Francis Maude
Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude (born 4 July 1953) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he currently serves as the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, and as a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Horsham. He is the son of the former Conservative Cabinet minister Angus Maude.
Early life
Maude was educated at the private fee-paying Abingdon School, at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and at the College of Law. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1977, and practised criminal law.
Maude served a councillor for the City of Westminster from 1978 to 1984.
Political career
In government
Maude was first elected to the House of Commons to represent the constituency of North Warwickshire in the Conservative Party's landslide victory at the 1983 general election. In 1984, he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Employment Peter Morrison. Maude then became an assistant government whip (1985–87) and Minister for Corporate and Consumer Affairs (1987–89). In 1989, he became the Minister for Europe in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
In Alan Clark's "Diaries" Maude was quoted as saying that then Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson "couldn't be Foreign Secretary as a Jew".[1]
Maude 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 election. 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.[2]
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 Party candidate, Mike O'Brien, and was thus forced to vacate his ministerial roles. According to Daniel Finkelstein of The Times the loss came as a 'terrible blow' to Maude, all his peers had managed to cling on and were together forming a government. That same year, he was sworn of the Privy Council.
In a 2006 interview, Maude admitted that the introduction of Section 28 legislation whilst he was in government (which banned councils from promoting homosexuality and led to the closure of gay support groups) was "a mistake", saying it could have contributed to the death from HIV of his homosexual brother, Charles, and many others.[3]
Out of Parliament
Out of Parliament after the 1992 general election, Maude began a series of business roles. He worked in banking as Managing Director at Morgan Stanley from 1993 to 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 to 1997.
Shadow cabinet
In the 1997 general election Maude was elected MP for Horsham. Almost immediately he was re-appointed to the Conservative front bench, now the Opposition in Parliament. 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 the new leader Iain Duncan Smith. He was considered to be a 'moderniser' and on the left of the party, writing in 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, 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." [citation needed]
After the 2005 general election, Maude returned to the Shadow Cabinet as Chairman of the Conservative Party. During 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 hypocrisy by promoting a "family-friendly" image while being the non-executive chairman of Jubilee Investment Trust plc, which held 21% of American pornographic actress Jill Kelly's adult DVD business,[4] and chairman of the Mission Marketing Group, which has advertised for WKD drinks and Playboy.[5] Maude, "who has railed against irresponsible lending by banks and mortgage companies", was accused of hypocrisy for receiving more than £100,000 as a director of a company that has profited from sub-prime mortgages. His annual salary was £25,000 from 2002 to 2005, for attending around six meetings a year of the company, and £12000 a year 2006 to 2008. The company went into liquidation in April 2009.[6]
In July 2007, Maude was made Shadow Cabinet Office Minister and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 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.[7] He led the Conservative Party delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Expenses claims
Two years after the Fees Office rejected a claim for mortgage interest on Maude's Sussex home, Maude purchased a flat in London, close to another house he already owned. He rented out the London house and claimed £35,000 mortgage interest on this flat.[8] According to the Legg Report[9] he was not asked to repay any money.
Government minister again
Maude was appointed Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with the right to attend Cabinet, on 12 May 2010, following the formation of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition.
Fuel crisis
On 28 March 2012, during the 2012 United Kingdom fuel crisis, Maude "foolishly" advised people to fill up their vehicles in their vehicles and store fuel in garages in a jerrycan.[10] His remarks were widely criticised, queues up to half a mile long formed outside petrol stations[11] and petrol retailers criticised the Government for creating a crisis.[12] Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union pointed out Maudes advice was dangerous and illegal and could be disastrous in the event of a fire in a neighbouring property.[13] Brian Madderson, the petrol chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation said that the Government appeared to be "intent on creating a crisis out of a serious concern and that drivers should ignore "dangerous advice." Maude denied that it would increase the risk of explosions, however the following day transport minister Mike Penning, a former fireman confirmed the advice was wrong saying he didn't think Maude understood how big jerrycans were.[14] On 30 March 2012, the Labour peer Lord Harris called for Maude's resignation,[15] after a woman suffered severe burns from bursting into flames during an attempt to decant petrol next to a lit gas cooker. Harris believed that Maude's advice helped cause the incident.[16]
Personal life
Maude is father of five: Julia, Cecily, Harry, Alastair and Lydia. His personal net wealth is estimated at £3m. Despite this, during a discussion on Newsnight on 22 October 2010 he argued that a 5% cut to his £65,738 salary was equal to the 'pain' suffered by Britain's poor.[17][18] Although a proponent of David Cameron's "Big Society", a July 2010 interview revealed Maude does little or no work for the voluntary sector, believing that his work as an MP was contribution enough.[19] In 2012 he was, some say wrongly, linked to the Jimmy Saville child abuse scandal. This untrue rumour came about solely due to him "looking like a right nonce".
References
- ^ Diaries, Alan Clark, p185
- ^ "Falling from power: Cabinet overboard (memoirs extract)". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
- ^ "Tory Chairman: Gay policies were wrong". Pink News. 9 February 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
- ^ "Tory Chief and the Porn Star". Daily Mirror. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ Marre, Oliver (13 May 2007). "Pendennis". The Observer. London. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
- ^ The Observer 3 May 2009
- ^ Baldwin, Tom; Kennedy, Siobhan (22 August 2008). "Convention fever: MPs fly in hoping to find prescription for success". The Times. London. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
- ^ Winnett, Robert (10 May 2009). "Daily Telegraph – David Cameron's shadow cabinet drawn into expenses scandal (11 May 2009)". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
- ^ "Review of past ACA payments" (PDF). House of Commons Members Estimate Committee. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ IainNartin (31 March 2012). "There's a crisis of competence at the top of the Tory party". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- ^ Gordon Rayner (28 March 2012). "David Cameron accused of presiding over 'shambles' on fuel as panic buying gets worse". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- ^ Rowena Mason (28 March 2012). "Petrol retailers: Government intent on creating fuel crisis". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ Miranda Bryant (28 March 2012). "Fuel strike: Francis Maude fuels crisis with 'jerry can' blunder". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|Publisher=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) - ^ "Fuel strike threat:Maude's jerrycan advice a mistake". BBC News. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ Donna Bowater (30 March 2012). "Fuel strike anger over government advice grows as woman is burnt in petrol accident". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- ^ "Maude urged to quit over tanker driver strike row as woman suffers burns". The Independent. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ Samira Shackle, Stephanie Hegarty and George Eaton "The new ruling class" New Statesman, 1 October 2009
- ^ Glen Owen The coalition of millionaires: 23 of the 29 member of the new cabinet are worth more than £1m... and the Lib Dems are just as wealthy as the Tories Mail on Sunday 23 May 2010
- ^ [1] Eddie Mair (Radio 4) [42m:52s]: And what volunteering do you do?
External links
- Francis Maude 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
- Profile: Francis Maude BBC News, 10 February 2005
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- Use dmy dates from August 2011
- 1953 births
- Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
- Alumni of The College of Law
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- Councillors in Westminster
- Eldest sons of barons
- Living people
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- People from Abingdon, Oxfordshire
- People educated at Abingdon School
- UK MPs 1983–1987
- UK MPs 1987–1992
- UK MPs 1997–2001
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