Owen Paterson

For the production designer, see Owen Paterson (production designer).

The Right Honourable Owen Paterson MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 May 2010
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Shaun Woodward
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 2 July 2007 – 12 May 2010
Leader	David Cameron
Preceded by	David Lidington
Succeeded by	Shaun Woodward
Member of Parliament for North Shropshire
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	John Biffen
Majority	15,828 (30.5%)
Personal details
Born	(1956-06-24) 24 June 1956 Whitchurch, Shropshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Rose (née Ridley)
Alma mater	Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Profession	Leather industries
Website	Owen Paterson's website

Owen William Paterson (born 24 June 1956) is a British Conservative Party politician and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Shropshire.

Early life and career

Paterson was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire. He attended Abberley Hall School, Radley College, and then went up to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating in 1978 as an MA in History. He then went to the National Leathersellers College (now the British School of Leather Technology at the University of Northampton).

He joined the British Leather Company in 1979, becoming Sales Director in 1983 and Managing Director from 1993 to 1999. He was President of COTANCE, the European Tanners Confederation from 1996–8. He was a Director of Parsons and Sons leather company in Halesowen in the 1990s. Paterson is a Liveryman of the Leathersellers' Company.

Member of Parliament

Before becoming a frontbencher Owen served on several committees. These included the Welsh Affairs 1997-2001, European Standing Committee A 1998-2001, Welsh Grand Committee 1998-2000 European Scrutiny 1999-2000, Agriculture 2000-01.

Constituency Member of Parliament

He contested, but failed to win, the Wrexham seat in the 1992 general election. He is Member of Parliament for North Shropshire, being first elected at the 1997 general election and has won at all general elections there since. At each election he has significantly increased his share of the vote. At the General Election 2010 Owen recieved 26,692 votes giving him a majority of 15,825 (an increase of over 5,000) with a 51.5% share of the vote.

Whilst generally choseing to maintain a low media profile, for March 2008, he was voted the second best Conservative MP "Media Performer"" on Iain Dale's blog.

He is a Eurosceptic, with extensive knowledge of exporting to Europe from his career in business.

Front Bench Politician

Thoughout his time in parliament Owen has risen steadily through the front bench ranks of the [Conservative Party (UK) | Conservative Party]]. He is seen as a reliable, loyal and hardworking frontbencher.

• Peter Oborne comments that "Paterson possesses pretty well all the virtues any well-arranged society would look for in a Cabinet minister. He is hard-working, utterly conscientious and morally brave. Never afraid to speak his mind, he has quietly effected important changes in Northern Ireland’s political structures. Yet Paterson’s career has suffered from one crucial defect. There have been no press releases trumpeting illusory achievements. He does not leak announcements to a grateful media, publishing them instead, as propriety demands, in Parliament."

• Jonathan Isaby on ConservativeHome nominated him as frontbencher of the year (2008). In his nomination he wrote "Owen Paterson would not expect to enjoy the highest of media profiles, but he deserves this accolade in recognition of all the work he has put in this year towards creating a new political force in Northern Ireland through an alliance between the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionists. He quietly beavered away on the project for most of the year, spending at least one day a week in the province, and the deal was finally sealed in mid-November. Owen should rightly feel proud of this achievement.”

• The Daily Telegraph commented that Owen is "highly energetic and personable".

• Simon Heffer has said that Owen is a "very serious, dedicated politician".

• Tim Montgomerie recently wrote that Owen is "brave, honest and incredibly hardworking. Whether it was his networking across Europe ten years ago to build allies for a post-EPP grouping (all for which he was unpaid I should stress), his diligent work to prepare an alternative to the Common Fisheries Policy when he was an agriculture spokesman or his work on roads as a member of the transport team, he's not afraid of putting in the hours. A man of the Right he's also handsome - a not important quality in electoral politics!"

• Fast Talk Express said that Owen was one of three "Oppostion Members to watch".

• Charles Moore in The Spectator wrote that "in a better world, there would be a film about the life of Owen Paterson — his heroic struggles to export British manufacturing when he worked in the family leather firm, his mastery of the foot-and-mouth crisis, his insane courage as a horseman, not to mention his longstanding commitment to Northern Ireland. Owen would be played by Pierce Brosnan, or possibly the late Trevor Howard."

Opposition Whip

Owen served as a whip under William Hague from 2000-01

Parliamentary Private Secretary

Owen was Iain Duncan Smith's Parliamentary Private Secretary when he was Leaders of the Conservative Party from 2001-03

Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister

Owen was a Shadow griculture, Fisheries and Food Minister from 2003-05. As agriculture spokesman Owen became an expert on bovine TB and campaigned for the dairy industry. He visited Michigan, Maryland and Washington to discuss Bovine TB Policy, wrting extensively on the issue facing the UK.

He travelled all over the North Atlantic to produce a landmark Green Paper on Fisheries. Owen even joined the crew of the Kiroan, one of the few remaining trawlers out of Fleetwood, Lancashire, to experience personally the wasteful fishing practices which have been created by the EU's Common Fisheries Policy. The Green Paper "Consultationon a National Policy on Fisheries Management in U.K.Waters" was very well respected across the political spectrum and can be found here. Many of the ideas were taken up through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fish Fight Campaign.

Iain Dale has commented that Owen "brought a great deal of tenacity to his previous job as Fisheries spokesman".

Shadow Minister for Transport

Owen previously served as Shadow Minister for Transport from 2005-07. Whilst he was Shadow Minister for Roads, Owen he researched best practice and the latest ideas from Europe and North America.

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

He was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 2 July 2007.

While he was Shadow Secretary one of Owen's main achievements was to come to an agreement with the Ulster Unionist Party to re-establish the traditional links which the two parties used to have (broken in 1972).This included running joint Conservative/UUP candidates for the 2009 European and 2010 General Elections. Owen believed that it was vital part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process to “normalise” Northern Ireland politics by giving the electoral in Ulster a chance to vote for national parties.

News of this alliance was greeted with much praise. Iain Dale wrote “That's in no small part due to the efforts of Tory Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson. He was the instigator of the talks and has kept them going through some difficult times. Owen is much underestimated by many of his colleagues, but he proved in his last job as Shadow Fisheries Minister - and also now - that he is a tenacious and dedicated shadow spokesman who throws himself into whatever job he has.” When further details of the agreement were revealed he went on to say “Well done to Owen Paterson for his tenacity and dedication in pulling this off. It's a real achievement to be proud of.”

ConservativeHome wrote “it must not be underestimated how much credit is due to Owen Paterson, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, for bringing this deal about. It was over a year ago that he quietly began putting feelers out to like-minded individuals in the UUP about seriously bringing the parties closer together again. He then met UUP leader Sir Reg Empey at the beginning of this year, after which a secret working group was established to discuss the matter further. Amazingly, this close-knit group managed to keep their negotiations secret and out of the media until deciding to float their ideas in public in July. Throughout the process Owen has been assiduously visiting Northern Ireland every week, often spending two days a week there during recesses. His commitment to what is often regarded as a minor shadow cabinet post has been total.”

This deal resulted in the election of Jim Nicholson as an MEP for Northern Ireland making the Conservatives the only party in the UK to have elected representatives in all parts of the UK. In response to this successful venture the Labour Party said they would start organising in Northern Ireland.

Whilst he was Shadow Secretary of State Owen wrote a post on ConservativeHome describing one of his weeks which can be found here.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Owen Paterson was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in Cameron's new administration on 12 May 2010. He was created a Privy Councillor on 13 May 2010.

Since the General Election, Owen has overseen the publication and delivery of the Saville Report on the events of Bloody Sunday, the Inquiries into the murders of Rosemary Nelson, Billy Wright and is overseeing the current investigation into the murder of Robert Hamill. He has secured a financial settlement for savers in the Presbyterian Mutual Society, recieved an extra £200 million of funding for security in Northern Ireland to counter the rise of dissident republican terrorism and worked with the Treasury to deliver his promise of a consultation on the devolution of the power to reduce the rate of Corporation Tax to Stormont.

As part of his policy to "normalise" Northern Ireland politics Owen has tried to engage with Sinn Fein to end their policy of absenteeism at Westminster.

Owen has been prominent in driving down costs at his Ministry, the Northern Ireland Office. He has scraped the use of a hired private jet which had cost the taxpayer up to £9,000 one way, instead choosing to fly on commercial public airlines when visiting Northern Ireland. He has also been cutting the NIO budget by around 25%.

Personal life

Paterson married the Hon. Rose Ridley in 1980. She is the daughter of Matthew Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley, niece of the late Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale and sister of Matt Ridley. They have two sons and a daughter. Paterson speaks fluent French and German.

Owen is a keen horse rider and racer. He has riden across Turkmenistan and most recently Mongolia.

In 2008 the Daily Record readership voted Owen one of the top ten sexiest politicians in the world.

Charity Work

Owen has devoted much time to fundraising for various charities.

Recently Owen and his wife Rose have taken part in the Mongolian Derby which is the world’s longest horse race. It is a race across 1,000 miles of the Mongolian Steppe in 10 days to raise money for charity. They were the oldest competitors as well as being the only ones from the UK. They raised about £55,000 for the Royal Irish Regiment Benevolent Fund, the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries and Mercy Corps Mongolia.

Styles

• Mr Owen Paterson (1956–97)
• Mr Owen Paterson MP (1997–2010)
• Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP (2010– )

External links

• Owen Paterson MP official constituency website
• Profile at the Conservative Party
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Guide to new Cabinet members: Owen Paterson, BBC News, 13 May 2010