British Conservative politician
Sir Oliver Heald
KC
(born 15 December 1954) is a British
barrister
and
Conservative Party
politician who served as the
Member of Parliament
(MP) for
North East Hertfordshire
, formerly
North Hertfordshire
, from
1992
to
2024
.
Early life and career
[
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]
Oliver Heald was born on 15 December 1954 in
Reading, Berkshire
, and was educated at the
Reading School
and
Pembroke College, Cambridge
, where he read Law. He was
called to the Bar
at the
Middle Temple
in 1977 and was a practising
barrister
in London and
East Anglia
at Fenners Chambers in Cambridge from 1979 until he was elected to Parliament.
He became Chairman of the
North Hertfordshire
Conservative
Association for two years from 1984.
At the
1987 general election
, Heald stood as the Conservative candidate in
Southwark and Bermondsey
, coming third with 12.6% of the vote behind the incumbent
Liberal
MP
Simon Hughes
and the
Labour
candidate.
[1]
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.
[2]
Parliamentary career
[
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]
Heald was elected to the
House of Commons
as MP for
North Hertfordshire
at the
1992 general election
with 49.8% of the vote and a majority of 16,531.
[3]
[4]
He made his
maiden speech
on 9 June 1992 in which he spoke of his political beginnings on a
soapbox
at
Speakers' Corner
.
[5]
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. In 1995 he introduced the
Insurance Companies (Reserves) Act
.
[6]
Prior to the
1997 general election
, Heald's constituency of North Hertfordshire was abolished, and replaced with
North East Hertfordshire
. At the election, Heald was elected to Parliament as MP for North East Hertfordshire with 41.7% of the vote and a majority of 3,088.
[7]
After the election he became an
Opposition Whip
under the new leadership of
William Hague
, before moving on to become a Spokesman for
Home Affairs
with responsibility for police matters.
Heald was re-elected as MP for North East Hertfordshire at the
2001 general election
with an increased vote share of 44.1% and an increased majority of 3,444.
[8]
He was made a Spokesman for
Health
by
Iain Duncan Smith
in 2001.
He joined
Michael Howard
's
Shadow Cabinet
as the
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
in 2003. In 2004 he was then appointed to serve as
Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs
and in 2005 was appointed by
David Cameron
as the
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
.
At the
2005 general election
, Heald was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 47.3% and an increased majority of 9,138.
[9]
From November 2007 to September 2012 he was a member of the
Work and Pensions Select Committee
, and from March 2008 ? September 2012 he was a member of the
Committee on Standards in Public Life
.
At the
2010 general election
, Heald was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 53.5% and an increased majority of 15,194.
[10]
From July 2010 until September 2012 he was appointed to the
House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee
and he has also been a member of the UK Delegation to the
Council of Europe
.
In 2012, Heald
returned to Government
as
Solicitor-General
. He had previously helped to lead the rebellion against the
House of Lords Reform Bill
, eventually abstaining on the vote.
[11]
At the
2015 general election
, Heald was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 55.4% and an increased majority of 19,080.
[12]
[13]
[14]
Heald was opposed to Brexit prior to the
2016 referendum
.
[15]
On 29 September 2016, he was appointed to the
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
and may therefore use the
style
The Right Honourable
.
[16]
Heald was again re-elected at the snap
2017 general election
, with an increased vote share of 58.6% and a decreased majority of 16,835.
[17]
[18]
Insignia of a Knight Bachelor
In December 2017 Heald voted with fellow Conservative
Dominic Grieve
and nine other Conservative MPs against the government, and in favour of guaranteeing Parliament a "
meaningful vote
" on any deal Theresa May agrees with Brussels over
Brexit
.
[19]
[20]
At the
2019 general election
, Heald was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 56.6% and an increased majority of 18,189.
[21]
[22]
Heald was
knighted
in the
2014 Special Honours
.
[23]
In January 2024, Heald announced that he would stand down at the
2024 general election
.
[24]
The conservative candidate to replace him is former special adviser
Nikki da Costa
.
[25]
Personal life
[
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]
Heald became the Executive Chairman of the
Society of Conservative Lawyers
in July 2008. He takes a particular interest in
healthcare
.
He and his wife Christine (nee Whittle) live in his Hertfordshire constituency, in the market town of
Royston
; they have a son and two daughters.
[26]
His daughter Sarah stood as a Conservative candidate in
Manchester Withington
in the 2017 election.
References
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External links
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]