Sir Nicholas Barton Harvey (born 3 August 1961) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was 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

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

from 1992 to 2015 and the Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2010 to 2012.

Early life and education

Harvey was born in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, and was educated at Queen's College, an independent school in the

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

in Somerset. He then attended the Middlesex Polytechnic at Enfield where he was awarded a BA degree in

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource management, a ...

in 1983. He was the president of the

students' union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

from 1981 to 1982.

Early career

He joined Profil PR Ltd in 1984 as a

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and marketing executive, before being appointed by the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

firm Dewe Rogerson (now known as Citigate Dewe Rogerson) as a marketing executive in 1986. He worked as a communications consultant from 1991 until his election to parliament.

Parliamentary career

He was elected as the vice-chairman of the Union of

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Students for a year in 1981. He unsuccessfully contested the London Borough of Enfield seat of

Enfield Southgate Enfield Southgate is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was created in 1950 as Southgate, and has been represented since 2017 by Bambos Charalambous, a member of the Labour Party. History From 1950 to the 1983 ge ...

at the 1987 general election. He finished in second place some 18,345 votes behind the then government whip Michael Portillo. He was elected to the House of Commons for North Devon at the 1992 general election by defeating the Conservative MP,

Antony Speller Antony Kirby Speller (12 June 1929 – 15 February 2013) was a British Conservative politician. Speller was born in Exeter on 12 June 1929, the son of Captain John Speller, director of posts and telegraphs for India, who later returned to take ov ...

, who had ended the parliamentary career of former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe in the same seat at the 1979 general election. Harvey won the seat with a majority of just 794, but remained the MP there until 2015. He made his maiden speech on 11 May 1992. He was made a spokesman on

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

in 1992 by Paddy Ashdown, before being moved to speak on trade and industry in 1994. He became the spokesman on constitutional affairs following the 1997 general election. He became a member the front bench team under Charles Kennedy in 1999 when he became the party's health spokesperson. After the 2001 general election, he became the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for culture, media and sport until he stood down in 2003 to spend more time with his young family. He was a member of both the

home affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...

and the standards and privileges committee since the 2005 general election. He was the vice-chairman of the all party group on beer. Until 2009, in addition to his career as an MP, he devoted time to advising a commercial public relations agency, Harrison Cowley, for which he declared an annual income of up to £10,000. After the 2010 general election, as part of the Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition, he was made minister for the armed forces. After the September 2012 reshuffle, he was knighted as a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

. He was also a member of the public bill committee for the ''

Defence Reform Act 2014 The Defence Reform Act 2014 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with defence procurement and the UK Reserve Forces, particularly the Territorial Army. It has 51 sections and seven schedules. Part 1 of the Act relates to ...

''. He lost his seat in the General Election 2015 by 6,936 votes. He contested the seat unsuccessfully in the General Election 2017, increasing his vote by 8.6%, but falling 4,332 votes short.

Corporate career

After leaving Parliament, he was chair of the trustees of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and worked for

Global Partners Global Partners LP () is an American energy supply company ranked 361 in the 2018 Fortune 500. The company is organized as a master limited partnership, and its operations focus on the importing of petroleum products and marketing them in North A ...

, where he was an adviser on Egypt and Jordan. In August 2017, he was appointed interim chief executive of the Liberal Democrats, following the resignation of Tim Gordon. He was appointed as permanent Chief Executive on 28 November 2018, but stood down less than a year later.

Political views

He was the only Liberal Democrat MP to vote against the

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve member states of the European Communities, it announced "a new stage in the ...

in 1992 and was a critic of Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy, having called into question his "political direction" and "leadership skills". He returned to the front bench as defence spokesperson under Kennedy's successor, Sir

Menzies Campbell Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a British Liberal Democrat politician, advocate and former athlete. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife from ...

. He voted against the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and called repeatedly for troops to be withdrawn under a phased timetable. He also voted against the government's decision to renew Britain's nuclear deterrent,

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

Personal life

Harvey married Kate Harvey in May 2003 in

. They have a daughter born in 2002 and a son born in 2004.

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Nick 1961 births Alumni of Middlesex University Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people People educated at Queen's College, Taunton People from Chandler's Ford UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Knights Bachelor