Biography
Tony was educated at Leighton Park, University of Sussex and Lincoln’s Inn.
Tony’s experience
Tony has been a Member of Parliament since 1983, Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development, Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Trade and Industry Committee, and Vice-Chairman of the Conservative International Development Committee.
He held various ministerial posts during the 1990s, serving as Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1995-97.
Tony was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1994-94, with a range of responsibilities including South Asia, Africa, North America and the West Indies.
Between 1990 and 1994, he was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of the Environment. He was also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Energy in 1990 when, together with John Wakeham, he privatised the electricity industry.
In June 2010, he was appointed Second Church Estates Commissioner, with responsibility for answering questions in the House in a manner similar to questions to Ministers on the work of the Church Commissioners.
Tony is also Chair of a number of All-Party Parliamentary Groups including those on Carers, Italy, and Excellence in the Built Environment.
Campaigning in North Oxfordshire
Over the years Tony has been involved in a number of campaigns in his constituency. Most recently, Tony helped campaign against the downgrading of key services at the Horton hospital, and continues to assist the ‘Stop the Ardley Incinerator’ and HS2 and Ecotown campaigns.