Peter Lilley
Encyclopedia
Peter Bruce Lilley MP
(born 23 August 1943) 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 was a Cabinet minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher
and John Major
, serving as Trade and Industry Secretary from July 1990 to April 1992, and as Social Security Secretary from April 1992 to May 1997.
, was born at Hayes
in Kent
. He was educated at Dulwich College
and Clare College, Cambridge
, where he studied Economics and Physics. His Cambridge contemporaries included Kenneth Clarke
, Michael Howard
and Norman Lamont. Before entering Parliament, he was an energy analyst at the City of London stockbroker, W. Greenwell & Co.
, then as Economic Secretary to the Treasury
and Financial Secretary to the Treasury
before joining the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
to replace Nicholas Ridley in mid-1990 after the latter was forced to resign over an anti-German remark. After the 1992 General Election
he became Secretary of State for Social Security.
He contested the 1997 Conservative Party leadership election
, placing fourth in a field of five. In opposition, he held the post of Shadow Chancellor from 1997 to 1998 and was Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party from 1998 to 1999.
In 2001, Lilley provoked some controversy in his party and Britain more widely by calling for cannabis
to be legalised in a Social Market Foundation
pamphlet.
Lilley produced a report for the Bow Group
centre-right think tank
in 2005 that was highly critical of Government plans to introduce national identity cards
.
When David Cameron
was elected leader of the Conservatives in December 2005, Lilley was appointed Chairman of the Globalisation and Global Poverty policy group, part of Cameron's extensive 18-month policy review.
, he sang a riff on the Lord High Executioner's "little list" song from The Mikado
by Gilbert and Sullivan
:
"I've got a little list / Of benefit offenders who I'll soon be rooting out / And who never would be missed / They never would be missed. /
There's those who make up bogus claims / In half a dozen names / And councillors who draw the dole / To run left-wing campaigns / They never would be missed / They never would be missed. /
There's young ladies who get pregnant just to jump the housing queue / And dads who won't support the kids / of ladies they have ... kissed / And I haven't even mentioned all those sponging socialists / I've got them on my list / And there's none of them be missed / There's none of them be missed.
In September 2007 former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett named this speech, on BBC2's The Daily Politics, as one of his all-time favourite Conference moments.
In 1998, he changed the words of "Land of Hope and Glory
", singing "Land of Chattering Classes
", in condemnation of the purported abandonment of British values
and history by Tony Blair's
New Labour.
Lilley often used the phrase 'We have to carry out a deep and far-reaching review' to the extent that it became something of a personal catchphrase. By his own estimate, Lilley has spoken this line in the region of 130 times in Commons debates. Often the line would be delivered whilst Lilley raised an eyebrow and gave a knowing grin. The salacious undertones thus conveyed would often provoke wry amusement from many of the Tory backbenchers.
", being permanently affixed to the "Slimey Git of the Week" wall.
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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 23 August 1943) is a British 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 has been a 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 since 1983. He currently represents the constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden
Hitchin and Harpenden (UK Parliament constituency)
Hitchin and Harpenden 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.-Boundaries:...
and, prior to boundary changes, represented St Albans
St Albans (UK Parliament constituency)
St Albans is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Established in 1885, it is a county constituency in Hertfordshire, and elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.From 1554 to 1852 there was a...
. He was a Cabinet minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and 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...
, serving as Trade and Industry Secretary from July 1990 to April 1992, and as Social Security Secretary from April 1992 to May 1997.
Early life
Lilley, whose father was a personnel officer for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, was born at Hayes
Hayes, Bromley
Hayes is a place in the London Borough of Bromley, south-east London, England. It has two main areas of activity: the ancient village and suburban Hayes.-The ancient village of Nimrods :...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He was educated at Dulwich College
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...
and Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
, where he studied Economics and Physics. His Cambridge contemporaries included Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Harry "Ken" Clarke, QC, MP is a British Conservative politician, currently Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He was first elected to Parliament in 1970; and appointed a minister in Edward Heath's government, in 1972, and is one of...
, 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...
and Norman Lamont. Before entering Parliament, he was an energy analyst at the City of London stockbroker, W. Greenwell & Co.
Member of Parliament
Having been selected and elected for St. Albans, a safe Conservative seat, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nigel LawsonNigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
, then as Economic Secretary to the Treasury
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is the fifth most senior ministerial post in the UK Treasury, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster-General and the Financial Secretary...
and Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a junior Ministerial post in the British Treasury. It is the 4th most significant Ministerial role within the Treasury after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and the Paymaster General...
before joining the Cabinet as 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...
to replace Nicholas Ridley in mid-1990 after the latter was forced to resign over an anti-German remark. 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...
he became Secretary of State for Social Security.
He contested the 1997 Conservative Party leadership election
Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 1997
A leadership election was triggered in the British Conservative Party when John Major resigned on 2 May 1997, following his party's defeat at the 1997 general election .-Announced:...
, placing fourth in a field of five. In opposition, he held the post of Shadow Chancellor from 1997 to 1998 and was Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party from 1998 to 1999.
In 2001, Lilley provoked some controversy in his party and Britain more widely by calling for cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
to be legalised in a Social Market Foundation
Social Market Foundation
The Social Market Foundation is a British public policy think-tank based in Westminster, London. It was set up by supporters of David Owen after the Social Democratic Party was disbanded in the late 1980s. It aims to promote and produce policies supporting the “social market”...
pamphlet.
Lilley produced a report for the Bow Group
Bow Group
The Bow Group is one of the oldest think tanks in the United Kingdom. Taking its name from the Bow area of London where it first met, it was founded in 1951...
centre-right 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...
in 2005 that was highly critical of Government plans to introduce national identity cards
British national identity card
The Identity Cards Act 2006 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for National Identity Cards, a personal identification document and European Union travel document, linked to a database known as the National Identity Register .The introduction of the scheme was much...
.
When 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 ....
was elected leader of the Conservatives in December 2005, Lilley was appointed Chairman of the Globalisation and Global Poverty policy group, part of Cameron's extensive 18-month policy review.
Satirist
Peter Lilley has twice given singing performances at Conservative Party conferences. In 1992 as Secretary of State at the DSSDepartment 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...
, he sang a riff on the Lord High Executioner's "little list" song from The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
by Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
:
"I've got a little list / Of benefit offenders who I'll soon be rooting out / And who never would be missed / They never would be missed. /
There's those who make up bogus claims / In half a dozen names / And councillors who draw the dole / To run left-wing campaigns / They never would be missed / They never would be missed. /
There's young ladies who get pregnant just to jump the housing queue / And dads who won't support the kids / of ladies they have ... kissed / And I haven't even mentioned all those sponging socialists / I've got them on my list / And there's none of them be missed / There's none of them be missed.
In September 2007 former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett named this speech, on BBC2's The Daily Politics, as one of his all-time favourite Conference moments.
In 1998, he changed the words of "Land of Hope and Glory
Land of Hope and Glory
"Land of Hope and Glory" is a British patriotic song, with music by Edward Elgar and lyrics by A. C. Benson, written in 1902.- Composition :...
", singing "Land of Chattering Classes
Chattering classes
The chattering classes is a generally derogatory term first coined by Auberon Waugh often used by pundits and political commentators to refer to a politically active, socially concerned and highly educated section of the "metropolitan middle class," especially those with political, media, and...
", in condemnation of the purported abandonment of British values
Britishness
Britishness is the state or quality of being British, or of embodying British characteristics, and is used to refer to that which binds and distinguishes the British people and forms the basis of their unity and identity, or else to explain expressions of British culture—such as habits, behaviours...
and history by Tony Blair's
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
New Labour.
Lilley often used the phrase 'We have to carry out a deep and far-reaching review' to the extent that it became something of a personal catchphrase. By his own estimate, Lilley has spoken this line in the region of 130 times in Commons debates. Often the line would be delivered whilst Lilley raised an eyebrow and gave a knowing grin. The salacious undertones thus conveyed would often provoke wry amusement from many of the Tory backbenchers.
Television
Peter Lilley was a fixture of 90s TV show "Drop The Dead DonkeyDrop the Dead Donkey
- Major characters :* Gus Hedges — The unctuous Chief Executive of the company, and yes-man to Sir Roysten Merchant. A management stereotype, complete with clichés and clumsy metaphors, he swiftly transforms GlobeLink from a serious news network to a ratings-chasing tabloid channel...
", being permanently affixed to the "Slimey Git of the Week" wall.
External links
- The Rt Hon Peter Lilley MP official constituency website
- Profile at the Conservative Party
- Peter Lilley profile at BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 22 October 2002 - BBC article about Lilley's legalise cannabis proposal 6 July 2001
- Lilley speaks about his work as Chair of the Globalisation and Global Poverty policy group Clare Politics
Offices held
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