John Redwood

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Minister of State for Corporate Affairs
In office
26 July 1989 – 15 April 1992
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
John Major
Preceded byFrancis Maude
Succeeded byNeil Hamilton
Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit
In office
5 May 1982 – 12 November 1987
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byFerdinand Mount
Succeeded byBrian Griffiths
Member of Parliament
for Wokingham
Assumed office
11 June 1987
Preceded byWilliam van Straubenzee
Majority7,383 (11.9%)
Personal details
Born
John Alan Redwood

(1951-06-15) 15 June 1951 (age 72)
Dover, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Gail Chippington
​
​
(m. 1974; div. 2003)​
Children2
Education
DPhil)
Academic background
ThesisThe fear of atheism in England, from the Restoration to Berkeley's Alciphron' (1975)
Part of the politics series on
Thatcherism
Margaret Thatcher
Philosophy
People
Organisations
Related movements

Sir John Alan Redwood (born 15 June 1951) is a British politician and academic who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wokingham in Berkshire since 1987. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Secretary of State for Wales in the Major government and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party in the 1990s. Redwood subsequently served in the Shadow Cabinets of William Hague and Michael Howard; he has remained a backbencher since then.

Prior to becoming an MP, Redwood completed a

2016 EU referendum, and is a member of the British Eurosceptic pressure group Leave Means Leave.[2]

Early life

John Redwood was born in Dover, the second child of William Redwood (1925–2016),[3] an accountant and company secretary, and his wife, Amy Emma (née Champion), the manager of a shoe shop. He had an elder sister, Jennifer, who died as a baby in 1949.[4][5] His childhood began in a council house, and describes his family buying their own house as a "big breakthrough" for the family.[6]

Education

Redwood was educated at

DPhil thesis which investigated the fear of atheism in England, from the Restoration to the publication of Alciphron by George Berkeley. He graduated with a DPhil in 1975.[8][9]

Political career

Redwood was an Oxfordshire county councillor, representing the Conservative Party between 1973 and 1977, the youngest ever at the age of 21 when elected. In 1981 he unsuccessfully stood for the Greater London Council seat of Peckham.[10] From 1983 onwards, he headed Margaret Thatcher's policy unit,[1] where he was one of the champions of privatisation.[11]

Redwood stood as the Conservative candidate at the Peckham by-election of October 1982, coming third with 12.42% of the vote behind the Labour Party candidate Harriet Harman and the SDP candidate Dick Taverne.[12]

At the 1987 general election, Redwood was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Wokingham, winning with 61.4% of the vote and a majority of 20,387.[13]

He was made a

Community Charge, known colloquially as the "poll tax", and its replacement with the Council Tax.[14]

Redwood was re-elected as MP for Wokingham at the 1992 general election with the same vote share of 61.4% and an increased vote share of 25,709.[15][16]

Redwood was opposed to attempts to reduce the age of consent for homosexuality in both 1994 and 1999, choosing to vote to keep Section 28 in November 2003.[17] He has generally been opposed to same-sex marriage. He voted for the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1988, 1990 and 1994 and voiced support for the reintroducing of the death penalty when he launched his leadership bid on 26 June 1995.[18] Redwood has stated since then: "I have never spoken or written against civil partnerships and gay marriage and am not proposing any change to current laws. I regard the debate about capital punishment as being over and do not support its reintroduction."[19][20][21]

At the 1997 general election, Redwood was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 50.1% and a decreased majority of 9,365.[22]

After the election, Redwood was appointed

Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in June 1999,[23] but was dropped in a mini reshuffle in February 2000, being succeeded by Archie Norman
.

Redwood was again re-elected at the 2001 general election with a decreased vote share of 46.1% and a decreased majority of 5,994.[24]

Under Michael Howard, he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Deregulation.[25]

At the 2005 general election, Redwood was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 48.1% and an increased majority of 7,240.[26]

Redwood was interviewed about the rise of Thatcherism for the BBC television documentary series of 2006, Tory! Tory! Tory!,[27] and has often appeared on television, including appearances on the BBC's Question Time.[28]

Redwood was again re-elected at the 2010 general election with an increased vote share of 52.7% and an increased majority of 13,492.[29][30]

In 2011, he abstained on the

military intervention in Libya.[31]

Redwood supports the establishment of a devolved English parliament.[32] Following the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Redwood called for radical reform involving the establishment of an English Parliament. His politicking prior to and succeeding the referendum placed him "front and centre" to any political gain due to the perceived power vacuum resulting from any possible changes to the status quo of the union.[33]

At the 2015 general election, Redwood was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.7% and an increased majority of 24,197.[34][35] He was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election, with a decreased vote share of 56.6% and a decreased majority of 18,798.[36] He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election with a decreased vote share of 49.6% and a decreased majority of 7,383.[37]

Redwood publicly argued with Greta Thunberg over the UK's climate emissions on Twitter.[38]

In government

Official portrait, 1995

In the government reshuffle of May 1993, Redwood was appointed to the cabinet as Secretary of State for Wales.[39] He deferred some road-widening schemes in Wales because of suggested harm to the environment.[40]

Redwood committed a gaffe in 1993, when he attempted to mime to the

Welsh Conservative Party conference, when he did not know the words.[41] Redwood subsequently learned the anthem but, in August 2007, an unconnected news story on Redwood was illustrated with the same clip. This resulted in Conservative activists filing complaints, and as a result the BBC apologised to Redwood for airing the dated footage.[42]

In February 1995, he was at loggerheads with the Countryside Council for Wales, because he had decided to cut its grant by 16%.[43] He also launched a scheme to provide more funding for popular schools with high numbers of applicants and concentrated extra expenditure on health and education services, away from administrative overheads.

Redwood consequently gained a somewhat haughty reputation with apparent disregard for Welsh national feeling; this did not endear him further to some of the population,[44] including when he returned £100 million of Wales's block grant to the Treasury unspent in 1995.[45]

Leadership contests

When John Major called upon his critics to "put up or shut up" and tendered his resignation to allow for a leadership challenge, Redwood resigned from the Cabinet, and stood against Major in the subsequent party leadership election on 26 June 1995.[46] In the ballot held on 4 July 1995, Redwood received 89 votes, around a quarter of the then Parliamentary Party. Major received 218 votes, or two thirds of the parliamentary party vote. The Sun newspaper had declared its support for Redwood in the run up to the leadership contest, running the front-page headline "Redwood versus Deadwood".[47]

When Major resigned as party leader following the General Election defeat of May 1997, Redwood stood in the resulting

election for the leadership, and was again defeated. After being defeated in the third round with 38 votes to Kenneth Clarke's 64 and William Hague's 62, Redwood backed Clarke against Hague.[48]

Brexit

Redwood is a veteran Eurosceptic.

Brexit referendum, Redwood wrote that, to Conservative Eurosceptics like him, leaving the EU was "more important than which party wins the next election or who is the prime minister."[51]

Since then, he has suggested the United Kingdom need not prioritise a post-Brexit deal with the EU, and received criticism for writing an investment advice column which recommended investors "look further afield" than the United Kingdom. Redwood denied this interpretation, saying that he simply advises investors of where international markets are heading and did not write an investment column "recommending investors pull their money out of the United Kingdom".[52][53]

In statements to media and in the House of Commons, Redwood has consistently defended the position that the UK should not pay the so-called Brexit bill (amounting to around £39 billion).

Withdrawal Agreement
through which the UK accepts to pay its outstanding financial obligations to the EU.

In June 2021, Redwood criticised the composition of the G7 which includes the president of the European Commission and the president of the European Council in addition to representatives from France, Germany and Italy. According to Redwood this hands a majority to the EU in the G7,[58] even if the G7 does not take decisions through majority voting.

Public image

He has often been compared to a Vulcan, a comparison originally made by Matthew Parris, due to his physical appearance and intonation,[1] a preference for making arguments with logic over passion[6] and a perception for being cold and humourless.[59] Redwood said that he does not like the description but "if you don't like the heat then get out of the kitchen". He continued, "I think people sometimes go for those kind of things because they haven't managed to trap me in the more normal way".[6]

Honours

Business career

Redwood worked as an investment analyst, manager and director for Robert Fleming and for NM Rothschild in the 1970s and 1980s.[62][63] In 2007 he co-founded Evercore Pan-Asset Capital Management Ltd, a financial management company, which was subsequently sold to Charles Stanley.[64] He is currently Chief Global Strategist at Charles Stanley & Co Ltd.[65] He was previously a non-executive chairman of Mabey Securities, an investment arm of the engineering firm Mabey.[63]

In January 2023, Sky News revealed that Redwood had, since the 2019 general election, earnt more than £600,000 in addition to his salary as an MP – the fifth-highest amount of any MP.[66]

Personal life

He married Gail Felicity Chippington, a barrister, on 20 April 1974 in Chipping Norton; they had two children, Catherine (born 1978) and Richard (born 1982). They divorced in July 2003.[67][68][69]

Blog

Redwood regularly updates a blog of political commentary which he has called John Redwood's Diary.[70][63] Printed and bound copies of this blog are housed at the British Library and can be accessed through the British Library catalogue.[71]

Bibliography

  • I Don't Like Politics: But I Want to Make a Difference. Politico's Publishing. October 2006.
    ISBN 978-1-84275-182-4
    .
  • Singing the Blues: 30 Years Of Tory Civil War. Politico's Publishing. October 2004.
    ISBN 978-1-84275-076-6
    .
  • Just Say No!: 100 Arguments Against the Euro. Politico's Publishing. July 2001.
    ISBN 978-1-902301-99-0
    .
  • Stars and Strife: The Coming Conflict Between the USA and the European Union.
    ISBN 978-0-333-91841-8
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-333-74439-0
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-14-026523-1
    .
  • Public Enterprise in Crisis: Future of Nationalized Industries. Blackwell Publishers. November 1980.
    ISBN 978-0631125822
    .
  • Reason, Ridicule and Religion: The Age of Enlightenment in England 1660–1750. Thames and Hudson. 1976.
    ISBN 0-500-27885-7

References

  1. ^ a b c Macintyre, Donald (10 July 1993). "Profile: Vulcan in the House: John Redwood – He has enemies in the party, but even they defer to his razor-sharp mind, writes Donald Macintyre". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Co-Chairmen – Political Advisory Board – Supporters". Leave Means Leave. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  3. ^ "The death of William Redwood". johnredwoodsdiary.com.
  4. ^ "FreeBMD – Search". freebmd.org.uk.
  5. ^ Deaths – England and Wales – July, August and September 1949
  6. ^ a b c Davies, Ben (1 October 2004). "Interview: John Redwood". BBC. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  7. ^ "All Souls College Oxford". asc.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  8. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.470179. Archived from the original
    on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  9. ^ "About". johnredwoodsdiary.com. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Greater London Council Election" (PDF). 7 May 1981. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  11. ^ "John Redwood". BBC News. 16 October 2002. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  12. ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1979-83 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 9 June 2000. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. ^ Local Government Review, Vol. 156, Part 1 (Justice of the Peace Ltd, 1992), p. 400
  15. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  17. ^ "John Redwood". theyworkforyou.com. Retrieved on 23 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Redwood promises UK right-wing policies". UPI.
  19. ^ "John Redwood". theyworkforyou.com. Retrieved on 23 November 2015. John Redwood's Diary 17 February 2018 www.johnredwoodsdiary.com
  20. ^ "Leading Article: John Redwood's hasty credo". The Independent. 23 October 2011. Retrieved on 23 November 2015.
  21. ^ Nigel Farndale (12 November 2006). "Say no to gallows humour". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 23 November 2015. John Redwood's Diary 17 February 2018 www.johnredwoodsdiary.com
  22. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ^ The Hutchinson Almanac (Helicon Publishing, 2000), p. 63
  24. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. ^ Woolf, Marie (2 September 2004). "John Redwood: He's back as Red-Tape Man, the unlikeliest sex symbol in the universe". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  26. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  27. ^ Patricia Holland, Broadcasting and the NHS in the Thatcherite 1980s (2013), pp. 137–138
  28. ^ Matthew Parris, Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics (2013), pp. 432–437
  29. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  30. ^ "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Wokingham". bbc.co.uk.
  31. ^ "The full list of how MPs voted on Libya action". BBC News. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  32. ^ "OPTIONS FOR AN ENGLISH PARLIAMENT" (PDF). www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  33. ^ "John Redwood's Diary – Speaking for England".
  34. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  35. ^ "Results from previous elections - Wokingham Borough Council". Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
  36. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated". Wokingham Borough Council. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  37. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated". Wokingham Borough Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  38. ^ "Tory MP takes aim at Greta Thunberg for suggesting UK is 'lying' about climate change successes, and is duly roasted | indy100". Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  39. ^ Chris Cook, John Stevenson, eds., Longman Companion to Britain Since 1945 (2014), p. 121
  40. ^ "MONMOUTH COUNCILLORS ON COLLISION COURSE WITH REDWOOD". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). 19 September 1994. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  41. ^ Lauren Niland. "Rick Perry's predecessors: when politicians forget". The Guardian. Retrieved on 23 November 2015.
  42. ^ "BBC: We were wrong to mock John Redwood". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  43. ^ Lean, Geoffrey (19 February 1995). "Greens attack Redwood policies". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022.
  44. ^ Cohen, Nick (2 July 1995). "The principality of Redwood". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  45. ^ "Labour scorns Tory no confidence threat". BBC News. Retrieved on 23 November 2015.
  46. ^ "Conservative Party Leadership Election 1995". BBC. 1997. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  47. ^ Macintyre, Donald; Brown, Colin (27 June 1995). "PM assails 'malcontent' Redwood". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022.
  48. ^ "John Redwood". BBC News. 1997. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  49. ^ a b "Making the break". Economist. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  50. ^ Redwood, John. "Let's give up our EU veto and opt out instead". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  51. ^ Redwood, John (26 May 2016). "A vote to remain in the EU won't be the last we hear of Brexit". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  52. ^ Elgot, Jessica (13 November 2017). "John Redwood criticised over advice to pull money out of UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  53. ^ Coppola, Frances (12 November 2017). "British Lawmaker Advises Investors To Take Their Money Out Of The UK". Forbes. Retrieved 14 November 2017. John Redwood's Diary 17 February 2018 www.johnredwoodsdiary.com
  54. ^ Hunt, Darren (19 November 2018). "Greedy EU: Brexiteer MP warns 'rich western European countries' should NOT be given £39bn". Daily Express. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  55. ^ Rankin, Jennifer (4 March 2017). "Brexit: UK could quit EU without paying a penny, say Lords". Guardian online. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  56. ^ "Brexit divorce bill explained: Why the UK needs to pay the EU to leave". Qz.com. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  57. ^ "The financial cost to the UK of leaving the EU | The Centre for Business Research blog". Cbr.blog.jbs.cam.ac.uk. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  58. ^ "Tweet". Twitter. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  59. ^ "John Redwood". bbc.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation, 'Politics 97'. 1997. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  60. ^ "New Year's Honours list: John Redwood one of 3 MPs awarded knighthood". Inews.co.uk. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  61. ^ "No. 62507". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 28 December 2018. p. N2.
  62. ^ "John Redwood". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  63. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4
    . Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  64. ^ Hosking, Patricia (15 November 2013). "Wealth group makes John Redwood richer". The Times. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  65. ^ "John Redwood takes an optimistic view on the markets" (video). Charles Stanley & Co. Limited. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  66. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: The Westminster Accounts". Sky News (video). 8 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  67. ^ Brown, Colin (27 July 2003). "Redwood leaves his wife for former model Nikki Page". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  68. ^ Kite, Melissa (15 February 2004). "Redwood comes out fighting against ex-wife". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  69. ^ Hencke, David (28 March 2005). "Redwood's ex-wife debunks Vulcan jibe". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  70. ^ John Redwood's Diary Retrieved 2 June 2020
  71. ^ John Redwood's Diaries, archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 2 June 2020

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Wokingham
1987–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Secretary of State for Wales
1993–1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

1997–1999 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for the
Regions

1999–2000 		Succeeded by
New office Shadow Secretary of State for Deregulation
2004–2005 		Position abolished
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