Theresa Villiers

Theresa Anne Villiers (born 5 March 1968) is a British politician. She is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet and Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.

Early life

Villiers was born in London in 1968, growing up particularly in North London. She was educated at the independent Francis Holland School, and the University of Bristol, where she gained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree with first class honours in 1990, and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) from Jesus College, Oxford, in 1991. After graduating she worked as a barrister and as a lecturer at King's College London (1994-99).

Member of the European Parliament

She was elected Member of the European Parliament for the London constituency in 1999, re-elected in 2004, standing down after the 2005 general election when she was elected as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet.

As an MEP, her main interests were finance and financial services, the preservation of London's green belt, Cyprus, animal welfare and campaigning against the Euro and the European Constitution. She served as Deputy Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament between 2001 and 2002. She also served as a member of the governing board of the Conservative Party during this period.

Member of Parliament

In 2003, following Sir Sydney Chapman's announcement that he would retire at the following election, Villiers was selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Chipping Barnet. Although Chapman's majority at the 2001 general election was only 2,701 Chipping Barnet was considered a "safe" Conservative seat, and in the 2005 general election she held the seat with an increased majority of 5,960. She resigned her seat as an MEP, which under the list system was filled by the next candidate on the Conservatives' London regional list – Syed Kamall. She lives in the constituency, in Arkley.

Second Homes Scandal - Stamp Duty on Expenses

The Sunday Times revealed on 05 April 2009 that Ms Villiers had claimed £10,350 in stamp duty for a second home near Parliament on her parliamentary expenses, despite already having a home in north London, this incident being part of the wider second homes scandal that enveloped a number of MPs. It is now likely that a TaxPayers Candidate will stand against Ms Villiers at the general election to highlight her expenses record.

Shadow Cabinet

In December 2005, following the election of David Cameron as Conservative leader, Villiers was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet after just seven months in Parliament, as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In July 2007, Cameron promoted her to Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.

Political Positions

Villiers supported the temporary suspension of Ken Livingstone by the Adjudication Panel for England, who examined the case after a complaint from the Board of Deputies of British Jews to the Standards Board for England.

Since late September 2008, Villiers has dedicated a considerable proportion of her public announcements to aviation policy, specifically the expansion of airports in the South East of England. There has been considerable debate within Conservative Party grassroots membership about her policies. Many commentators have defended her policies as environmentalist and politically expedient (given the hugh number of marginal constituencies around London Heathrow airport), while others have criticised her for putting businesses and even family holidays at risk by undermining Heathrow as a major international hub airport and intentionally supporting higher costs for flights. Criticism of Villiers's aviation policy was heightened when she spoke out against the Mayor of London's proposals for a new London airport based in the Thames Estuary, and alternative expansions at Gatwick and Stansted airports, favouring a high speed rail link from London to Leeds as an alternative policy.

Quotations

• "The European Union has been one of the greatest offenders in excluding developing countries from participating in European markets. There is simply no way that impoverished African farmers can compete with the subsidies given to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy."
• "The (European) Constitution is designed to create a country called Europe and give ever more power to Brussels at the expense of nationally elected governments. I think that's bad for democracy, bad for Britain and bad for Europe."

Family

Villiers is part of an old English political family and is related to the 1st and 2nd Dukes of Buckingham, the former being First Minister under James I and the latter a member of the CABAL cabinet under Charles II.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Theresa Villiers official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Theresa Villiers MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Theresa Villiers MP
• Open Directory Project - Theresa Villiers directory category
• IMDb
• BBC Politics
• [1]

Video clips

• Question Time February 2006

Offices held