CATS Reflection – Current Cabinet Members (November 2015)

Cabinet of the United Kingdom – 2015

The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is formed by the Prime Minster of the current Government.  It consists of 21 Members Of Parliament with senior roles within Government and together with the Prime Minster, they collectively make decisions about Government policy, that the Government then take to the House of Commons for the chamber to debate.

In addition to the 22 cabinet ministers, there are another 8 people who attend cabinet meetings, but are not members of the cabinet.

In the session, we discussed about the role that the cabinet have in decision making, and how many of the names that the group could identify.  There weren’t many we could name from memory, but the names are recognisable, and will become more so as this parliament continues through to 2020 and the next General Election.

As part of the reflection, I was asked to research a cabinet minister, and reflect on it here.  However, in my thirst for knowledge about the subject, I decided to research all 22 current members (November 2015), and the additional 8 people who attend cabinet meetings as part of their current roles.

Members of the Cabinet

Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service	Rt Hon David Cameron MP (Con)
Chancellor of the Exchequer and First Secretary of State	Rt Hon George Osborne MP (Con)
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal	The Rt Hon. the Baroness Stowell of Beeston MBE (Con)
Home Secretary	Rt Hon Theresa May MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs	Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP (Con)
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice	Rt Hon Michael Gove MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Defence	Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills	Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions	Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Health	Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government	Rt Hon Greg Clark MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Education	Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP (Con)
Secretary of State for International Development	Rt Hon Justine Greening MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change	Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Transport	Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Scotland	Rt Hon David Mundell MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland	Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Wales	Rt Hon Stephen Crabb MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport	Rt Hon John Whittingdale MP (Con)
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP (Con)
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons	Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP (Con)
Minister for Government Policy and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP (Con)

Politicians who attend Cabinet Meetings

Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General	Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP (Con)
Minister of State for Universities and Science	Rt Hon Jo Johnson MP (Con)
Chief Whip in the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	Rt Hon Mark Harper MP (Con)
Chief Secretary to the Treasury	Rt Hon Greg Hands MP (Con)
Minister without Portfolio	Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP (Con)
Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland	Rt Hon Jeremy Wright MP (Con)
Minister of State for Employment	Rt Hon Priti Patel MP (Con)
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs	Rt Hon The Baroness Anelay of St John’s DBE PC (Con)

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP – Profile

Philip Hammond

Philip Hammond is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge, and holds the position of Foreign Secretary having being appointed in July 2014.

Born in Epping, Essex in 1955, he was educated at state schools in Brentwood, before reading for a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at University College, Oxford, where he graduated with a first class honours degree.

On leaving Oxford, Hammond worked for Speywood Laboratories, eventually becoming a director in Speywood Medical.  After leaving Speywood, he was a director at Castlemead, a healthcare and nursing company.  He also worked for CMA Consultants, as a consultant to various organisations including the World Bank, and to the Government of Malawi, a role he held until entering Parliament in 1997.

His polticial career started as chairman of the Lewisham East Conservative Association in 1989, and also ran for Parliament in the Newham North East by-election in 1994.  He was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Runnymede and Weybridge, a new constituency created from the former seats of Chertsey and Walton and North West Surrey.

At the 1997 General Election, he won by a majority of 9,875 from the Labour candidate Ian Peacock.  Hammond has retained the seat ever since, with the 4 elections of 2001, 2005, 2010, and 2015.

On entering Parliament, he served on the Environment, Transport and the Regions Select Committee, before roles as Spokesman for Health, and then Trade and Industry followed, before working in the Shadow Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.  After the 2005 General Election, Hammond was given the role of Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Michael Howard, but was moved to Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by David Cameron upon his election to the leader of the Conservative Party.  In the July 2007 reshuffle, he was moved back to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Following the 2010 General Election, he was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport, replacing Lord Adonis, a role he held until October 2011, when he was moved to be Secretary of State for Defence, after the resignation of Liam Fox over allegations about allowing a close friend access to the Ministry of Defence.

In the July 2014 reshuffle, David Cameron moved Hammond from Defence to the role of Foreign Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The role of Foreign Secretary has overall responsibility for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Their remit includes British nationals overseas, The Commonwealth, and UK Overseas Territories.

 

 

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP – Profile

Chris Grayling

Chris Grayling is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Epsom and Ewell, and was elected in 2001 with a majority of 10,080.  His parliamentary roles are Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council.

Grayling was born in London in 1962, and grew up in Buckinghamshire.  Educated at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, before going on to read history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, leaving with a 2:1 BA degree.

After graduating, Grayling joined BBC News as a trainee in 1985, before leaving to join Channel 4 in 1988 as editor on the Business Daily programme.  He rejoined the BBC, working as a business development manager between 1991 and 1993, before departing to work in independent television production companies.  Prior to entering parliament, Grayling worked for Burson Marsteller, a public relations and communications company, as a management consultant.

His political career started with selection as the candidate for Warrington South, in the 1997 General Election where he was beaten by Helen Southworth, the Labour candidate.  During this time, he was elected as a councillor on Merton council in 1998.

After his election win in 2001, initially served on the Environment, Transport and the Regions Select Committee, before promotion to the Opposition Whips’ Office, and then Spokesman on Health in 2002.  Following Michael Howard taking over as Conservative leader, Grayling was given the role as Spokesman on Education and Skills.  He has also served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.  Under David Cameron, Grayling was given roles as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and in 2009, Shadow Home Secretary.

 

After the 2010 General Election, Grayling was given the role in the coalition cabinet of Minister of State for Work and Pensions, and in the 2012 reshuffle, was appointed as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.  Following the 2015 General Election, where the Conservative Party had an overall majority, he was given the role of Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council.

Grayling has also written several books on subjects as varied as post-war anglo-american relations, and the history of Joseph Holt, a brewer from the North West of England.

 

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP – Profile

Liz Truss

Elizabeth Truss was elected as the Conservative MP for south west Norfolk in 2010, beating the Liberal Democrat candidate, Stephen Morgan into second place with a majority of 13,140.   She was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in July 2014.

Born in 1975, Truss was born in Oxford, but grew up and was educated in Paisley and Leeds, moving around due to her father’s work as a University Lecturer.

After leaving school, Truss read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Merton College, Oxford.  Whilst there, Truss was president of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats, and spoke at the 1994 Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton, before defecting to the Conservative Party in 1996.

Upon graduation, she worked for Shell and Cable & Wireless, and graduated as a management accountant, before becoming the deputy director of Reform, a right-wing think-tank based in London.

Truss unsuccessfully stood for parliament in Hemsworth in 2001, and Calder Valley in 2005, losing to the incumbent MP’s, Jon Trickett and Christine McCafferty respectively, before winning South West Norfolk in 2010, following the retirement of Christopher Fraser.

In the September reshuffle of 2012, she was appointed as Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Education and Childcare, serving under Michael Gove, before being promoted in July 2014 to Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), replacing Owen Paterson.

The Secretary of State for DEFRA is responsible for EU and international relations, lobbying within the EU and internationally on sustainable development and climate change, Emergencies including flooding, and departmental administration.

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon John Whittingdale MP – Profile

John Whittingdale

John Whittingdale is the incumbent Member of Parliament for the Maldon constituency, a seat he has held since 1992.  In addition to that role, he has been the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since May 2015.

He was born in Sherborne, Dorset, and educated at Sandroyd School, and Winchester College, before reading Economics at University College London, where he graduated with a 2:2 degree in 1982.

After graduating, Whittingdale worked within the Conservative Research Department as head of the political section.  He moved to become Special Adviser within the Department for Trade and Industry from 1984 to 1987.  He worked as Political Secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1988, until she left the House of Commons in 1992.  He was awarded a OBE, in Margaret Thatcher’s resignation honours list.

His parliamentary career started with his election in 1992 for the constituency of South Colchester and Maldon, with an overall majority of 21,821 replacing John Wakeham who retired and took up a seat in the House of Lords.  Whittingdale was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Education and Employment, but resigned his post after voting against his party.

Whittingdale has elections in 3 different constituencies, all representing Maldon, due to changes in electoral boundaries.  South Colchester and Maldon in 1992, Maldon and East Chelmsford between 1997 and 2005, and Maldon from 2010 onwards.  The constituency of Maldon was previously used in 1983, when it was abolished.

He returned to the front bench in 2004, with an appointment as Shadow Culture Secretary, before being made Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in 2005, a role he held until May 2015, when he became Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

 

The role as Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) oversees political policy in various areas of CMS including arts and culture, broadcasting, libraries, sport, tourism, telecommunication and online.

 

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon Stephen Crabb MP – Profile

Stephen Crabb MP

Stephen Crabb has been the Member of Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire since 2005 with a majority of 607.  He previous stood for Preseli Pembrokeshire in 2001, losing out to the Labour candidate, Jackie Lawrence by 2,946 votes.

Crabb was born in Inverness in 1973, and moved to Pembrokeshire during his early childhood.  He was educated at schools in Haverfordwest, before reading Politics at the University of Bristol.  After graduating in 1995, Crabb gained an MBA at the London Business School, before working with the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services and  the London Chamber of Commerce.  Prior to his election to the House of Commons, Crabb worked as a marketing consultant.

After entering office, he was a backbench MP until 2009, where he was appointed as Opposition Whip, before being promoted to Assistant Government Whip, 2 years later.  At the 2012 reshuffle, Crabb was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Wales Office, a role he held until being given the role of Secretary of State for Wales in July 2014.

Crabb retained his seat in Preseli Pembrokeshire in the 2015 General Election, with an increased majority of 4,969, but a decreased share of the vote, 40.4 per cent, down from 42.9 per cent in 2010.

As Secretary of State for Wales, the role includes overseeing Wales as a separate entity, even though it is within the United Kingdom, as there is partial devolution to Wales.

 

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP – Profile

Theresa Villiers

Theresa Villiers is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet, and was elected in 2005 with a majority of 5,960.

Villiers was born in Chiswick in 1968, and was educated at Francis Holland School in London, before studying law at the University of Bristol, graduating with a first-class honours degree, then studying for a postgraduate degree in Civil Law at Jesus College, Oxford.    After university, Villiers qualified as a barrister at the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, and also worked as a lecturer at King’s College, London.

Her political career started with a seat in the European Parliament, representing the London constituency from 1999 until 2005, where after being elected twice, she stood down to become the parliamentary candidate for Chipping Barnet, replacing Sir Sydney Chapman.

After 7 months on the backbenches, David Cameron promoted Villiers to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and in 2007, to the role of Shadow Secretary of State for Transport replacing Chris Grayling.  After the Conservative election victory in 2010, Villiers continued in Transport as Minister of State, supporting Phillip Hammond.

In the September 2012 re-shuffle, Villiers moved from Transport to Northern Ireland as Secretary of State, replacing Owen Paterson.

As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the role deals with complex issues, both current and from the past.  In addition to the overall wellbeing of Northern Ireland, in terms of economic, counter-terrorism and national security, there are international relationships, but one of the most important is to maintain and improve links with the Irish Republic.

 

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon The Baroness Anelay of St John’s DBE PC – Profile

Rt Hon The Baroness Anelay of St John’s DBE PC

Although not a full member of the Cabinet, Rt Hon The Baroness Anelay of St John’s DBE PC attends Cabinet meetings in her role as Minister of State of theForeign and Commonwealth Office.  She entered the House of Lords in 1996.

Joyce Anelay nee Clarke, was born in 1947 in London, and was educated at Enfield County School, before going on to further studies at Bristol and Brunel Universities.

After graduation, Anelay worked as a History Teacher in a secondary school until 1974, before taking on roles within the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, and as a Justice of the Peace.

She was awarded an OBE in 1995, made a Dame in 1995, and was made a Life Peeress in 1996.  Upon taking her seat in the House of Lords, Anelay was appointed in roles including Opposition Whip, Shadow Home Office Minister, and Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport.

In the coalition of 2010, Anelay was given the role of Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords, and following Baroness Warsi stepping down from the role of Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a position she continues to hold.

 

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon David Mundell MP – Profile

David Mundell MP

David Mundell is the incumbent MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale and was elected in May 2005.  Of the 59 parliamentary constituencies in Scotland, Mundell is the only Conservative MP to be elected in Scotland.  He was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland in after the General Election in May 2015.

Born in 1962 in Dumfries, he grew up in Newton Wamphray and Lockerbie, and attended Lockerbie Academy before reading Law at the University of Edinburgh.  He also gained a Diploma in Legal Practice, and also received a MBA from Strathclyde Business School.

After finishing his education, Mundell practiced as a solicitor, before joining British Telecom (BT) as first, Scottish Group Legal Advisor and then as BT Scotland’s Head of National Affairs before leaving in 1999.

His poltical career started as a MSP for South of Scotland in 1999 as one of the four additional members through the Additional Member Vote system. He was re-elected in 2003, before being replaced by Derek Brownlee as Mundell stood down as he was elected as the MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale with a majority of 1,738, beating the Labour candidate, Sean Marshall into second place.

 

Seven months after the 2005 General Election, Mundell was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, succeeding Eleanor Laing.  After the next two General Elections, Mundell was returned with a smaller majority.  As part of the coalition Government, Mundell was given the role of Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, before being given the post of Secretary of State for Scotland after the 2015 General Election

 

The roles of the Scottish Secretary are to promote and protect the devolution settlement, promote partnership and relations between the UK and Scottish governments.

Members of the Cabinet – Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP – Profile

Patrick McLoughlin MP

Patrick McLoughlin is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Derbyshire Dales, and was elected for the previous constitency, West Derbyshire, in a by-election that was triggered by the sitting MP, Matthew Parris, stepping down to take a role on the ITV political television programme, Weekend World.

McLoughlin was born in 1957 in Stafford, and was educated at Cardinal Griffin Roman Catholic School in Cannock, and then Staffordshire College of Agriculture at Rodbaston College, before spending five years working on farms, and in 1979, started to work at Littleton Colliery in Cannock.  Littleton Colliery was one of the few collieries that avoided the huge round of pit closures in the early 1990’s.  It finally ceased production in 2009.

At the 1983 General Election, he stood for the Wolverhampton South East constituency at the 1983 General Election, although he was beaten into second place by the incumbent Labour MP, Robert Edwards.  He was elected for West Derbyshire in a 1986 by-election, with a narrow 100 majority, a seat that he successfully retained in 1987, with an increased majority of 10,527.

He served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for Education and Science as well as the Department for Trade and Industry between 1987 and 1989, before taking roles as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, and the Department for Education.

McLoughlin defended West Derbyshire in 1992, with an increased majority of 18,769, and this year brought a new role as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Trade and Industry.  1995 saw McLoughlin moved to the Whip’s office as an assistant in 1995, becoming a Lord Commissioner a year later, and after the 1997 General Election, he became Opposition Deputy Chief Whip, along with retaining his seat, but with a greatly reduced majority of 4,885.  A majority that increased at the following General Election of 2001 to 7,370.

He remained as Opposition Deputy Chief Whip until he was promoted to Opposition Chief Whip in 2005.  The 2005 General Election saw another increase in his majority in West Derbyshire to 10,753, beating the Labour candidate, David Menon, into second place.

Electoral boundary changes saw West Derbyshire abolished for 2010, and McLoughlin successfully stood for it’s replacement, Derbyshire Dales, gaining 24,378 votes, the same number of votes as in 2005.

He continued as Chief Whip, replacing Nick Brown until he was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport in the reshuffle of September 2012, a role he continues to hold.

As Secretary of State for Transport, he is responsible for overall transport strategy, including economic growth, climate change, and security.  One of the major infrastructure projects that is covered by the role is the upcoming plans for HS2 and HS3.