service which pays back 'trail' commissions - often thousands of pounds a year - to policy-holders themselves, instead of the IFAs who originally set the policies up.Ivan was also Chairman of...
. He and Gove, along with fellow Westminster Conservatives Ed Vaizey, David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, George Osborne
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in...
and Rachel Whetstone
Rachel Whetstone
Rachel Whetstone was Political Secretary to former Conservative leader, Michael Howard. She is now global head of communications and public policy for search-engine company Google....
, are sometimes referred to as the 'Notting Hill Set
Notting Hill Set
The Notting Hill Set is an informal group of young figures in prominent leadership positions in the Conservative Party, or close advisory positions around the current party leader and Prime Minister, David Cameron....
' an influential group of relatively young Conservatives. He founded the think tank Policy Exchange
Policy Exchange
Policy Exchange is a British conservative think tank based in London. The Daily Telegraph has described it as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right"...
in 2002 and served as the Director until leaving the organisation in 2007 to avoid a potential conflict of interest. During his tenure Policy Exchange became one of the most influential think tanks in the country, especially after David Cameron was elected 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...
leader in 2005.
Boles was the Conservative Party candidate for 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...
-held marginal seat of Hove
Hove (UK Parliament constituency)
Hove is a borough 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...
for the May 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....
. He received some media attention during 2005 election by being an openly gay Conservative candidate for a winnable seat. However, Celia Barlow
Celia Barlow
Celia Anne Barlow is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Hove from 2005 to 2010.-Early life:Barlow was born in Cardiff, Wales, and attended King Edward High School for Girls in Birmingham...
retained the seat for Labour. The share of the Conservative vote fell by 2% in this target marginal constituency. He was a candidate in the Conservative primary for the London mayoral election, 2008
London mayoral election, 2008
The London mayoral election, 2008 for the office of Mayor of London was held on 1 May 2008 and was won by Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson....
, but withdrew after being diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Boles recovered from his illness and in October 2007 was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate to contest Grantham and Stamford, the seat previously occupied by Quentin Davies, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives to Labour earlier in 2007. In May 2008, he was appointed as the Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
for the new Conservative Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
for a period of three months. In the later half of 2008 he started work on preparing the Conservatives for potential government by meeting senior civil servants
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
to discuss how to implement Conservative policies if they won the next general election.
He was elected as member for Grantham and Stamford on 6 May 2010 with a majority of 14,826 votes. He was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb
Nick Gibb
Nicolas John "Nick" Gibb is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton...
in 2010.
Nick Boles is a member of the Cambridge-based think tank the Henry Jackson Society
Henry Jackson Society
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan association. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic geopolitics". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson, the late Democratic Senator from Washington State...
, which advocates a pro-active approach to the spread of liberal democracy in the world.
On Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
, 18 July 2011, Boles said the News Corporation phone hacking scandal was a "little local difficulty puffed up by Labour".