Philip Martin Dunne (born 14 August 1958) is a British politician who has served as 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 o ...
(MP) for the
Ludlow
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...
constituency in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
since the
2005 general election. He is a member of the
Conservative Party.
He has been a farmer since 1987, at his family's farm just over the county boundary in
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...
, at
Leintwardine
Leintwardine ( ) is a small to mid-size village and civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire.
History
Roman
A popular misconception is that the Romans called the village ''Branogenium''. Branogenium in ...
near Ludlow; he was elected in 2001 as a councillor on the
South Shropshire District Council
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
, of which he was the Conservative leader in 2003–2005. He was also secretary of the Ludlow Conservative Association for a year in 2001.
Dunne served as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement from 2012 to 2016 and as
Minister of State for Health from 2016 to 2018.
Early life
Philip Dunne was born in
Ludlow
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...
, Shropshire, and has an ancestry of politicians and courtiers. He is the son of
Sir Thomas Dunne KG, the former
Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire. Before the English Civil War, the lieutenancy of Herefordshire was always held by the Lord Lieutenant of Wales, but after the Restoration, its lieutenants were appoint ...
and Worcestershire, who in turn is the son of
Philip Russell Rendel Dunne, who in turn was the son of
Edward Marten Dunne. Philip Dunne was educated at
Abberley Hall School
Abberley Hall School is a coeducational preparatory day and boarding school with about 160 pupils. It is located between Worcester and Tenbury, near the village of Abberley, Worcestershire, England.
History
The school began in 1878 as the Dame ...
, followed by
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, ...
and
Keble College, Oxford, where he was awarded a degree in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics. At Oxford he was part of the
Bullingdon Club.
Interviewed in 2005, Dunne said that he had taken no part in student politics at Oxford, but his tutors
Paul Hayes
Paul Edward Hayes (born 20 September 1983) is an English former professional footballer who works as director of football for Isthmian League Premier Division side Bowers & Pitsea.
As a player he was a forward who made more than 500 appearan ...
and
Larry Siedentop had influenced him by drawing international political themes to his attention.
Political career
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. T ...
at the
2005 general election for Ludlow when he unseated the incumbent
Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
MP,
Matthew Green. Dunne regained the (historically
safe) seat for the Conservatives; the seat having been lost at the
2001 general election. He made his
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
on 8 June 2005. During his first term in Parliament (2005–2010) he was a member of the
Work and Pensions Select committee, and in 2006 he was appointed to the
Public Accounts Committee.
Philip Dunne held the Ludlow constituency seat in the
2010 general election with a notable swing from the Liberal Democrats, giving Dunne a 52.8 per cent share of the vote and a new, strengthened majority of 9,749. In the
2015 general election Dunne again increased his share of the vote and substantially increased his majority.
In July 2016, he was appointed as
Minister for State for Health. In Prime Minister
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...
's January 2018 reshuffle, he was dismissed from his ministerial post. Before losing his post, Dunne was accused of belittling the winter NHS bed crisis by suggesting unwell people in accident and emergency departments of hospitals without beds could instead use seats.
Just before the
Conservative leadership election of 2005, he balloted his constituents about whom he should vote for in the contest. After this ballot Dunne announced that he would be supporting
David Cameron; he was also Chairman of Cameron's campaign in Shropshire.
Following the formation of the
Liberal Democrat–Conservative coalition government shortly after the general election, Philip Dunne was appointed as an unpaid assistant government
whip in the House of Commons. In September 2012, he was appointed Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology with responsibility for defence procurement and defence exports. In this role, he was the minister responsible for, and one of the backers of, the bill which became 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 t ...
. He was appointed to the
Privy Council of the United Kingdom in the
2019 New Years Honours List, giving him the
honorific title "
The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth ...
".
In the
2019 leadership election, Dunne managed
Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...
's campaign.
In November 2019, at a hustings held in Church Stretton, Dunne told the Labour candidate,
Kuldip Sahota, that he was "talking through his turban".
On 29 January 2020, Dunne was elected as chairman of the
Environmental Audit Committee, spearheading the examination of government policies' impact on the environment. In this remit, he proposed a
private member's bill aiming at sanctioning water companies "that discharge sewage into Britain's rivers".
Personal life
He is married to Domenica and they have two sons and two daughters. As well as farming, Dunne has worked in banking. He also helped start up
Ottakar's
Ottakar's was a chain of bookshops in the United Kingdom founded in 1987 by James Heneage. Following a takeover by the HMV Group in 2006, the chain was merged into the Waterstone's brand.
History
James Heneage established the Ottakar's chai ...
bookshop.
In 2009, Dunne's wealth was estimated at £5m.
References
External links
Homepage of Philip Dunne MP*
BBC Democracy LivePhilip Dunne MP
*
ttps://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm050608/debtext/50608-27.htm#50608-27_spnew5 Maiden speechin the House of Commons on 8 June 2005.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, Philip
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present
1958 births
Living people
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Keble College, Oxford
Politicians from Ludlow
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Shropshire
Councillors in Shropshire
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom