Nicholas Piers Huxley Hillman (known as Nick Hillman, born
Banbury
Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census.
Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
, Oxfordshire, 21 April 1972)
is an English
higher education policy
Higher education policy refers to education policy for higher education institutions such as universities, specifically how they are organised, funded, and operated in a society. According to Ansell (2006) there are "three different institutional f ...
adviser, previously a school history teacher and
special adviser for the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
. He has been the director of the
Higher Education Policy Institute
Higher may refer to:
Music
* The Higher, a 2002–2012 American pop rock band
Albums
* ''Higher'' (Ala Boratyn album) or the title song, 2007
* ''Higher'' (Ezio album) or the title song, 2000
* ''Higher'' (Harem Scarem album) or the title song ...
since 2014.
Career
Hillman studied as an undergraduate at the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
.
[ He taught English at the ]University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
in Romania in 1992, then gained a PGCE in history at Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
before teaching history at St Paul's School, London
(''By Faith and By Learning'')
, established =
, closed =
, type = Independent school Public school
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, he ...
from 1995–1998.[ He received an MA in contemporary British history at ]Queen Mary University of London
, mottoeng = With united powers
, established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College
, type = Public researc ...
, before going into politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
. He worked on pensions policy for the Association of British Insurers
The Association of British Insurers or ABI is a trade association made up of insurance companies in the United Kingdom.
History
The ABI began in 1985 after several specialised insurance industry trade associations joined to form one trade associa ...
from 2003–7, before returning to politics.[
Since January 2014 he has been the director of a ]think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
, the Higher Education Policy Institute in Oxford.[
Since 2016 he has been on the board of governors of his alma mater, the University of Manchester, and he became a fellow of another alma mater, QMUL, in 2016. From 2015-18 he was a school governor at Haddenham St Mary's. He has been a trustee of the ]National Foundation for Educational Research
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is an educational research organisation which gathers evidence and research to inform educational policy and school services. The foundation is not an examination board, however they provi ...
since April 2018 and he is a member of the Higher Education Policy Development Group at the British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
. He was previously a research fellow with Policy Exchange
Policy Exchange is a British conservatism in the United Kingdom, conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". ''The Washing ...
.[
]
Politics
Hillman worked for Conservative MP David Willetts
David Linsay Willetts, Baron Willetts, (born 9 March 1956) is a British politician and life peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire. He served as Minister of State for ...
, first as a Senior Research Officer from 2000–3,[ then from 2007 to 2010 as his chief of staff, and finally from 2010 to 2013 in the ]Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
, type = Department
, logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg
, logo_width = 200px
, logo_caption =
, picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG
, seal =
, se ...
as a special adviser when Willets was Science Minister.[ As a special adviser Hillman helped introduce higher university ]tuition fees
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spen ...
.
Hillman stood for the Conservatives in the 2002 local elections in Hammersmith Broadway Ward, coming sixth in a three-seat election with 528 votes. He was the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
in 2010, selected from six candidates in an open primary
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...
in December 2009 after Richard Normington stepped down as candidate. A fundraising dinner was supported by Clarissa Dickson-Wright. He represented himself as a "liberal Tory", but ''The Independent'' reported he was "not getting much help from the party's big guns". Hillman came second behind the Liberal Democrat Julian Huppert
Julian Leon Huppert (born 21 July 1978) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom and former Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2010 to 2015.
He succeeded David Howarth, who stood down after one term as an MP. At the 2015 gene ...
with 12,829 votes.
Personal life
Hillman grew up in Banbury. He met his wife while they were undergraduates[ and they married in Cambridge. While a teacher in London he lived in Covent Garden.] They have children[ and live in Haddenham, ]Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
.
Works
* Adam Bogdanor, David Willetts MP, Nicholas Hillman
Left Out, Left Behind
Policy Exchange, 2003
* David Willetts and Nicholas Hillman
Tax Credits: Do They Add Up?
Politeia, 2002
* Nicholas Hillman; Edited by Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich
Quelling the Pensions Storm: Lessons from the past
March 20, 2008
''The Guardian'' columnist
* Nicholas Hillman, "Public schools and the Fleming report of 1944: shunting the first-class carriage on to an immense siding?." History of Education 41#2 (2012): 235–255.
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References
External links
HEPI profile
2010 election page
archived version)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillman, Nick
Living people
British special advisers
1972 births
Alumni of the University of Manchester
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
Alumni of Queen Mary University of London
People from Banbury
People from Aylesbury Vale
Schoolteachers from Oxfordshire
20th-century English educators
English educational theorists
British lobbyists
Higher education in the United Kingdom
Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates