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Nicholas Henry Bourne, Baron Bourne of Aberystwyth (born 1 January 1952) 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 who served as Leader of the
Welsh Conservative Party The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...
and
Member of the Senedd A Member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; cy, Aelodau o'r Senedd; , plural:) (AS)., group=la is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd ...
for
Mid and West Wales Mid and West Wales or Mid and South West Wales refers to an ambiguous region of Wales that is sometimes used, consisting broadly of the preserved counties of Dyfed and Powys, sometimes Swansea and sometimes parts of Gwynedd. It is also used ...
from August 1999 until May 2011. During the 2011 Senedd election he unexpectedly lost his regional list seat, due to Conservative gains at constituency level. He was elevated to 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 ...
in September 2013, and the following year, became a 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 ...
.


Education

Bourne was the first of two children of John Morgan Bourne and his wife, Joan Edith Mary Bourne. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Chelmsford;
University of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...
; and
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 was President of Cambridge University Lawyers and Treasurer of Cambridge University Conservative Association. He is the Honorary President of
Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...
Conservative Future Conservative Future (CF) was the youth movement of the Conservative Party in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The organisation was made up of all members of the Conservative Party who were 30 years old or younger. Conservative Future was fou ...
. He obtained the bachelor of laws (First Class Honours) and LLM from University of Wales and the LLM from Trinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Grays Inn.


Professional career

A former professor of law, Bourne has been Assistant Principal of Swansea Institute of Higher Education, and was a visiting lecturer at
Hong Kong University The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...
and an author of various legal textbooks on Commercial and Company Law. In 2015, Bourne was made a fellow of Aberystwyth University and in 2018, he received the Honorary degree of LLD from the University of Wales, Trinity St David.


Political career

Bourne was the
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 ...
candidate in the
1984 Chesterfield by-election The 1984 Chesterfield by-election was held on 1 March 1984 for a seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom to represent Chesterfield in Derbyshire. This followed the resignation of the sitting Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Eric Varle ...
, having stood in the same constituency at the previous year's general election. He fought the
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
constituency in the 1997 general election. He was the Conservatives' chief spokesman in Wales, and led the unsuccessful "Just Say NO" campaign against Welsh devolution, during the 1997 referendum. After the referendum. he served on the National Assembly Advisory Group, the body that set up the institution's working arrangements. First elected to the
National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...
in
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, and re-elected in
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
and
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
. Bourne headed the regional list for the Conservatives for the entire period that he was in the National Assembly. Bourne sat on the Assembly's European and External Affairs committee and was the party's spokesman on constitutional matters. He was the leader of the Welsh Conservatives from August 1999, and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly from July 2007. Following a minor reshuffle in June 2008, Bourne also became the Shadow Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery remaining in the post until 22 October 2008. In the National Assembly, his political interests included the economy, foreign affairs, health and education. Bourne also supports charities and organizations in Wales, including the
NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...
, the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, and the
British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...
. Bourne campaigned for rural communities, opposing onshore
wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...
developments, the closure of
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
s and small schools, and supporting improved health care provision in non-urban areas. He campaigned on issues such as the need for a referendum on plans to give the assembly law making powers and supported the campaign for more legislative powers when David Cameron granted a referendum, the future of the National Botanic Garden, and on the growing cost of government in Wales. He is a member of the Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body. In 2005, he was presented with the Local Campaigner of the Year Award by BBC show ''AM.PM''; he also won AM of the Year from
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
. In 2011, he was nominated by the Welsh Conservatives as their representative on the
Commission on Devolution in Wales The Commission on Devolution in Wales ( cy, Comisiwn ar Ddatganoli yng Nghymru), also known as the Silk Commission, was an independent commission established by Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan on 11 October 2011. The commission was based at the Wa ...
, chaired by Paul Silk. He was also appointed by Edwina Hart to chair the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone from 2012 to August 2014. In addition, he served as the Conservative representative on the Williams Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery. Bourne was created 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 ...
on 9 September 2013, taking the title Baron Bourne of Aberystwyth, of
Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...
in the County of Ceredigion, and of Wethersfield in the County of Essex. Lord Bourne was made a whip in the House of Lords on 11 August 2014, replacing Lord Bates who had been promoted as part of a mini-reshuffle following the resignation of
Baroness Warsi Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi, (; born 28 March 1971) is a British lawyer, politician, and member of the House of Lords who served as Chairman of the Conservative Party, co-Chairwoman of the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2012. She se ...
. During this period he was responsible for piloting the Pensions Schemes Bill through the House of Lords. In May 2015, he was appointed
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 ...
jointly for DECC and the
Wales Office , agency_type = Ministerial department , type = Department , logo = Wales Office logo.png , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gwydyr House, Whitehall (geograph 5590 ...
. During 2017, Lord Bourne moved to the Northern Ireland Office before returning later in the year to the Wales Office, a post he continued to hold until his resignation in July 2019. At the same time, until his resignation, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Lord Bourne received the National "No to Hate Crime Award" for 2019 from the Anti-Hate Organisation Tell MAMA which campaigns against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred. In December 2019, Lord Bourne was appointed President of Remembering Srebrenica, a British charity initiative which is dedicated to bringing communities together to combat prejudice and intolerance. In particular, it also seeks to inculcate lessons of the genocide in Bosnia Herzegovina in 1995.


References


Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourne, Nick 1952 births Living people Leaders of political parties in Wales Conservative Party members of the Senedd Wales AMs 1999–2003 Wales AMs 2003–2007 Wales AMs 2007–2011 Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People associated with Swansea Metropolitan University People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Northern Ireland Office junior ministers Life peers created by Elizabeth II