- David Heath (politician)
-
David Heath
CBE MP
Deputy Leader of the House of Commons Incumbent Assumed office
14 May 2010Prime Minister David Cameron Leader Sir George Young Preceded by Barbara Keeley Member of Parliament
for Somerton and FromeIncumbent Assumed office
1 May 1997Preceded by Mark Robinson Majority 1,817 (3%) Personal details Born 16 March 1954
Westbury-sub-Mendip, Somerset, EnglandNationality British Political party Liberal Democrat Spouse(s) Dr Caroline Netherton[1] Children 2 Alma mater St John's College, Oxford Website David Heath MP David William St. John Heath CBE (born 16 March 1954) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Somerton and Frome and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons.
Contents
Early life
David Heath was born in Westbury-sub-Mendip in the Mendip Hills of Somerset.
Education
Heath was educated at Millfield Preparatory School and then Millfield School, an independent school in the village of Street in Somerset, followed by St John's College at the University of Oxford, where he was awarded a MA in Physiological Sciences. He went on to study Ophthalmic Optics at the City University, London.
Early career
Heath worked as a practising optician for seventeen years from 1979. He became a parliamentary consultant to the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1990, before joining Age Concern in the same capacity in 1991. He has worked for various other charities as a consultant since 1995.
Parliamentary career
He was elected as a Liberal member of Somerset County Council in 1985, becoming the leader of the council 1985-1989. At the age of 31, he was the youngest ever leader of a county council. He remained as the Liberal Democrat group leader until 1991 and stood down from the council in 1997. He unsuccessfully contested Somerton and Frome at the 1992 General Election where he was defeated by the new Conservative MP Mark Robinson by 4,341 votes. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election when he ousted Robinson at Somerton and Frome by just 130 votes and has remained the MP there since. Although his majority has risen at each subsequent election, it remains at just 1,819. He made his maiden speech on 21 May 1997.[2]
In Parliament he served on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee for two years from 1997 and at the same time was appointed as a frontbench spokesman on foreign affairs by Paddy Ashdown. He became an agriculture, fisheries and food spokesman under the new leadership of Charles Kennedy in 1999. Following the 2001 General Election he became a spokesman on work and pensions as well as serving as a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee. In 2003 he was appointed party spokesman on home affairs before moving to speak on the office of the Leader of the House of Commons and the Department for Constitutional Affairs in 2005, and then the Ministry of Justice in 2007. Heath was also a member of the Select Committee on the Modernisation of the House of Commons from 2005 to 2006.
Heath ran for the deputy leadership of the Liberal Democrats in 2006 and came third in the first round.
In March 2008 Heath was one of three Liberal Democrat spokesmen to defy the party whip and vote in favour of a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, for which he was sacked from his frontbench role.[3] In October 2008 he was given a partial reprieve when he was chosen to lead a Liberal Democrat commission on privacy in the UK,[4] and in January 2009 he was reappointed as spokesman on the office of the Leader of the House of Commons.[5] In 2010, he was re-elected as MP for Somerton and Frome.[6]
He is the vice chairman of the all party groups on United Nations, Romania and the group on eye health and visual impairment. He is also the treasurer of the pharmacy group.
Personal life
He married Caroline Netherton in May 1987 in Somerset and they have a daughter (born May 1988) and a son (born May 1991); they live in the constituency at Witham Friary. He was the chairman of the Avon and Somerset Police Authority for three years from 1993. He became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1989 and he used to breed pigs.
References
- ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/110124/part2.htm
- ^ Hansard 21 May 1997, col 646
- ^ "Senior Lib Dems quit over EU vote". BBC News. 5 March 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7279805.stm. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
- ^ "Lib Dem EU rebels win back jobs". BBC News. 7 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7656374.stm. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
- ^ "Clegg reshuffles top Lib Dem team". BBC News. 8 January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7817906.stm. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
- ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Somerton & Frome". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/e07.stm.
External links
- David Heath MP official constituency website
- Profile at the Liberal Democrats
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
- Voting record at PublicWhip.org
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
- Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
- Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
Mark RobinsonMember of Parliament for Somerton and Frome
1997–presentIncumbent Categories:- 1954 births
- Living people
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- Liberal Democrat (UK) MPs
- Members of Somerset County Council
- Politics of Somerset
- Old Millfieldians
- People from Mendip (district)
- Alumni of City University London
- Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- UK MPs 1997–2001
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- UK MPs 2010–
- People educated at Millfield Preparatory School
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
