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| He is a direct descendant from ] and is ] to the ]cy currently held by his older brother, Sir William Arbuthnot. On ] ], he married Emma Broadbent, daughter of ], Wine Director of Christie's, and has one son and three daughters. | He is a direct descendant from ] and is ] to the ]cy currently held by his older brother, Sir William Arbuthnot. On ] ], he married Emma Broadbent, daughter of ], Wine Director of Christie's, and has one son and three daughters. | ||
| His monotonous voice has been compared to the ]. | His monotonous voice has been compared to the ].<ref></ref> | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 20:56, 1 December 2007
| The Rt Hon. James Arbuthnot | |
|---|---|
| File:JNA.jpg | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | |
| In office 6 November 2003 – 6 May 2005 | |
| Leader | Michael Howard |
| Preceded by | David Willetts (Pensions) Tim Yeo (Trade) |
| Succeeded by | David Willetts (Trade) Malcolm Rifkind (Pensions) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-08-04) August 4, 1952 (age 72) Deal, Kent, UK |
| Political party | Conservative |
James Norwich Arbuthnot (born 4 August 1952) is a British politician. He is the British Member of Parliament for Hampshire North-East and is a member of the Conservative Party. Since the 2005 election he has served as the chairman of the influential Defence Committee and he is the current Parliamentary Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel.
Early Life
Arbuthnot was born in Deal, Kent, the son of Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet and Margaret Jean Duff. He was educated at Wellesley House School in Broadstairs, Eton College 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. He fought the futile seat of Cynon Valley in the Labour heartland in industrial South Wales valleys at the 1983 General Election and was unsurprisingly hammered by Ioan Evans. A year later in 1984, Evans died and Arbuthnot fought the by-election; he was again defeated by the Labour candidate Ann Clwyd.
At the 1987 General Election, Arbuthnot was chosen to fight the safe Conservative seat of Wanstead and Woodford as the sitting MP, Patrick Jenkin, was standing down. Wanstead and Woodford was the former constituency of Winston Churchill. Arbuthnot held the seat comfortably.
Member of Parliament
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. He remained in office until the collapse of the Major government.
Arbuthnot's seat of Wanstead and Woodford was abolished at the 1997 general election, and he found a new seat in the form of Hampshire North East. 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 fold as a backbencher. He was made a Member of the Privy Council in 1998. Arbuthnot returned to the Shadow Cabinet under Michael Howard Shadow Trade Secretary in 2003 and stood down after the 2005 General Election. Since the election he has served as the chairman of the influential Defence Committee.
Personal Life
He is a direct descendant from King James I and is heir presumptive to the baronetcy currently held by his older brother, Sir William Arbuthnot. On 6 September 1984, he married Emma Broadbent, daughter of Michael Broadbent, Wine Director of Christie's, and has one son and three daughters.
His monotonous voice has been compared to the speaking clock.
References
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1991, 172nd edition, Hurst Green, East Sussex, p.396. ISBN 0-905702-17-4
- "thePeerage". Retrieved 2007-01-02.
- "DodOnline". Retrieved 2007-01-02.
See also
External links
- Official MP Website
- North East Hampshire Conservative Association
- Guardian Unlimited Politics Ask Aristotle - James Arbuthnot MP
- Voting record
- They Work For You - James Arbuthnot MP
- Arbuthnot family tree
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byPatrick Jenkin | Member of Parliament for Wanstead and Woodford 1987–1997 |
Succeeded by(constituency abolished) |
- Conservative MPs (UK)
- UK MPs 1987-1992
- UK MPs 1992-1997
- UK MPs 1997-2001
- UK MPs 2001-2005
- UK MPs 2005-
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- Councillors in Greater London
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Old Etonians
- People from Deal, Kent
- Arbuthnot family
- 1952 births
- Living people