James Paice

The Right Honourable James Paice MP
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food
Incumbent
Assumed office May 2010
Preceded by	Jim Fitzpatrick
Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 June 1987
Preceded by	Francis Pym
Majority	5,946 (10.3%)
Personal details
Born	24 April 1949 (1949-04-24) Felixstowe, Suffolk, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Ava Patterson
Website	www.jamespaicemp.com

James Edward Thornton "Jim" Paice MP (born 24 April 1949) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for South East Cambridgeshire, and was first elected in the 1987 general election. He is Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Early life

Born in Felixstowe, Suffolk, Paice went to the independent Framlingham College. At the Writtle Agricultural College, he received a National Diploma in Agriculture in 1970. He was a farm manager from 1970–73. From 1973–79, he was a farmer and contractor. From 1979–87, he was Training Manager at Framlingham Management and Training Services. At United Framlingham Farmers Ltd, he was non-executive Director from 1987–89, then Director from 1989–1994. From 1976 until 1987, he was on Suffolk Coastal District Council, becoming the youngest ever Chairman in 1983.

Parliamentary career

He contested the Caernarfon seat in the 1979 general election but was defeated. Eight years later he was elected the Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire and has held the seat since.

At Westminster Paice first served as Secretary of the Backbench Employment Committee from 1988–89 and of the Backbench Horticulture and Markets Sub-Committee (1988–89). He was also a member of the Employment Select Committee from 1987 until 1989. He was made a minor member of the government in December 1989 as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Baroness Trumpington. A year later he became the PPS for John Gummer, who was then the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1990–93) and later Secretary of State for the Environment (1993–94). In July 1994 he was promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Employment (from July 1995 the Department for Education and Employment) and served until the Conservative defeat in the 1997 general election.

In Opposition Paice became a spokesman for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1997–2001) and later on Home Affairs (2001–03). Under the leadership of Michael Howard, Paice was appointed Shadow Minister for Home, Constitutional and Legal Affairs. From September 2004 until his return to government, Paice served as Shadow Minister for Agriculture, a post he later took up in government.

On 13 May 2010 he was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Agriculture and Food Minister) in the coalition government.

Personal life

He married Ava Patterson in 1973. They have two sons.

External links

• James Paice MP official constituency website
• James Paice MP Conservative Party profile
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Website at ePolitix.com

News articles

• Calling for Lord Bach, farming minister, to quit in 2006

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Francis Pym	Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire 1987–present	Incumbent