David James Fletcher Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, (born 21 May 1942) is a British

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 in ...

politician who served as a member of the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

under the Thatcher and Major administrations, and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1990.

Education

Hunt was educated at Liverpool College, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, at the time in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

(and now in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

), followed by the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

, where he studied Law. In 1965, representing the university, he won ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' Mace debating competition, speaking with

Bob Marshall Andrews Robert Graham Marshall-Andrews KC (born 10 April 1944) is a British barrister, author, and retired politician, who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Medway from 1997 to 2010. He defected from his former party at the 2017 general ele ...

(who would also go on to become an MP, for Labour.) In 1995, the competition was renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace, and is now run by the English-Speaking Union.

Early life

Born in Glyn Ceiriog in 1942, the son of former Royal Naval Reserves Officer Alan N Hunt

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

and Jessie E E Northrop, David Hunt was the middle child of three, with two sisters. Growing up, David was an active member of the Young Conservatives where he was inspired into running for political office for the Conservative Party.

Parliamentary career

Hunt unsuccessfully contested Bristol South in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

. In the

1973 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1973 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 2 June 1973 for ...

, he was appointed to the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

as a Member (MBE) for 'political services in the West of England'. He then unsuccessfully contested Kingswood in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

. Hunt became 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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Wirral after winning a by-election in 1976. The seat was broken up and Hunt became Member of Parliament for the new Wirral West constituency in 1983.

In Government

In Government he served as a whip and junior minister under

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, who made him

Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member ...

in 1990, shortly before her resignation later that year. In the 1990 Conservative Leadership election he is widely believed to have been the only member of the Cabinet to vote for Michael Heseltine on the first ballot. He remained at the Welsh Office until 1993, then served as

Secretary of State for Employment The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions w ...

from 1993 to 1994 and as

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

from 1994 to 1995. In the Cabinet reshuffle of 1995, Hunt was offered the position of Health Secretary which was turned down, that position then going to Stephen Dorrell. He briefly returned to the Welsh Office, whilst remaining

, for two weeks during the leadership election in mid-1995 as acting

after the incumbent, John Redwood stepped down in order to be a candidate. He lost his seat in the Labour landslide at the 1997 general election.

Peerage

In the

1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours The 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were officially announced in two supplements to ''The London Gazette'' of 1 August 1997 (published 2 August 1997) and marked the May 1997 resignation of the Prime Minister, John Major. A notable omi ...

, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Hunt of Wirral ''of Wirral in the county of

''. Lord Hunt was senior partner at the national law firm Beachcroft Wansbroughs (now

DAC Beachcroft DAC Beachcroft LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the nor ...

) between 1996 and 2005. He is now chairman of the firm's financial services division and is regarded as a major figure in the world of insurance and financial services. On certain Bills he used to occasionally step back up to the opposition front bench in the House of Lords, on an ad hoc basis. On 7 October 2008,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

formally appointed him to the front bench to shadow Peter Mandelson in the House of Lords on

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and was itself disbande ...

matters. Hunt was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Bristol on 21 February 2008. He is vice-president of the

Holocaust Educational Trust The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) is a British charity, based in London, whose aim is to "educate young people of every background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today." One of the Trust's main achievements ...

. He became chairman of the Press Complaints Commission on 17 October 2011. In December 2011 he recommended closing the PCC and replacing it with an alternative independent press regulator.

Arms

Notes

External links

*
Profile
at the Conservative Party website
Profile at Beachcroft LLP
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, David Alumni of the University of Bristol British Secretaries of State for Employment Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Liverpool College Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Secretaries of State for Wales Treasurers of the Household UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 1942 births