Francis Maude

Infobox Politician


honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name = Francis Maude
honorific-suffix = MP
office = Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
term_start = 2 July 2007
term_end =
leader = David Cameron
predecessor = Oliver Heald
successor = Incumbent
office2 = Chairman of the Conservative Party
term_start2 = 6 May 2005
term_end2 = 2 July 2007
leader2 = Michael Howard
David Cameron
predecessor2 = Liam Fox
successor2 = Caroline Spelman
office3 = Shadow Foreign Secretary
term_start3 =15 June 1999
term_end3 =18 September 2001
leader3 = William Hague
predecessor3 = John Maples
successor3 =Michael Ancram
office4 = Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
term_start4 = 2 June 1998
term_end4 = 15 June 1999
leader4 = William Hague
predecessor4 = Peter Lilley
successor4 = Michael Portillo
office5 = Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
term_start5 = 4 May 1997
term_end5 = 2 June 1998
leader5 = William Hague
predecessor5 = Chris Smith
successor5 = Peter Ainsworth
office6 = Financial Secretary to the Treasury
term_start6 = 28 November 1990
term_end6 = 11 April 1992
primeminister6 = John Major
predecessor6 = Peter Lilley
successor6 = Stephen Dorrell
constituency_MP7 = Horsham
parliament7 =
term_start7 = 1 May 1997
term_end7 =
majority7 = 12,627 (23.2%)
predecessor7 = Peter Hordern
successor7 =
constituency_MP8 = North Warwickshire
parliament8 =
term_start8 = 9 June 1983
term_end8 = 9 April 1992
majority8 =
predecessor8 = new constituency
successor8 = Mike O'Brien
birth_date = Birth date and age|1953|07|04|df=yes
birth_place = Abingdon, Berkshire
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Conservative
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
occupation =
profession = Lawyer
religion = Roman Catholic


website =
footnotes =

Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude (born 4 July 1953) is a British politician. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Horsham, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and a member of the Privy Council.

Early life

The son of former Conservative minister Angus Maude, Francis Maude was educated at Abingdon School, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and the College of Law and practised criminal law. He was a councillor for the City of Westminster 1978–84.

Political career

In government

Maude was first elected to the House of Commons in the Conservative landslide victory in the 1983 general election for the North Warwickshire constituency. After just a year in Parliament, he became part of the government in 1984, working as the Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Minister for Employment Peter Morrison. He then became an assistant government whip (1985–87) and then Minister for Corporate and Consumer Affairs (1987–89).

In 1989, Maude became the Minister of State for Europe in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He was one of the first "men in grey suits" to meet with Margaret Thatcher in November 1990 after she failed to win the first round of a leadership contest. He told her that he would support her as long as she went on, but he did not believe she could win the leadership contest. [cite news
title = Falling from power: Cabinet overboard [memoirs extract]
url = http://www.margaretthatcher.org/commentary/displaydocument.asp?docid=109189
publisher = Margaret Thatcher Foundation
date =
accessdate = 2008-09-16] After John Major became Prime Minister, Maude was made the Financial Secretary to the Treasury. However, in the 1992 general election he lost his seat to the Labour candidate, Mike O'Brien, and was forced to vacate his ministerial roles. That same year, he was sworn of the Privy Council.

In a 2006 interview, Maude admitted that Section 28 (banning councils from promoting homosexuality and led to the closure of gay support groups), legislation which was introduced whilst he was in government, was "a mistake", saying it could have contributed to the death from HIV of his homosexual brother, Charles, and many others. [cite news
title = Tory Chairman: Gay policies were wrong
url = http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-448.html#
publisher = Pink News
date = 2006-02-09
accessdate = 2008-09-12]

Out of Parliament

Now out of Parliament, Maude began a series of business roles. He worked in banking as Managing Director at Morgan Stanley between 1993 and 1997. He was also appointed a non-executive director of ASDA Group Plc in July 1992 and served as a director of Salomon Brothers from 1992 to 1993. He also chaired the government's Deregulation Task Force from 1994 until 1997.

hadow Cabinet

In the 1997 general election Maude was elected MP for Horsham. Almost immediately he was re-appointed to the Conservative front bench, now in Opposition. He served as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Shadow Foreign Secretary until 2001.

Maude managed Michael Portillo's unsuccessful bid for the Conservative leadership in 2001, after which he declined a front bench role under new leader Iain Duncan Smith. He was considered to be a 'moderniser' and on the left of the party, writing in the "The Daily Telegraph" (24 June 2002) he stated that the Conservative Party's electoral problems had been caused by their failure to "look and sound like modern Britain". Norman Tebbit's secretary, Beryl Goldsmith, also criticised Maude after this, asking: "How many male, white, straight Conservative MPs currently passionately campaigning for the selection of more women, and more men and women from ethnic minorities, would voluntarily relinquish their own seats in order to encourage local associations to follow the policy line they preach from their own smug, safe base? Precious few I would guess — including Mr Francis Maude."Fact|date=July 2007

After the 2005 general election Maude returned to the Shadow Cabinet as Chairman of the Conservative Party. Under his tenure, alongside newly elected leader David Cameron, the Conservatives adopted the A List of parliamentary candidates, with priority being given to women and ethnic minorities. However, he was accused of hyprocrisy by promoting a "family-friendly" image whilst being the non-executive chairman of the Jubilee Trust, which held 21% of American pornography actress Jill Kelly's adult DVD business, [cite news
title = True Blue Tory
url = http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17851468%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=true-blue-tory-name_page.html
publisher = Daily Mirror
date = 2006-10-02
accessdate = 2008-09-12] and chairman of the Mission Marketing Group, which has advertised for WKD drinks and Playboy. [cite news
title = Pendennis
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/may/13/francismaude.olivermarre
publisher = The Observer
date = 2007-05-13
accessdate = 2008-09-12]

In July 2007, Maude was made Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, with responsibility for preparing the Conservatives for Government, with some dubbing him as the Party's 'enforcer'.

At the Conservative Party Conference in October 2007 he said: "David (Cameron) has asked me to lead an implementation team that will ensure that we are as well-prepared as any incoming government has ever been. Our priorities rigorously sorted. Our teams armed with the knowledge and capabilities that will enable new ministers to start making a difference from day one."

Maude supported Republican John McCain in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. [cite news
title = Convention fever: MPs fly in hoping to find prescription for success
url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4583484.ece
publisher = The Times
date = 2008-08-22
accessdate = 2008-09-12] He led the Conservative Party delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Personal life

Maude is father of five: Julia, Cecily, Harry, Alastair and Lydia.

ee also

*Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK)

References

External links

* [http://www.francismaude.com/ Francis Maude MP] official site
* [http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=people.person.page&PersonID=4857 Conservative Party — Rt Hon Francis Maude MP] official biography
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3429,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics Ask Aristotle — Francis Maude MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/francis_maude/horsham They Work For You — Francis Maude MP]
* [http://publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Francis_Maude&mpc=Horsham The Public Whip — Francis Maude MP] voting record
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/222.stm BBC Politics — Francis Maude] profile 10 February 2005
* [http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Society_and_Culture/Politics/Parties/Conservative/MPs/Maude,_Francis/ Open Directory Project - Francis Maude] directory category

Offices held