Robert Key (politician)

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Robert Key
honorific-suffix =

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caption =
constituency_MP2 = Salisbury
parliament2 =
term_start2 = 9 June 1983
term_end2 =
majority2 = 8,703 (16.5%)
predecessor2 = Michael Hamilton
successor2 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1945|04|22|df=yes
birth_place = Plymouth
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Susan Irvine
party = Conservative
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = Clare College, Cambridge
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Simon Robert Key known as Robert Key (born 22 April 1945, Plymouth) is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He is the current Member of Parliament for Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Early life

He went to Salisbury Cathedral School, then independent Sherborne School. He studied economics at Clare College at the University of Cambridge, receiving an MA and CertEd. He taught at the Loretto School in Edinburgh from 1967-9, then taught economics at Harrow School from 1969-83.

Political career

He contested the Holborn and St Pancras South seat in 1979. He is Member of Parliament for Salisbury, and has been an MP since 1983. He was Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities in the Department of the Environment (now DEFRA) from 1990-2, setting up the [http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/page.asp?id=524 Inner Cities Religious Council] in 1991, and a junior minister at the Department of National Heritage (now Culture, Media and Sport) from 1992-3. He was Minister for Roads and Traffic from 1993-4. He served as a front-bench spokesman during the leaderships of William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith but is now a backbencher and a member of the Defence Select Committee. In 2001, he was the shadow minister for Science and Energy, and in July 2002 the shadow minister for International Development. He stood down in June 2003.

In 2005, he won re-election with an increased majority. From 1994-2001, he was a Director of Hortichem ( [http://www.certiseurope.co.uk Certis UK] since 2001) in Amesbury.

Personal life

He is the son of John Maurice Key [http://www.truro.anglican.org/b10.htm] who was the 10th Bishop of Truro from 1960-73, and Bishop of Sherborne from 1947-60. He married Scottish Susan Irvine in 1968 in Perth. They have one son and two daughters and live in Harnham. He is a committed choral singer and member of the Church of England.

External links

* [http://www.robertkey.com Robert Key] official site
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2892,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Robert Key MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/robert_key/salisbury TheyWorkForYou.com - Robert Key MP]
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Robert_Key&mpc=Salisbury The Public Whip - Robert Key MP] voting record
* [http://www.salisburyconservatives.com/page/2/24/ Salisbury Conservatives]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/503.stm BBC News - Robert Key] profile 30 March, 2006

News items

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2409987.stm Rebelling on gay adoption in 2003]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/678487.stm His lack of fondness for Muzak]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/25/nbrown225.xml Comments on the Embryo Bill in The Daily Telegraph]