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James Norwich Arbuthnot, Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom, (born 4 August 1952), is a British
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. He was
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
Wanstead and Woodford from
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
to
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 ...
, and then MP for
North East Hampshire
North East Hampshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Ranil Jayawardena, a Conservative who has served as Environment Secretary since 2022.
History
The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of t ...
from 1997 to
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
.
Arbuthnot served as chairman of the
Defence Select Committee
The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pub ...
from 2005 to 2014, before being nominated as a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
in the
Dissolution Peerages List 2015 of August 2015.
Created Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom, of Edrom in the County of Berwick, on 1 October 2015, Lord Arbuthnot sits on the Conservative benches in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
.
Early life
Arbuthnot was born in
Deal, Kent
Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked to the anchora ...
, the second son of
Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet
Sir John Sinclair Wemyss Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet, (11 February 1912 – 13 June 1992) was a British Conservative Party politician.
Early life and education
Arbuthnot was born in Kittybrewster, the son of Major Kenneth Wyndham Arbuthnot, who wa ...
, MP for
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
between 1950 and 1964, and Margaret Jean Duff.
[''Burke's Peerage 2003'', page 126] He was educated at
Wellesley House School
Wellesley House School is an independent day and boarding preparatory school in the coastal town of Broadstairs in the English county of Kent. Founded in 1866, it educates boys and girls aged 3 to 13.
History
The history of Wellesley House Sch ...
in
Broadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...
and
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
, where he was captain of School, before going up to
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, where he obtained a law degree (BA) in 1974.
Arbuthnot was
called to the Bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
by
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
in 1975 and became a practising
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
. An active member of the Chelsea Conservative Association, he was elected a
councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
of the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...
in 1978, and remained a councillor until he was elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
in 1987. In 1980 he became the vice-chairman of the Chelsea Conservative Association.
Arbuthnot contested the
Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley () is a former coal mining valley in Wales. Cynon Valley lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash is in the south of t ...
seat, in the
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
heartland of industrial
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
, at the
1983 general election and was defeated by
Ioan Evans Ioan Evans may refer to:
* Ioan Evans (politician)
Ioan Lyonel Evans (10 July 1927 – 10 February 1984) was a British politician. He served as a Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 until his death. ...
. A year later in 1984, Evans died and Arbuthnot fought the resulting
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
, but he was again defeated by the Labour candidate,
Ann Clwyd.
Member of Parliament
In government (1988–1997)
In the
1987 general election Arbuthnot was chosen to contest the safe Conservative seat of
Wanstead and Woodford, as the sitting MP,
Patrick Jenkin
Charles Patrick Fleeming Jenkin, Baron Jenkin of Roding, (7 September 1926 – 20 December 2016) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher's first government.
Life and career
Jenkin w ...
, was standing down. Arbuthnot won the seat and increased the Conservative majority by over 2,000 to 16,412.
In 1988 he became the
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
(PPS) to
Archie Hamilton
Archibald Gavin Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom, (born 30 December 1941) is a British Conservative Party politician.
Background and education
Hamilton is the second son of the 3rd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, a Lord-in-waiting to the Queen. ...
at the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
, and in 1990 became the PPS to the
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a memb ...
,
Peter Lilley
Peter Bruce Lilley, Baron Lilley, PC (born 23 August 1943) is a British politician and life peer who served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parl ...
. He entered the
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 ...
government after the
1992 general election when he was made an Assistant Government
Whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
. He was promoted in 1994 as the
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of Minister (government), government minist ...
at the
Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...
. The following year he was promoted to
Minister for Defence Procurement
The Minister of State for Defence Procurement is, as a Minister of State, a mid-level defence minister in the Ministry of Defence of the British Government. The current incumbent of the post, Conservative MP Alex Chalk, was appointed in October 202 ...
, where he remained until the end of the
Major government in 1997.
Arbuthnot stated that one of his most pleasing parliamentary achievements was "organising an all-party meeting with the Prime Minister for the exoneration of the pilots of the
Chinook that crashed on the
Mull of Kintyre
The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula (formerly ''Cantyre'') in southwest Scotland. From here, the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland is visible on a calm and clear day, and a historic lighthouse, the second ...
in 1994".
In opposition (1997–2010)
Arbuthnot's seat of Wanstead and Woodford was abolished at the
1997 general election, when he was selected for the new seat of
North East Hampshire
North East Hampshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Ranil Jayawardena, a Conservative who has served as Environment Secretary since 2022.
History
The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of t ...
. In Opposition, he was a member 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 ...
's
Shadow Cabinet as the Conservative Party's Chief Whip until the
2001 general election when he returned 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 " ...
. He was sworn of the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
in 1998.
Arbuthnot returned to the Shadow Cabinet under
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...
as
Shadow Trade Secretary in 2003, but stood down after the
2005 general election. Since that election he served as the chairman of the influential
Defence Select Committee
The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pub ...
and was Chair of the Special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill that became the Armed Forces Act 2011. He is a Senior Associate Fellow of the
Royal United Services Institute
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...
.
Arbuthnot was the parliamentary chairman of the
Conservative Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as between the Br ...
. He was also a member of the
Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation, established in October 2009.
In the 2009
expenses scandal, Arbuthnot apologised and repaid the public money he had claimed for his swimming pool to be cleaned.
Later that year, he was further criticised in the press for £15,000 of expenses he claimed for upkeep at his second home, including tree surgery and painting his summer house.
In government (2010–2015)
In June 2011 Arbuthnot announced that he would not contest the
next general election. On 16 January 2015, he publicly declared his
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
, stating "the pressure on a Conservative politician, particularly of keeping quiet about not being religious, is very similar to the pressure that there has been about keeping quiet about being gay"; he later clarified that he is not gay.
Arbuthnot has been playing a pivotal role in helping the Sub Postmasters affected by the
Great Post Office Scandal to seek justice after the post office wronglyand, it has been alleged, knowinglysought and obtained convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting against a large number of them.
Personal life
On 6 September 1984, Arbuthnot married
Emma Louise Broadbent, daughter of
Michael Broadbent
John Michael Broadbent, MW (2 May 1927 – 17 March 2020) was a British wine critic, writer and auctioneer in a capacity as a Master of Wine. He was an authority on wine tasting and old wines.
Career
Broadbent was born in Yorkshire. He was ed ...
,
Wine Director of
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
. Since 2020 she has been a
Justice of the High Court, having previously served as the Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate) for England and Wales.
James Arbuthnot is the chairman of the advisory board of the UK division of multinational defence and security systems manufacturer
Thales
Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded him ...
. He is a Senior Associate Fellow of the defence and security think tank
.
He is a descendant of
James V of Scotland
James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of James IV of Sco ...
.
His middle name is after his great-great grandfather,
Norwich Duff
Admiral Norwich Duff FRSE (15 August 1792 – 21 April 1862) was a Royal Navy officer.
Life
The son of Captain George Duff RN, and Sophia Dirom, he was born at 9 South Castle Street, Edinburgh. He entered the Royal Navy in July 1805, just befor ...
(1792-1862).
He is also a distant cousin of
Gerald Arbuthnot
Gerald Archibald Arbuthnot (19 December 1872 – 25 September 1916) was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician.
Early life
The son of Major General William Arbuthnot and Selina Moncreiffe, he was vice-chancellor of the Primrose ...
, the former MP for
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
.
Arbuthnot and his wife have four children:
*
Hon
Hon or HON may refer to:
People
* Han (surname) (Chinese: 韩/韓), also romanized Hon
* Louis Hon (1924–2008), French footballer
* Priscilla Hon (born 1998), Australian tennis player
Other uses
* Hon (Baltimore), a cultural stereotype of ...
Alexander Arbuthnot (born 1986)
* Hon Kate Arbuthnot (born 1989)
* Hon Leaf Arbuthnot (born 1992)
* Hon Alice Arbuthnot (born 1998)
Lord and Lady Arbuthnot divide their time between London and Berkshire.
Arms
See also
*
Clan Arbuthnott
Clan Arbuthnott is a Lowland Scottish clan.
History
Origin of name
The name Arbuthnott is of territorial origin from the lands of the same name in the county of Kincardineshire. Early documents refer to these lands as ''Aberbothenoth'' which ...
*
Court of Lord Lyon
*
Disclosure of expenses of British Members of Parliament
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 ...
References
External links
North East Hampshire Conservative Association*
''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage'' online
, -
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbuthnot, James
1952 births
Living people
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
English people of Scottish descent
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Life peers created by Elizabeth II
Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
English atheists
Members of Lincoln's Inn
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
People from Deal, Kent
Politics of Hampshire
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
Younger sons of baronets