Graham Stuart (politician)
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Graham Charles Stuart (born 12 March 1962) is a British politician. A member of 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 ...
, he has been 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 ...
for
Beverley and Holderness Beverley and Holderness is a county constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire for the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years by the first-past-the-post ...
since
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
and served as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports (Minister for Exports) is a junior position in the Department for International Trade of the Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image ...
from 2018 to 2021, and
Minister of State for Europe The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Europe, formerly the Minister of State for Europe is a ministerial position within the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of affairs with Europe. The Minister can also be responsible for gov ...
from July to September 2022.


Education

Graham Stuart was born in
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
,
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
, and studied at
Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...
, an
independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
in
Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
, followed by
Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...
, from 1982 to 1985, where he read
Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and
Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
but failed his degree, after focusing his efforts on developing his "What's on in Cambridge" guide into a profitable business and remains non-executive chairman of the company. He was
Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the
Cambridge University Conservative Association The Cambridge University Conservative Association, or CUCA, is a long-established student political society founded 1921, as a Conservative Association for students at Cambridge University, although it has earlier roots in the late nineteenth ce ...
during Easter 1985.


Early political career in Cambridge

He was elected as a member of
Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is a district council in the county of Cambridgeshire, which governs the City of Cambridge. History Cambridge was granted a Royal Charter by King John in 1207, which permitted the appointment of a mayor. The first recorde ...
for the
Cherry Hinton Cherry Hinton is a suburban area of the city of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, England. It is around southeast of Cambridge city centre. History The rectangular parish of Cherry Hinton occupies the western corner of Flendish hundred on the so ...
Ward in the 1998 local elections. He contested the
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 ...
constituency as 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 A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...
at the 2001 general election, coming in third place with 9,829 votes, 23% of the share. He was re-elected to Cambridge City Council in the 2002 local elections and served until 2004.


Parliamentary career

Stuart 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. ...
as
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
Beverley and Holderness Beverley and Holderness is a county constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire for the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years by the first-past-the-post ...
in the 2005 general election with a majority of 2,580. Following his election, he said "I plan to be upfront and have a high profile, not only within the constituency but nationally". He sat as a member of two
select committees Select or SELECT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Select'' (album), an album by Kim Wilde * ''Select'' (magazine), a British music magazine * ''MTV Select'', a television program * ''Select Live'', New Zealand's C4 music program ...
; the
Environmental Audit Select Committee The Environmental Audit Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine how government departments' policies and programmes will affect both the envir ...
and the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee. He was elected a member of the Conservative Party Board by his fellow MPs in 2006. He was elected as chair of the Education Select Committee in June 2010. In 2005, he founded Beverley and Holderness Pensioners Action Group, Community Hospitals Acting Nationally Together (CHANT), a cross-party campaign group and Hull and Holderness Opposing the Incinerator (HOTI Group). He is vice-chairman of the GLOBE UK branch of Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment. Following the Parliamentary expenses scandal, Stuart defended his expenses in June 2009, which included spending £426 on bed linen and towels. His successful campaigns in the 2005–10 Parliament included the defeat of legislation on home education and saving the Beverley Pasture Masters. In the following parliament, he was involved in the successful campaign for lower Humber Bridge tolls, and successfully persuaded the government to improve the A164 and construct the Beverley Bypass. In 2012, he defeated a proposed increase in
VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
on static caravans, which are largely manufactured in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In June 2010, Stuart was elected by MPs as Chair of the Education Select Committee. Despite being a Conservative MP, Stuart frequently disagreed with the Secretary of State for Education
Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...
. His Committee produced up to six reports a year ranging from single evidence inquiries to more detailed examinations into Education, Schools and Family policy. Stuart supports repealing the 2004 Hunting Act to bring back fox hunting, stating in 2010: "I've always said I would vote to reverse the ban". In an interview with the journalist
Peter Wilby Peter John Wilby (born 7 November 1944) is a British journalist. He is a former editor of ''The Independent on Sunday'' and the ''New Statesman''. Early life and career Wilby was educated at Kibworth Beauchamp grammar school in Leicestershire b ...
for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Stuart described himself as socially liberal, a "deficit hawk" who favours faster cuts to public spending, and an end to welfare dependency. On 27 February 2016, Stuart announced his support for Britain continuing to be a member of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. He was appointed an Assistant Whip by the new
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
,
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 cab ...
on 18 July 2016. He was later promoted to serve as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports (Minister for Exports) is a junior position in the Department for International Trade of the Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image ...
in the January 2019 government reshuffle. He returned to the backbenches in the September 2021 reshuffle. He was then appointed as a Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in January 2022 and he held this role until July 2022. He was made Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in July 2022 as part of the caretaker government by outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He was made
Minister of State for Climate The minister of state for energy security and net zero is a mid-level position in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in the Government of the United Kingdom. It is currently held by Graham Stuart. The role used to be part of the por ...
in September 2022 as part of the incoming cabinet of Prime Minister
Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...
. In one of his first interviews in his new position with the BBC, Stuart commented that
Oil and Gas Exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...
in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
would be "good for the environment". He attended Charles III's accession council on 10 September. He was formally appointed a privy counsellor three days later, granting him the honorific style
The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...
. On 19 October 2022, before a controversial vote on fracking that the government had declared a vote of confidence, Stuart suggested that the vote was not actually a confidence vote, apparently communicating a message from a "junior official at 10 Downing Street". The resulting confusion played a significant role in the resignation of Liz Truss the next day. On 27 October 2022, upon the appointment of
Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...
as Prime Minister he was reappointed to his position and given the additional Energy portfolio but was removed from Cabinet.


Personal life

Graham Stuart lives in Beverley and separated from his wife in January 2022. He enjoys motorcycling, cycling and cricket.


Notes


References


External links


Graham Stuart website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Graham 1962 births Living people People educated at Glenalmond College Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge 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 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom