Colin Edward Breed (born 4 May 1947 in Surrey) is a British

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

politician. He was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

South East Cornwall South East Cornwall is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Sheryll Murray, a Conservative. Boundaries 1983–2010: The District of Caradon, the Borough of Restormel wards of Fowey, Lostwit ...

from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

until he stood down at the 2010 general election. He was also member of the parliamentary party's Treasury team.

Early life

He was born in north-east

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, the son of a

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

and he was educated at

Torquay Boys' Grammar School Torquay Boys' Grammar School is a selective boys grammar school in Torquay, Devon, England. , it had 1,113 students. The school was founded in 1904. It is situated in Shiphay, south of Torbay Hospital, not far from the A3022 and Torre railway ...

. He was appointed as an area manager with the

Midland Bank Midland Bank Plc was one of the Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836. It ...

in 1964. After 17 years with the bank, he became the managing director of Rowan Dartington & Co Ltd in 1981, before becoming a director with Gemini Abrasives in 1992 until his election to

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

Political career

Breed was elected as a councillor to both the

Caradon Caradon was a local government district in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It contained five towns: Callington, Liskeard, Looe, Saltash and Torpoint, and over 80 villages and hamlets within 41 civil parishes. Its District Council was based in Liskear ...

District Council and to the

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

Town Council in 1982. He was twice selected as the Mayor of Saltash. He was selected to contest the

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

of Cornwall South East at the 1997 general election, when the sitting

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP Robert Hicks was retiring. The 1997 general election saw losses for the Conservatives across the UK and Breed was comfortably elected as the new Liberal Democrat MP for Cornwall South East with a majority of 6,480. He made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 24 June 1997 on the preservation of plant varieties. In Parliament, Breed was appointed as a Liberal Democrat spokesman on Trade and Industry by

Paddy Ashdown Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, (27 February 194122 December 2018), better known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Internati ...

in 1997. When

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...

was elected as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1999, Breed was promoted to the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet as the Shadow

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

minister. In the same year he became a member of the

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public" by c ...

. Breed was dropped from the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet following the 2001 general election, but was appointed as a spokesman on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, before moving to speak on

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

in 2002. He returned to be a spokesman on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs following the 2005 General Election. He stood down from Parliament in April 2010, at 62 years of age, and did not seek re-election. His seat was lost to the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Personal life

Breed is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

lay preacher and voted conservatively on issues such as

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

.The Public Whip - Colin Breed MP
/ref> He married Janet Courtiour in 1968 in

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

and they have a son and a daughter.

Early life

Political career

Personal life

References

External links