Hugh O'Leary (born 1974) is an English accountant. He is the husband of

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 ...

, who was

prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

from September to October 2022.

Early life and education

O'Leary was born in Allerton, Liverpool, and raised in

Heswall Heswall is a town on the Wirral, Merseyside, England. At the 2001 Census, the population was 16,012, including the nearby villages of Barnston and Gayton. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 it was part of the administr ...

, in Wirral, as the eldest of three siblings. O'Leary's mother Susan was a nurse, and his father John was a college lecturer who trained as a solicitor and worked for the legal firm of the Liverpool lawyer Rex Makin. O'Leary attended

Birkenhead School Birkenhead School is an independent, academically-selective, co-educational day school located in Oxton, Wirral, in North West England. The school offers educational opportunities for girls and boys from three months to eighteen years of ag ...

, where he studied Mathematics and Further Mathematics at A-level, applying unsuccessfully to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

to study Philosophy, politics and economics. He went on to study

econometrics Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...

and mathematical economics at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

before becoming an accountant. Whilst at university, he was acquainted with

Thérèse Coffey Thérèse Anne Coffey (born 18 November 1971) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs since October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she previously served as Deputy Prime Mini ...

, who was later Liz Truss' Deputy Prime Minister.

Career

O'Leary worked as a finance director at Affinity Global Real Estate. O’Leary worked at Arrakis Investments Limited, a company that, at the time, had no employees other than its one director.

Politics

O'Leary has stood unsuccessfully for the Conservative Party in local elections to

Greenwich London Borough Council Greenwich London Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Greenwich in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Greenwich is divided into 23 wards, electing ...

on several occasions. At the 1998 council election, he was a candidate for the Labour-held St Alfege ward. At the subsequent council election in 2002, he stood in Greenwich West; all three seats were won by the Labour Party. His most recent candidacy to date was at the 2006 Greenwich election, this time in the Charlton ward, when O'Leary and the other opposition parties finished a considerable margin behind the winning Labour candidates. At this election, his wife

was elected to Eltham South ward, which she represented until 2010. O'Leary has remained active in politics as a member of the Conservatives, canvassing with the party in Greenwich in 2022.

Personal life

O'Leary met Truss at the 1997

Conservative Party conference The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It takes place every year around October during the British party conference season, when the House of Commons is ...

in Blackpool. The couple's first date was spent ice-skating, during which O'Leary sprained his ankle. O'Leary and Truss married in 2000; they live in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, south-east London, and the South West Norfolk constituency which Truss has represented since 2010. He stayed with Truss following her

extramarital affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

with Conservative MP Mark Field. The couple have two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OLeary, Hugh Living people 1974 births Conservative Party (UK) people English accountants English people of Irish descent People from Liverpool Alumni of the London School of Economics Spouses of prime ministers of the United Kingdom 21st-century English businesspeople Truss family