Mark Field
Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific | |
---|---|
In office 13 June 2017 – 25 July 2019[a] | |
Prime Minister | Theresa May |
Preceded by | Alok Sharma |
Succeeded by | Heather Wheeler |
Member of Parliament for Cities of London and Westminster | |
In office 7 June 2001 – 6 November 2019 | |
Preceded by | Peter Brooke |
Succeeded by | Nickie Aiken |
Personal details | |
Born | Hanover, West Germany | 6 October 1964
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouses | Michele
(m. 1994; div. 2006)Victoria (m. 2007) |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | St Edmund Hall, Oxford |
Occupation | Politician |
Profession | Solicitor |
| |
Mark Christopher Field (born 6 October 1964) is a British politician who served as the
Early life and education
Field was born on 6 October 1964 at the British Military Hospital
He was secretary and national political officer of the
Private career
Whilst an undergraduate at
Field served as vice-chairman of the Islington North Conservative Association between 1989 and 1991 and unsuccessfully stood as one of the Conservative Party candidates in the Quadrant ward in the Islington Council election in 1990.[6] He was elected as a Conservative councillor for Abingdon ward on Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council in 1994, standing down in 2002 after entering the House of Commons.[7]
He unsuccessfully contested the Conservative held seat of Enfield North at the 1997 general election[1] following the retirement of the sitting MP Tim Eggar. 1997 was the year of Labour's parliamentary landslide and he was defeated at that election by Labour's Joan Ryan by 6,822 votes.
After leaving Parliament following the 2019 general election, Field was appointed as non-executive chairman of CIB Limited, a subsidiary of the Isle of Man-based investment bank Capital International Group in January 2020.[8][9]
Parliamentary career
In December 1999 Field was selected to contest the safe Conservative seat of the Cities of London and Westminster following the retirement of former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Brooke at the 2001 general election. Field won the seat with a majority of 4,499 and was returned to Parliament with an increased majority three times since (2005 – 8,095; 2010 – 11,076; 2015 – 9,671). He was re-elected with a reduced majority at the 2017 general election. Field made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 27 June 2001, when he declared his great political hero to be former Prime Minister Bonar Law.[10]
He was described by
As a parliamentarian Field, however, proved a strong supporter of equal rights. Within months of his election, in October 2001, he was one of four Tory MPs supporting a 10-minute rule bill on civil partnerships, a course he continued to support until it was on the statute books. He was also one of the Conservative MPs to vote in favour of gay marriage when this became law in May 2013. He was appointed an
In September 2010, Field was appointed by the Prime Minister to the
He takes a special interest in
As a
Field expressed criticism of the previous system governing MPs' second home allowances:[16] The Daily Telegraph's investigation of MPs' expenses found Field to be among the lower-end claimants.[17]
He has been a supporter of looser rules on MPs' outside earnings and was quoted in 2001 as saying: "If you're earning several hundred thousand a year in the City, are you going to give it up for £47,000 a year in the Commons?"[11] In 2012, it was reported that the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) had plans to reform MPs' pay, which could lead to them facing salary cuts for taking on second jobs. Field, who had earned £90,000 in the previous year through advisory work, called the proposals "totally unacceptable", especially for MPs with London costs.[18]
In October 2011, Field voiced opposition to
In March 2014, he launched Conservatives for Managed Migration in order to spark a "calm and rational debate about
In July 2015, Field was appointed vice chairman (International) of the Conservative Party under the leadership of David Cameron and was reappointed to the role by Theresa May. The role involves chairing the Party's International and Outreach Office which builds relationships with international sister parties on the centre-right, works with the
In 2016, he met Halbe Zijlstra, Leader of the Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives, who had made a series of controversial comments about immigrants and political correctness. It was argued that Field's role as vice chairman of the Conservative Party also includes liaising with sister centre-right parties in Europe.[25][26]
Minister for Asia and Pacific
On 13 June 2017, he was appointed a
Assault allegation
On 20 June 2019, Greenpeace accused Field of assault, after an activist who interrupted Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond's Mansion House Speech was grabbed by the neck, pinned against a wall and then pushed out of the event by Field. Field said he reacted "instinctively" and referred himself to the Cabinet Office for an investigation. He apologised to the activist for "grabbing her" and said he was worried she might have been armed.[28][29][30] As a result of the incident, he was suspended as a minister on 21 June, while investigations took place.[31] The City of London Police reviewed the events and declared that it would be taking no further action[32] because Field was a member of parliament[citation needed]. When Boris Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, Field was dropped from his ministerial role at the Foreign Office as part of a cabinet reshuffle. The Whitehall investigation was closed, as he felt that it was a "matter for the previous PM concerning his conduct during his time as a minister under her appointment".[33] In October 2019, he announced that he would stand down from Parliament at the next general election, citing disagreement with government policy over Brexit.[34]
A Cabinet Office investigation into the assault allegation, published in December 2019, concluded that he had breached the ministerial code but that he would not receive any sanction as Field was no longer in Parliament.[35][36]
Writer and commentator
His first book, Between the Crashes, brings together his articles on UK politics and global economics following the aftermath of the financial crisis and was released by Biteback Publishing in April 2013.[37] His second book, The Best of Times looks at the challenges and triumphs in British politics, economics and foreign affairs in the period 2013 to 2015 and was released by Biteback Publishing in May 2016.[38] The books were co-authored with future MP Julia Lopez who was his chief of staff at the time.[39]
Field has been a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour and has appeared on various other BBC television programmes, including Daily Politics, Sunday Politics and Newsnight, ITV's Late Debate (a panellist from 2009) and Sky News as a newspaper reviewer. He has made contributions to the political blog, ConservativeHome, particularly on economic matters. He has written for The Daily Telegraph[40][41][42][43] and City AM,[44][45] and wrote an article for The Independent about the Christian minority in Syria.[46]
Personal life
Field's first wife was former investment banker Michele; they married in 1994.[47] They divorced in 2006 [48] following Field’s extra-marital affair between 2004 and 2005 with Liz Truss, who was also married.[49][50]
In 2007, Field married celebrity agent Victoria. They have two children.[51]
References
- ^ a b c "Mark Field". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "BMH Hannover – British Military Hospital Germany". www.qaranc.co.uk.
- ^ "Mark Field: Electoral history and profile – Politics – The Guardian". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "Alumni". www.law.ac.uk.
- ^ Lawyer, The (1 July 1995). "In brief: Personal touch for personnel recruitment".
- ^ "Islington Council Election Results 1964-2010" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "Kensington and Chelsea Council Election Results 1964-2010" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "Island is urged to forge links with new intake of northern Tory MPs". Isle of Man Today. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ^ "The Rt Hon. Mark Field". Capital International Group. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 Jun 2001 (pt 18)". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ a b "Four Conservative hardliners who could win seats at the election". The Guardian. 2 May 2001. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "About Mark". Mark Field MP. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "Mark Field". Conservative Party. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons – Register Of All-Party Groups as at 30 July 2015: Small Business". publications.parliament.uk.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Boris will not be given control of royal parks". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ MPs who milked the expenses system now complain about attempts to reform it. The Daily Telegraph, 29 August 2009
- ^ "MPs' expenses – what your MP claimed – A–H". The Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "MPs may face pay cut for taking second jobs". The Guardian. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "Occupy London: Thermal Images 'Reveal Camp Empties At Night'". The Huffington Post UK. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "Bishop of London branded hypocrite as he backs St Paul's protest... and eviction". Telegraph.co.uk. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "St Paul's camp: Occupied for 137 days, cleared in 137 minutes". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ Field, Mark (27 March 2014). "Conservatives for Managed Migration want a sensible immigration policy, not an open door". Conservative Home. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "Tory MP's group wants net migration target dropped". BBC News. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "Privy Council appointments: March 2015". Press release. Prime Minister's Office. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- ^ "Why were two Dutch MPs at 'cake and eat it' Brexit meeting?". Dutch News. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ Elgot, Jessica; Rankin, Jennifer (29 November 2016). "Minister dismisses 'have cake and eat it' Brexit notes". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "Election 2017: ministerial appointments". www.gov.uk. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ "Climate protesters disrupt Hammond's Mansion House speech". BBC News. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ "Tory MP Mark Field filmed removing protester amid demonstration during Philip Hammond speech". ITV News. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ "MP Mark Field accused of assaulting Greenpeace activist". BBC News. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ Kentish, Benjamin (21 June 2019). "Tory minister suspended for grabbing female protester by the neck and pinning her against pillar". The Independent. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ "Mansion House steps up its security after Greenpeace activist breach".
- ^ Mason, Rowena (29 July 2019). "Boris Johnson drops investigation into MP who manhandled protester". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ "Tory MP to stand down over Brexit disagreement". BBC News. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ "Mark Field found to have breached code by grabbing protester". The Guardian. 20 December 2019.
- ^ "Mark Field breached ministerial code by grabbing activist". BBC News. 20 December 2019.
- ^ "Biteback Publishing". www.bitebackpublishing.com.
- ^ "The Best of Times". www.bitebackpublishing.com.
- ^ Wallace, Mark (26 April 2017). "Cllr Julia Dockerill selected for Hornchurch and Upminster". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "The Government must hold its nerve on bank stakes". Telegraph.co.uk. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "The fee pool – London's essential export". Telegraph.co.uk. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "Hobbling the City will also hobble the country". Telegraph.co.uk. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ Mark Field MP (10 January 2011). "What happened to 'a new politics'?". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "MF Global's bankruptcy highlights perilous faults in UK finance rules". Cityam.com. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "There's no third way for the City in Britain's relationship with the EU". Cityam.com. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "How rent-a-mob jihadis are tormenting a benighted Christian minority in Bashar al-Assad's Syria". The Independent. London. 14 October 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "'Ambition greater than ability': Liz Truss's rise from teen Lib Dem to would-be PM". The Guardian. 30 July 2022.
- ISBN 9780992934873.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ "Tory Elizabeth Truss faces deselection vote in two weeks over affair". The Guardian. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ "Profile: Elizabeth Truss". The Sunday Times. 8 November 2009.