Tony Baldry
Encyclopedia
Anthony Brian 'Tony' Baldry (born 10 July 1950) is a British
Conservative Party
politician
. He is the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Banbury
.
, a Quaker school, and the University of Sussex
where he read Law. He became actively involved in student politics and during his time at Sussex, took the Students' Union to the High Court on the grounds that the Students' Union was making "ultra vires" payments out of Student Union funds to various political organisations. Baldry v. Feintuck (1972) 2 All ER 81 for the first time defined the legal status of Students' Unions.
In the February 1974 general election
, Baldry was personal assistant to Maurice MacMillan, then Chief Secretary to the Treasury
and in the October 1974 general election
, he was personal assistant to Margaret Thatcher
. When Margaret Thatcher became Leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, Baldry joined her Private Office, mainly to work as the link between Mrs Thatcher and the "Britain in Europe Campaign", the "Yes" Campaign, for the 1975 EU referendum. Baldry was active in the European movement
and won the Robert Schumann
Silver Medal in 1978 for contributions to Europe. Baldry was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn
in 1975 and became a common lawyer. He joined the Oxford and Midlands Circuit. Baldry joined the Sussex Yeomanry whilst at University. He reached the rank of Colonel
during his nearly 20 years in the Royal Artillery
from 1971. Tony Baldry was first selected as a Parliamentary candidate for the Thurrock constituency
for the 1979 general election
where he secured one of the largest swings to the Conservative Party.
who represented Banbury, Baldry successfully contested the seat at the 1983 general election
and was elected to Parliament with a majority of 13,025.
From 1985 to 1990, Baldry was a Parliamentary Private Secretary
, successively to Lynda Chalker
and John Wakeham
, who was leader of the House of Commons. In January 1990 Margaret Thatcher made Baldry a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Energy, where he helped John Wakeham privatise the electricity industry.
Baldry is one of the last of those made a Minister by Margaret Thatcher still to be in the House of Commons.
Following the election of John Major
as Prime Minister
in November 1990, Michael Heseltine asked that Baldry move to the Department for the Environment
, where he stayed for four years covering every aspect of the Department's work including housing, planning, Local Government and construction.
In 1994 Baldry moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
to cover in the House of Commons for Lynda Chalker who was the Minister for Overseas Development but in the House of Lords. As a consequence he spoke for the Government on International Development in the House of Commons.
In 1995 he was promoted to the rank of Minister of State
at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- where he had to grapple with the twin problems of BSE and increasingly unpopular EU fisheries policies, and was a position he held until the fall of the Major government in 1997. His civil servants nicknamed him 'Baldrick
'.
On 21 June 2010, he was appointed Second Church Estates Commissioner
, with responsibility for answering questions in the House in a manner similar to questions to ministers on the work of the Church Commissioners.,
In the 2010 general election Baldry was re-elected with an increased majority, of 18,227 votes.
Following the 2010 General Election he became co-chair of the APPG on Agriculture and Food for Development
along with Lord Cameron of Dillington, and joined the Ecclesiastical Select Committee.
, is the Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development (Apgood), a Trustee of Friends of Africa, which is a UK based charity, and a Trustee of Afghan Action, a UK based charity working in Afghanistan. He was one of eleven MP's to volunteer for the VSO's project PolVol in 2008. He is on the council of governors of Chatham House
.
From 2001-2005, Baldry chaired the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development during which time under his chairmanship the Select Committee produced a number of unanimous Reports.
Since the summer of 2009, Baldry has chaired the Conservative Party's Commission on Human Rights, during which two reports have been produced:
Baldry gave Lord Feldman (Chairman of the Conservative Party in London at the time) a letter of support for a recommendation of a public honour that Lord Feldman was making on behalf of Sarosh Zaiwalla. It was later held by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards that in that reference or separately, Baldry should have declared that he was at the time a beneficiary of a loan from Sarosh Zaiwalla. Baldry was consequently ordered to apologise to the House over the incident.
, Secretary for International Development, on behalf of Milestone Trading, a British company involved in diamond mining in Sierra Leone
. He asked Benn whether his department could endorse the company as conforming to "best practices" in the diamond industry. In his letter to Benn, which was written on House of Commons notepaper, he did not reveal that Milestone had paid $75,000 into a company in which he was a one-third shareholder.
Benn replied that the government "could not endorse an individual company's activities". At the time Baldry was the chairman of the House of Commons International Development Committee. He had also written letters to the President and Vice-President of Sierra Leone on behalf of Milestone in late 2004.
Baldry also sent a series of letters on Angelgate Aviation notepaper from St James's Square (seen by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards) to Sierra Leone Vice President Solomon Berewa
on behalf of Angel Gate Aviation, a company that was trying to set up flights between London and Freetown.
In investigating this case, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards concluded that Baldry should not have used House of Commons notepaper in the letter to Benn.
Baldry consequently made an apology to the House for the use of House stationery, however the Commissioner stated that he found no indication whatsoever, in the course of his inquiry, that Mr Baldry had sought to exploit his position as Chairman of the International Development Committee to further his private interests.
on behalf of Nigerian governor James Ibori
, who was under investigation by Scotland Yard
for corruption. The Oxford Mail reported that Mr Baldry had been "paid more than £37,000 for 29 hours work between September and December by Sarosh Zaiwalla, a London-based solicitor who had acted for the Ibori family".
Later that same month, the Independent newspaper printed a correction and an apology over a report in which they had suggested that Tony Baldry had "lobbied" on behalf of James Ibori. The correction clarified that Mr Baldry had not lobbied on Mr Ibori's behalf, and that he had written to the Foreign Secretary in his capacity as a barrister, not as an MP.
and Head of Chambers at 1 Essex Court in the Temple, London.
He lives in Bloxham
, a village about three miles away from Banbury. He married his second wife in 2001 and has two children from his first marriage.
According to the Register of Member's Interests and on his website, Baldry confirms alongside his Parliamentary duties that he is a Director of Westminster Oil ("development of oil licences and exploration"), West Africa Investments ("investing in infrastructure and natural resource projects in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in West Africa"), Halcyon Oil ("a Hong Kong registered company focusing on oil exploration and discovery projects in Central Asia"). He is a director of Mastermailer Holdings, plc and he is deputy Chair of Woburn Energy plc, a company "specialising in oil exploration and recovery".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He is the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Banbury
Banbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Banbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a strongly Conservative seat.The constituency was created January 26, 1554 through the efforts of Henry Stafford and Thomas Denton...
.
Early life
Born in 1950, he was educated at Leighton Park SchoolLeighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Quaker independent school for both day and boarding pupils. It is situated in the large town of Reading in Berkshire, in South East England...
, a Quaker school, and the University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
where he read Law. He became actively involved in student politics and during his time at Sussex, took the Students' Union to the High Court on the grounds that the Students' Union was making "ultra vires" payments out of Student Union funds to various political organisations. Baldry v. Feintuck (1972) 2 All ER 81 for the first time defined the legal status of Students' Unions.
In the February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, Baldry was personal assistant to Maurice MacMillan, then Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
and in the October 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
, he was personal assistant to Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. When Margaret Thatcher became Leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, Baldry joined her Private Office, mainly to work as the link between Mrs Thatcher and the "Britain in Europe Campaign", the "Yes" Campaign, for the 1975 EU referendum. Baldry was active in the European movement
European Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...
and won the Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
Silver Medal in 1978 for contributions to Europe. Baldry was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
in 1975 and became a common lawyer. He joined the Oxford and Midlands Circuit. Baldry joined the Sussex Yeomanry whilst at University. He reached the rank of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
during his nearly 20 years in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
from 1971. Tony Baldry was first selected as a Parliamentary candidate for the Thurrock constituency
Thurrock (UK Parliament constituency)
Thurrock is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
for the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
where he secured one of the largest swings to the Conservative Party.
Parliamentary career
Following the retirement of veteran Conservative MP Neil MartenNeil Marten
Harry Neil Marten was a British Conservative Party politician.Born in Lambeth, Marten was educated at Rossall School. During World War II he was parachuted into France to work with French resistance and later served with Norwegian resistance...
who represented Banbury, Baldry successfully contested the seat at the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
and was elected to Parliament with a majority of 13,025.
From 1985 to 1990, Baldry was a Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
, successively to Lynda Chalker
Lynda Chalker
Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallasey PC is a British Conservative politician who was Member of Parliament for Wallasey from 1974 to 1992...
and John Wakeham
John Wakeham
John Wakeham, Baron Wakeham, PC, DL is a businessman and British Conservative Party politician and the current Chancellor of Brunel University.He was a director of Enron from 1994 until its bankruptcy in 2001....
, who was leader of the House of Commons. In January 1990 Margaret Thatcher made Baldry a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Energy, where he helped John Wakeham privatise the electricity industry.
Baldry is one of the last of those made a Minister by Margaret Thatcher still to be in the House of Commons.
Following the election of John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
as Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
in November 1990, Michael Heseltine asked that Baldry move to the Department for the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
, where he stayed for four years covering every aspect of the Department's work including housing, planning, Local Government and construction.
In 1994 Baldry moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
to cover in the House of Commons for Lynda Chalker who was the Minister for Overseas Development but in the House of Lords. As a consequence he spoke for the Government on International Development in the House of Commons.
In 1995 he was promoted to the rank of Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and from 1919 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries...
- where he had to grapple with the twin problems of BSE and increasingly unpopular EU fisheries policies, and was a position he held until the fall of the Major government in 1997. His civil servants nicknamed him 'Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
'.
On 21 June 2010, he was appointed Second Church Estates Commissioner
Church Commissioners
The Church Commissioners is a body managing the historic property assets of the Church of England. It was set up in 1948 combining the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners formed in 1836...
, with responsibility for answering questions in the House in a manner similar to questions to ministers on the work of the Church Commissioners.,
In the 2010 general election Baldry was re-elected with an increased majority, of 18,227 votes.
Following the 2010 General Election he became co-chair of the APPG on Agriculture and Food for Development
APPG on Agriculture and Food for Development
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development is a cross-party group in the UK Parliament, co-chaired by Tony Baldry, a Conservative Member of Parliament and Lord Cameron of Dillington, a cross-bench Peer. The APPG is composed of over 70 MPs and Peers from across the...
along with Lord Cameron of Dillington, and joined the Ecclesiastical Select Committee.
International development
Tony Baldry is a member of the Council of the Overseas Development InstituteOverseas Development Institute
The Overseas Development Institute is one of the leading independent think tanks on international development and humanitarian issues. Based in London, its mission is "to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement...
, is the Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development (Apgood), a Trustee of Friends of Africa, which is a UK based charity, and a Trustee of Afghan Action, a UK based charity working in Afghanistan. He was one of eleven MP's to volunteer for the VSO's project PolVol in 2008. He is on the council of governors of Chatham House
Chatham House
Chatham House, formally known as The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's leading...
.
From 2001-2005, Baldry chaired the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development during which time under his chairmanship the Select Committee produced a number of unanimous Reports.
2001-02
- First report: The Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan and the surrounding region
- Second report: The effectiveness of reforms of European Development Assistance
- Third report: Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development
- Fourth report: Strategic Export Controls - Licensing Policy and prior Parliamentary Scrutiny
- Fifth report: Financing for Development: Finding the Money to eliminate World Poverty
2002-03
- First report: Afghanistan: the Transition from Humanitarian Relief to Reconstruction and Development Assistance
- Third report: the Humanitarian Crisis in Southern Africa
- Fourth report: Preparing for the Humanitarian consequences of Possible Military Action Against Iraq
- Fifth report: The Government's Proposals for Secondary Legislation under the Export Controls Act
2003-04
- First report: Trade and Development at the W20: Learning Lessons of Cancun to revive a genuine Development Round
- Second report: Development Assistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
- Fourth report: Kenya: DFID's Country Assistance PLan 2004-07 and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
- Fifth report: Strategic Export Controls - Licensing Policy and Parliamentary Scrutiny
- Sixth report: Migration and Development: how to make Migration work for Poverty reduction
- Seventh report: DFID's Agricultural Policy
2004-05
- First report: Commission for Africa and Policy Coherence for Development - First do no harm
- Third report: DFID's Bilateral Programme of Assistance to India
- Fourth report: Strategic Export Controls - Licensing Policy and Parliamentary Scrutiny
- Fifth report: Darfur and Sudan: The "Responsibility to Protect"
Since the summer of 2009, Baldry has chaired the Conservative Party's Commission on Human Rights, during which two reports have been produced:
- "Those Most Responsible"
- "Supporting Women Human Rights Defenders"
Personal loan
On 2 January 1997, Baldry accepted from Sarosh Zaiwalla (a prominent London solicitor), a 5,000 pound personal loan, on which he paid interest.Baldry gave Lord Feldman (Chairman of the Conservative Party in London at the time) a letter of support for a recommendation of a public honour that Lord Feldman was making on behalf of Sarosh Zaiwalla. It was later held by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards that in that reference or separately, Baldry should have declared that he was at the time a beneficiary of a loan from Sarosh Zaiwalla. Baldry was consequently ordered to apologise to the House over the incident.
Sierra Leone
In January 2005 Baldry wrote to Hilary BennHilary Benn
Hilary James Wedgwood Benn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds Central since 1999. He served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007 and as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs...
, Secretary for International Development, on behalf of Milestone Trading, a British company involved in diamond mining in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
. He asked Benn whether his department could endorse the company as conforming to "best practices" in the diamond industry. In his letter to Benn, which was written on House of Commons notepaper, he did not reveal that Milestone had paid $75,000 into a company in which he was a one-third shareholder.
Benn replied that the government "could not endorse an individual company's activities". At the time Baldry was the chairman of the House of Commons International Development Committee. He had also written letters to the President and Vice-President of Sierra Leone on behalf of Milestone in late 2004.
Baldry also sent a series of letters on Angelgate Aviation notepaper from St James's Square (seen by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards) to Sierra Leone Vice President Solomon Berewa
Solomon Berewa
Solomon Ekuma Dominic Berewa was Vice-President of Sierra Leone from May 2002 to September 2007...
on behalf of Angel Gate Aviation, a company that was trying to set up flights between London and Freetown.
In investigating this case, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards concluded that Baldry should not have used House of Commons notepaper in the letter to Benn.
Baldry consequently made an apology to the House for the use of House stationery, however the Commissioner stated that he found no indication whatsoever, in the course of his inquiry, that Mr Baldry had sought to exploit his position as Chairman of the International Development Committee to further his private interests.
James Ibori
In September 2009 Baldry, in his capacity as a barrister instructed by the solicitor Sarosh Zaiwalla, wrote a letter to Foreign Secretary David MilibandDavid Miliband
David Wright Miliband is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Shields since 2001, and was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He is the elder son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband...
on behalf of Nigerian governor James Ibori
James Ibori
James Onanefe Ibori was the Governor of Delta State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party . He was arguably the most vocal advocate for resource nationalism in Nigeria....
, who was under investigation by Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
for corruption. The Oxford Mail reported that Mr Baldry had been "paid more than £37,000 for 29 hours work between September and December by Sarosh Zaiwalla, a London-based solicitor who had acted for the Ibori family".
Later that same month, the Independent newspaper printed a correction and an apology over a report in which they had suggested that Tony Baldry had "lobbied" on behalf of James Ibori. The correction clarified that Mr Baldry had not lobbied on Mr Ibori's behalf, and that he had written to the Foreign Secretary in his capacity as a barrister, not as an MP.
Personal life
Baldry is a practising barristerBarrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and Head of Chambers at 1 Essex Court in the Temple, London.
He lives in Bloxham
Bloxham
Bloxham is a village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire on the edge of the Cotswolds, southwest of Banbury.-Early settlement:Under Roman rule between the 1st and 5th centuries there were several farms and a burial site in the Bloxham area....
, a village about three miles away from Banbury. He married his second wife in 2001 and has two children from his first marriage.
According to the Register of Member's Interests and on his website, Baldry confirms alongside his Parliamentary duties that he is a Director of Westminster Oil ("development of oil licences and exploration"), West Africa Investments ("investing in infrastructure and natural resource projects in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in West Africa"), Halcyon Oil ("a Hong Kong registered company focusing on oil exploration and discovery projects in Central Asia"). He is a director of Mastermailer Holdings, plc and he is deputy Chair of Woburn Energy plc, a company "specialising in oil exploration and recovery".
External links
- Tony Baldry MP official constituency site
- Tony Baldry MP at ePolitix
- Profile at Conservatives.com