biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1951– )
|
| biography:
| British politician, born in Dover, Kent, SE England, UK. Educated at Oxford, he worked with a merchant bank before being appointed head of Margaret Thatcher's Policy Unit in 1983. Elected Conservative MP for Wokingham in 1987, he became secretary of state for Wales (1993–5). He came to national attention when he resigned from the cabinet in 1995 in order to challenge John Major as leader of the Conservative Party, expressing the views of the party's right wing in relation to such matters as public spending and European Union. His vigorous campaign attracted unexpected levels of support, and he was a strong but ultimately unsuccessful contender for leadership of his party, following Major's resignation in 1997. He then became shadow secretary-of-state for trade and industry (1997-2000). |
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