Dr Michael Clark (born 8 August 1935) 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

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Early life

He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, East Retford and

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 graduated with a BSc (1st class Hons) in Chemistry in 1956, and subsequently studied at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

on a Fulbright Scholarship, before completing a PhD in Chemistry at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1960. He worked for some years with ICI Plastics Division, initially as a Research Scientist, but subsequently as a Factory Manager. Later, he joined the motor industry, introducing plastics into the manufacture of cars and commercial vehicles. In 1969, he became a manufacturing consultant with the PA Consulting Group in London, and was a Trustee from 1994 to 2000.

Political career

Dr Clark held office at constituency level in Cambridgeshire between 1969 and 1983 being County Treasurer 1975–78, and Chairman 1980–83. He first stood, unsuccessfully, at

Ilkeston Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/texti ...

in 1979, being defeated by 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 ...

incumbent Ray Fletcher. He served as

Member of Parliament for Rochford from 1983 until 1997, then, with its abolition, for the new constituency of Rayleigh from 1997 until he stood down at the 2001 general election. In Parliament he was active in all matters involving science and technology joining, in 1983, the Energy Select Committee, becoming Chairman 1989–92. With the demise of that Committee he was elected Chairman of the All-Party Group for Energy Studies. From 1992 to 1994 he served on the Trade and Industry Select Committee, then in the Labour Government of 1997 until his retirement he was Chairman of the Science and Technology Select Committee. From 1985 to 1988 he was Hon Secretary of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee then Founding Treasurer and later Chairman ( 1993–97) of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, (P.O.S.T.). Clark was Chairman of the British Russian Parliamentary Group 1994-2001 and British Venezuelan Parliamentary Group 1995–2001, having previously been Hon Secretary of the Nepalese and Malawi Parliamentary Groups. He was an Executive Member of the Inter Parliamentary Union, IPU, from 1987 to 1994, being Chairman 1990–93. He was invited to join the Speaker's Panel of Chairmen in 1997 chairing the House at the Committee stage of the Budget in 2001 just before retiring. He was elected to the Executive of the 1922 Committee in 1997. he also served (1995-2001) on the Advisory Panel of the Conservation Foundation and the advisory board of the Fulbright Commission. He was a national vice-president of the UN50 celebrations in 1995. In 1994 he introduced as a Private Member's Bill the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Bill to make specific penalties for newly qualified drivers who commit offences, including re-testing their competence to drive. Locally, he was President of many organisations including Arthritis Care, Ashingdon Carnival, Chelmsford Industrial Museum, Hawkwell Boys Football Club, Hockley and Hawkwell Old People's Welfare, Leigh Orpheus Male Voice Choir, Mayday Mobile, Rayleigh Brass, Rochford Civic Aid, Rochford District Mencap, South East Essex Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Rayleigh St. John Ambulance Cadets. He is a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of his alma mater,

, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a Companion of the Institute of Energy. In 1992 he gave the Alf Robens Memorial lecture at the Royal Institution and was awarded the BCURA gold medal. The former Speaker of the House of Commons,

John Bercow John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior t ...

MP, began his Parliamentary career working as a researcher for Michael Clark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Michael 1935 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Fellows of King's College London University of Minnesota alumni Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Retford