Sir Gary Nicholas Streeter (born 2 October 1955) is a
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politician in the United Kingdom. Since 1997 he has been 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 West Devon
South West Devon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Sir Gary Streeter, a Conservative.
Boundaries
1997–2010: The District of South Hams wards of Bickleigh and Shaugh, Brixton, Charterlan ...
, previously holding the nearby seat of
Plymouth Sutton
Plymouth, Sutton was, from 1918 until 2010, a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
History
Pl ...
between 1992 and 1997. Since the convening of the
Fifty-fifth Parliament, Streeter has been the longest currently serving MP representing a constituency in the county of
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
.
On 25 November 2022, he announced that he would not seek re-election at the
next general election.
Early life
Streeter attended
Tiverton Grammar School Tiverton most often refers to:
*Tiverton, Devon, a town in England
__NOTOC__
Tiverton may also refer to:
Canada
*Tiverton, Ontario, a village
*Tiverton, Nova Scotia, a village known for its "Balancing Rock"
United Kingdom
*Tiverton, Cheshire, a vi ...
,
Tiverton, Devon
Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587.
History Early history
The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-fo ...
, where he was head boy from 1972 to 1973, then
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, where he gained a first-class honours law degree. From 1984 to 1998, he was a solicitor and partner at Foot and Bowden (now called Foot Anstey) in Plymouth, where he specialised in
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
and
employment law
Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...
. In 1998 Streeter was fined £1,000 by the Law Society for conduct unbecoming a solicitor due to a conflict of interest when dealing with a business merger in 1991 while with Foot Bowden Limited.
Streeter's initial political experience was as a councillor on
Plymouth City Council
Plymouth City Council is the unitary authority for Plymouth, Devon. It has traditionally been controlled by Labour or the Conservatives. The council is currently in a state of no overall control, with the Conservatives governing as a minority ad ...
, where he represented Mount Gould ward from 1986 to 1992. Having been elected to serve as a member of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(SDP), in January 1988 he defected to the Conservative Party.
['MP who followed God's call prays voters have faith in Tories', ''Evening Herald'', 24 November 2004. Retrieved 20 October 2022.] Reflecting on his career in an interview with the Plymouth
''Evening Herald'' years later, Streeter attributed his initial party allegiance to the influence of
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...
, then SDP leader and MP for
Plymouth Devonport, but explained that by 1988 he had come to "believe strongly in individual responsibility, in the family, the nation, enterprise. I thought to myself 'I am a natural Conservative, what am I doing in the SDP?' So I crossed over."
Parliamentary career
Streeter served as a junior minister in the
Lord Chancellor's Department
The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales.
Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancell ...
under
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
from 1996 until the defeat of the
Major Government in 1997, and was
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
The shadow cabinet minister for international development is the lead spokesperson for the United Kingdom's Official Opposition on issues related to international aid, most notably to the third world. The shadow cabinet minister holds the Ministe ...
in the Shadow Cabinet of
William Hague
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
from 1998 until the new Conservative leader
Iain Duncan Smith
Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was S ...
returned him to the
backbenches
In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
in 2001.
He is currently a member of the
Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission (SCEC), or simply the Speaker's Committee, is a body created under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to scrutinise the Electoral Commission. and is the member of the committee responsible for answering oral questions in Parliament on behalf of the
Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
. He assumed the role after Sir
Peter Viggers
Sir Peter John Viggers (13 March 1938 – 19 March 2020) was a British Conservative politician and lawyer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport for 36 years, from 1974 to 2010. He stepped down as a result of the investigati ...
stepped down during the
MPs' expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009, concerning expenses claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords over the previous year ...
. His own expenses for 2008/09 were £162,719, ranking 158th out of 647 MPs.
In March 2012, Streeter was one of three MPs who signed a letter to the
Advertising Standards Authority asking it to reverse its decision to stop the Christian group "Healing on the Streets of Bath" from making explicit claims that prayer can heal. The letter called for the ASA to provide "indisputable scientific evidence" that faith healing did not work. Another signer,
Tim Farron
Timothy James Farron (born 27 May 1970) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has also served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005, before which he worked ...
of the
Liberal Democrats, later wrote that the letter was not "well-worded" and that he should not have signed it "as it was written".
In 2013, Streeter referred to the "familiar glint in the swivelled eyes of the purists" within his own party in an article attacking the divisions caused by those activists who were calling for a referendum on EU membership.
The remark followed allegations that senior members of the government had characterised
Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
activists as "swivel-eyed loons". Streeter argued that the result of party infighting over the issue would be "a Labour-led government bend
ngthe knee to Brussels".
Streeter was opposed to
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
prior to the
2016 referendum.
In November 2018, Streeter announced his support for
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
's Brexit agreement.
In December 2018, it was announced that Streeter would receive a
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
in the
2019 New Year Honours List. Streeter told the
Press Association
PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...
that he hoped his honour reflected, in part, his work over the past decade as chairman of the all-party group on Christians in Parliament and supporting new MPs once they had arrived at Westminster.
Streeter was a supporter of
Esther McVey
Esther Louise McVey (born 24 October 1967) is a British politician and television presenter serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Housing and Pla ...
during the
2019 Conservative Party leadership election
The 2019 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered when Theresa May announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June and as prime minister of the United Kingdom once a successor had been el ...
and one of the proposers of her nomination. McVey was eliminated in the first round of voting. In later rounds he backed
Sajid Javid
Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer f ...
, who was appointed
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
by eventual victor
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
later that year.
Streeter was reelected at the
2019 general election with an increased majority. He briefly acted as
Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three deputies. The incumbent is Dame Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest, who was first elected to the office on ...
at the start of the
58th Parliament. On 2 February 2022, Streeter announced that he had submitted a letter to the chairman of the
1922 committee
The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The committee, consisting of all Conservative backbench member ...
, seeking a motion of no confidence in the prime minister,
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
, stating that "''I cannot reconcile the pain and sacrifice of the vast majority of the British Public during lockdown with the attitude and activities of those working in Downing Street''".
Following the
resignation of Boris Johnson in July 2022, Streeter announced his support for
Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...
in the subsequent
July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election
The July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Boris Johnson's announcement on 7 July 2022 that he would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party after a series of political controversies. The leadership ele ...
. He became the seventh MP to publicly call for the resignation of Prime Minister
Liz Truss
Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...
on 20 October.
Personal life
Streeter married Janet Stevens in 1978 in
Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
; the couple have a son and daughter, and the family live near
Plympton
Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Plym ...
in Devon. He is a committed Christian who believes in
faith healing
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...
.
In the 2015 general election his son Gareth was selected as Conservative candidate for
Rother Valley in South Yorkshire and polled third behind incumbent Sir
Kevin Barron
Sir Kevin John Barron (born 26 October 1946) is a British Labour Party politician and former coal industry worker. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rother Valley from 1983 until 2019.
Early life
Kevin John Barron, the son of Richard ...
and Cowles of
UKIP
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest pa ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Streeter, Gary
Knights Bachelor
1955 births
Living people
Alumni of King's College London
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Councillors in Devon
People from Gosport
Politicians from Plymouth, Devon
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Devon
Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians
Politicians awarded knighthoods
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present