Sir Henry Campbell Bellingham (born 29 March 1955) is a British Conservative politician. He was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 14 May 2010, a position he held until 5 September 2012. In Parliament, he represents the constituency of North West Norfolk.
Video Henry Bellingham (Norfolk MP)
Early life
He is the son of Arthur Henry Bellingham and his wife June Marion Cloudesley Smith. Bellingham attended Wellesley House School in the town of Broadstairs in Kent, followed by Eton College and then Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he received a law degree in 1977. During his time at Cambridge, he was a member of Cambridge University Liberal Club and served as Joint Master of the Cambridge University Draghounds. He also took a short service commission in the Guards for a year between school and university. He trained at the Inns of Court School of Law, and joined the Middle Temple in 1978 and practised as a barrister for eight years. Bellingham is variously described as a direct descendant of John Bellingham, Spencer Perceval's assassin, or as being from the same family. In 1997 The Independent noted the historical coincidence that the General election candidate for the Referendum Party, Roger Percival claimed to be a descendant of the slain Prime Minister. The paper had correctly predicted that Percival's intervention could hand the seat to Labour.
Maps Henry Bellingham (Norfolk MP)
Parliamentary career
Bellingham first entered Parliament at the 1983 election after winning the seat for North West Norfolk, having defeated the incumbent MP Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler, who in 1981 was the only Conservative to defect to the newly formed SDP. He held his seat until being defeated during the 1997 election. He contested his former seat at the election in 2001, and won it back. He was re-elected in 2005 with a 9000 vote majority, and again in 2010 with a majority of 14,810.
Henry Bellingham was appointed as a Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry in July 2002, before becoming an Opposition Whip in May 2005. From November 2006 until the 2010 general election he was a Shadow Minister for the Department of Constitutional Affairs. He won the North West Norfolk seat in the 2010 election, and was appointed a Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the coalition government within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office covering; 'Overseas Territories, Africa, United Nations, economic issues, conflict resolution and climate change'.
In 2009, whilst debating the Queen's speech, he was described as 'looking uncomfortable' when MPs joked about his distant ancestor John Bellingham, who assassinated Spencer Percival. Bellingham later stated: "I wouldn't bring it up in conversation that I'm a descendant - or a near-descendant - of a murderer of a prime minister. But I don't try to deny it"
On 29 September 2011, while quoting Bellingham, the Antigua Observer described him as the United Kingdom's Minister of Overseas Territories. While in Antigua Bellingham had commented on the surprise decision of former Premier of Bermuda Ewart Brown to provide asylum to four former Uyghur captives in Guantanamo.
"This is something that we weren't consulted on by the last (Brown) administration. We have spoken to the United States about it -- it's our understanding that the arrangement was not to be permanent and we're looking to the US State Department to find a permanent solution. We're working with them to try and achieve that."
Bellingham became Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Speedway Racing in July 2015.
Business interests
In 2014, a mining company called Pathfinder Minerals appointed Bellingham as non-executive chairman in order so that he could advise them on a legal case for permission to mine off the coast of Mozambique.
According to the Daily Mail: "Tory MP Bellingham was engulfed in scandal immediately on being appointed after it emerged he had sent letters supporting Pathfinder before being appointed to his position. The North West Norfolk MP earns £4,000 a month for four to seven hours work advising on strategy and corporate governance for Pathfinder."
A spokesperson for Pathfinder defended Bellingham's involvement: "Bellingham is a non-executive director of Pathfinder and provides valuable strategic counsel to the board and an appropriate level of governance oversight. His interest in developing business opportunities for British companies in Africa and his deep knowledge of the region make him ideally suited to helping steer Pathfinder.'
Bellingham is also a Director of Longborough Capital of Witney, Environmental Polymer Technologies of Shaftesbury, and Arc Fund Management.
Personal life
Bellingham lives in Congham, which is situated within his constituency. He married Emma Whiteley in August 1993 in Horsham, and they have a son named Jamie.
Honours
Bellingham was knighted in the 2016 New Year Honours.
See also
- Bellingham baronets
References
External links
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 2010-present
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803-2005
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
Video clips
- Post Office closures on YouTube
- Questioning Gerry Sutcliffe in the Commons in May 2006 on YouTube
Source of article : Wikipedia
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