Patrick Charles Martyn Nicholls (born 14 December 1948) is a British solicitor and politician who served as a

Conservative 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 ...

MP for

Teignbridge Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Newton Abbot. Other towns in the district include Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish and Teignmouth. It is named for the old Teignbridge hundred. ...

between 1983 and 2001. A solicitor by profession and formerly an East Devon District Councillor, Nicholls was first elected to the House of Commons in 1983 at the age of 34, winning a comfortable majority over the nationally known

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidate, John Alderson, who had resigned as Chief Constable of Devon & Cornwall specifically to contest the seat. Within a year of entering the House of Commons, Nicholls was made a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Office Minister

David Mellor David John Mellor (born 12 March 1949) is a British broadcaster, barrister, and former politician. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1990–92) and ...

, and subsequently to the

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

John Selwyn Gummer. He was also made a Steward of The British Boxing Board of Control. After the 1987 General Election, Nicholls entered the government as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment. Still not yet 40, he was given a key role in piloting the second tranche of Conservative Trades Union reforms through Standing Committee. His upward advance was checked, however, when he was arrested for drink driving in 1990, as a result of which he resigned from the government. Nicholls’ career was, however, only temporarily stalled. He was appointed to the Westminster Foundation for Democracy at its inception in 1992 and served on The North Atlantic Assembly and the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs. In 1994, he was made a Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party and in 1997 was appointed the Shadow Fisheries Minister by the then Leader of the Opposition,

William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. A leading Eurosceptic, Nicholls was credited with having single-handedly turned Conservative Party policy around in favour of leaving the EU Common Fisheries Policy. After losing his seat in 2001, Nicholls became Chairman of The Young Britons Foundation, a research think-tank established in July 2003 to "help train tomorrow's centre-right leaders and activists today". Currently, Nicholls is a freelance political journalist and lectures on British and American politics in Europe and America as well as the UK. Nicholls is married with three children. His wife, Bridget, is also a solicitor.

References

* 1948 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub