Timothy Robert Devlin (born 13 June 1959) is a British barrister and former

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. From 1987 to 1997, 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 o ...

for Stockton South.

Early life

Devlin was born on 13 June 1959. He was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

, an all-boys public school in London. He studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, the

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

, and the

Inns of Court School of Law The City Law School is one of the five schools of City, University of London. In 2001, the Inns of Court School of Law became part of City, and is now known as the City Law School. Until 1997, the ICSL had a monopoly on the provision of the Bar ...

Career

Political career

Devlin was first elected the

(MP) for the Stockton South constituency in the 1987 general election, when he defeated

Ian Wrigglesworth Ian William Wrigglesworth, Baron Wrigglesworth (born 8 December 1939) is a Liberal Democrat peer. Education He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, brought up in Norton-on-Tees, and educated at Stockton Grammar School, Stockton-Billingham Techni ...

. From 1992 to 1994, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. Devlin was unseated in the 1997 general election, losing to

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 ...

's Dari Taylor. He tried to regain the seat in 2001, but was beaten by Taylor again. Tim Devlin, while a Tory MP, helped arrange a meeting on 28 January 1993 in which Customs was ordered to drop drug-smuggling charges against Middlesbrough drug trafficker Brian Charrington. The case was dropped when it emerged that Charrington was a paid

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informant ...

for

HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

officers. All the accused, including Charrington and

Curtis Warren Curtis Francis WarrenBarnes, Tony; Richard Elias; Peter Walsh. 2003 ''Cocky: the rise and fall of Curtis Warren, Britain's biggest drug baron'' (also known as Cocky; born 31 May 1963) is an English gangster and drugs trafficker who was formerly I ...

, were acquitted of all charges.Barnes, Tony; Richard Elias; Peter Walsh. 2003 ''Cocky: the rise and fall of Curtis Warren, Britain's biggest drug baron''

Legal career

Devlin was called to the bar in 1985, thereby qualifying as a barrister. He currently a member of Furnival Chambers.

References

External links

* 1959 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of City, University of London British barristers {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1950s-stub