Owen Paterson

The Right Honourable Owen Paterson MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 May 2010
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Shaun Woodward
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 2 July 2007 – 12 May 2010
Preceded by	David Lidington
Succeeded by	Shaun Woodward
Member of Parliament for North Shropshire
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	John Biffen
Majority	15,828 (30.5%)
Personal details
Born	(1956-06-24) 24 June 1956 (age 55) Whitchurch, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Rose Ridley
Children	3
Alma mater	Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Profession	Leather industries
Website	Constituency website

Owen William Paterson (born 24 June 1956) is a British Conservative Party politician and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Shropshire.

Early life and career

Paterson was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire. He attended Abberley Hall School and Radley College, before going to Cambridge University, where he studied History at Corpus Christi College and graduated in 1978. He then went on to the National Leathersellers College (now the British School of Leather Technology at the University of Northampton).^[1]

He joined the British Leather Company in 1979, becoming Sales Director in 1983 and Managing Director from 1993 to 1999. He was President of COTANCE,^[2] the European Tanners Confederation from 1996–1998. He was a Director of Parsons and Sons^[3] leather company in Halesowen in the 1990s. Paterson is a Liveryman of the Leathersellers' Company.

Member of Parliament

He contested, but failed to win, the Wrexham seat in the 1992 general election. He is Member of Parliament for North Shropshire, being first elected at the 1997 general election and has won at all general elections there since.^[4]

He served on a number of committees including the Welsh Affairs Committee (1997–2001), the European Standing Committee (1998–2001), and the Agriculture Committee (2000–01).^[5] Owen is a supporter of Royal Irish Regiment which is based in his constituency at Tern Hill ^[6]

His parliamentary record has shown him as voting moderately against gay rights^[7]

Front bench politician

Owen was appointed Shadow agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister from 2003-05. As agriculture spokesman Owen became an expert on bovine TB and campaigned for the dairy industry. He visited Michigan, Maryland and Washington to discuss Bovine TB Policy, writing extensively on the issue facing the UK.^[8]

He travelled all over the North Atlantic to produce a landmark Green Paper on Fisheries.^[9] Owen joined the crew of the Kiroan, one of the few remaining trawlers out of Fleetwood, Lancashire, to view the fishing practices which have been created by the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.^[10] He wrote the Green Paper "Consultation on a National Policy on Fisheries Management in U.K.Waters" ^[11] Which was used by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fish Fight Campaign.^{[citation needed]}

Shadow Minister for Transport

Owen previously served as Shadow Minister for Transport from 2005-07. Whilst he was Shadow Minister for Roads, Owen he researched best practice and the latest ideas from Europe and North America.^[9]

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

He was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 2 July 2007.

Patterson negotiated an agreement with the Ulster Unionist Party to re-establish the traditional links between the two parties, which was broken in 1972. ^[12] This included running joint Conservative/UUP candidates for the 2009 European and 2010 general elections.

News of this alliance was praised by several Conservatives, including Iain Dale and ConservativeHome.^{[13] [14]} However the alliance caused the UUP's only MP Sylvia Hermon to resign from the UUP. She retained her seat successfully against the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists in the 2010 Westminster election. The UUP lost seats at the assembly elections the following year.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

This section may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization. (September 2011)

Owen Paterson was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in The Coalition Government on 12 May 2010.^[15] He was created a Privy Councillor on 13 May 2010.^[16]

One of his first tasks was overseeing the publication and delivery of the Saville Report on the events of Bloody Sunday which led to an apology by the Prime Minister David Cameron.^[17] He Worked with the Treasury to deliver his promise of a consultation on the devolution of the power to reduce the rate of Corporation Tax ^[18] to Stormont. Owen has stated that "Rebalancing and rebuilding the economy is critical to the future prosperity of Northern Ireland and it is one of the Government’s key priorities for Northern Ireland."^[19] He has been outspoken on the issue of integrated education in Northern Ireland. Currently 95% of Northern Ireland pupils attend a segregated school He has said segregated education was not working. He stated in October 2010 that “there's a school in Belfast with no pupils and there's a school in Belfast with more staff than pupils. That's just a criminal waste of public money. We cannot go on bearing the cost of segregation and I don't see why the British taxpayer should continue to subsidise segregation."^[20] This is all part of his “normalisation” idea.

Personal life

Paterson married Rose Ridley, the daughter of Matthew Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley and sister of Matt Ridley in 1980. They have two sons and a daughter. Paterson speaks fluent French and German. His wealth is estimated at £1.5m.^[21]

Paterson is a keen horse rider and racer. He has ridden across Turkmenistan and most recently Mongolia.^[22]

Styles

• Mr Owen Paterson (1956–97)
• Mr Owen Paterson MP (1997–2010)
• Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP (2010– )

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Owen Paterson

• Owen Paterson MP official constituency website
• Profile at the Conservative Party
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Guide to new Cabinet members: Owen Paterson, BBC News, 13 May 2010

v t e Cameron cabinet (list) Cameron · Clegg Alexander · Cable · Clarke · Davey · Duncan Smith · Gillan · Gove · Greening · Hague · Hammond · Hunt · Lansley · May · Mitchell · Moore · Osborne · Paterson · Pickles · Spelman · Strathclyde · Warsi Also attending: Letwin · Maude · McLoughlin · Willetts · Young When on agenda: Grieve Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement · Coalition government

v t e Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Office 1972-1974 Whitelaw · Pym 1974-1979 Rees · Mason 1979-1997 Atkins · Prior · Hurd · King · Brooke · Mayhew 1997-2010 Mowlam · Mandelson · Reid · Murphy · Hain* · Woodward 2010-present Paterson *Also Secretary of State for Wales