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| In office 11 June 1997 – 2 June 1998 |
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| Leader | William Hague |
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| Preceded by | Gordon Brown |
| Succeeded by | Francis Maude |
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| In office 8 April 1992 – 2 May 1997 |
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| Prime Minister | John Major |
| Preceded by | Tony Newton |
| Succeeded by | Harriet Harman |
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| In office 14 July 1990 – 11 April 1992 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher, John Major |
| Preceded by | Nicholas Ridley |
| Succeeded by | Michael Heseltine |
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| In office 24 July 1989 – 28 November 1990 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Norman Lamont |
| Succeeded by | Francis Maude |
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| In office 11 June 1987 – 24 July 1989 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Ian Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Richard Ryder |
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Member of Parliament
for Hitchin and Harpenden |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 |
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| Preceded by | new constituency |
| Majority | 11,393 (24.0%) |
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Member of Parliament
for St Albans |
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| In office 9 June 1983 – 1 May 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Victor Goodhew |
| Succeeded by | Kerry Pollard |
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| Born | 23 August 1943 North London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Clare College, Cambridge |
Peter Bruce Lilley (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 which was its predecessor seat.
Contents |
Early life
Lilley, whose father was a personnel officer for the BBC, was born at Hayes in Kent. He was educated at Dulwich College and Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied Economics. 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.
Member of Parliament
Having been selected and elected for St. Albans, a safe Tory seat, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nigel Lawson, 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.[1]
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.[2]
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.
Satirist
Peter Lilley has twice given singing performances at Conservative Party conferences. In 1992 as Secretary of State at the DSS, he sang a riff on "I have a little list", from The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan, condemning those who unfairly claimed benefits. 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.
Not all his attempted satires have been so successful. Allegations of sexual deviance that had initially focussed on Michael Portillo involved Lilley by implication. In 2001 he tried to make light of the situation while scoring a political point on unemployment by wearing a tight fitting lycra t-shirt bearing the slogan "Labour says relax". Unfortuanately, this opened him up to ridicule in the House of Commons, and, coupled with his stance on the legalisation of cannabis, the party decided to remove him from front line office.
Family
He is married to Gail, an artist.
External links
- The Rt Hon Peter Lilley MP official site
- ePolitix.com - Peter Lilley
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Peter Lilley MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Peter Lilley MP
- The Public Whip - Peter Lilley MP
- BBC News - Peter Lilley profile 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
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Victor Goodhew |
Member of Parliament for St Albans 1983–1997 |
Succeeded by Kerry Pollard |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Hitchin and Harpenden 1997–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ian Stewart |
Economic Secretary to the Treasury 1987–1989 |
Succeeded by Richard Andrew Ryder |
| Preceded by Norman Lamont |
Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1989–1990 |
Succeeded by Francis Maude |
| Preceded by Nicholas Ridley |
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 1990–1992 |
Succeeded by Michael Heseltine |
| Preceded by Tony Newton |
Secretary of State for Social Security 1992–1997 |
Succeeded by Harriet Harman |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
