Nick Harvey

Sir Nicholas Barton Harvey (born 3 August 1961) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Devon from 1992 until 2015 and the Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2010 to 2012.

Sir Nick Harvey
Harvey in 2010
Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats
In office
August 2017  November 2019
LeaderVince Cable
Jo Swinson
Preceded byTim Gordon
Succeeded byMike Dixon [1]
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In office
13 May 2010  4 September 2012
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byBill Rammell
Succeeded byAndrew Robathan
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Defence
In office
7 January 2015  11 May 2015
LeaderNick Clegg
Preceded byHimself (2010)
Succeeded byBaroness Jolly
In office
2 March 2006  13 May 2010
LeaderMenzies Campbell
Vince Cable (Acting)
Nick Clegg
Preceded byMichael Moore
Succeeded byHimself (2015)
Member of Parliament
for North Devon
In office
9 April 1992  30 March 2015
Preceded byAntony Speller
Succeeded byPeter Heaton-Jones
Personal details
Born (1961-08-03) 3 August 1961
Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Democrat
Spouse(s)
Kathryn Fox
(m. 2003)
Children2
Alma materMiddlesex Polytechnic

Early life and education

Nick Harvey was born in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire and was educated at Queen's College, an independent school in the county town of Taunton in Somerset. He then attended the Middlesex Polytechnic at Enfield where he was awarded a BA degree in Business studies in 1983. He also served as the President of the students' union from 1981 to 1982.

Early career

He joined Profil PR Ltd in 1984 as a communications and marketing executive, before being appointed by public relations firm Dewe Rogerson (now known as Citigate Dewe Rogerson[2]) as a marketing executive in 1986. He worked as a communications consultant from 1991 until his election to Parliament.

Parliamentary career

He was elected as the vice-chairman of the Union of Liberal Students for a year in 1981. He unsuccessfully contested the London Borough of Enfield seat of Enfield Southgate at the 1987 general election. He finished in second place some 18,345 votes behind the then Government Whip Michael Portillo. He was elected to the House of Commons for North Devon at the 1992 general election by defeating the Conservative MP Antony Speller who had ended the parliamentary career of former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe in the same seat at the 1979 general election. Harvey won the seat with a majority of just 794, but remained the MP there until 2015. He made his maiden speech on 11 May 1992.[3]

He was made a spokesman on transport in 1992 by Paddy Ashdown, before being moved to speak on trade and industry in 1994. He became the spokesman of constitutional affairs following the 1997 general election. He became a member the front bench team under Charles Kennedy in 1999 when he became the party's Health spokesperson. After the 2001 general election he became the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport until he stood down in 2003 to spend more time with his young family. He has been a member of both the Home Affairs Select committee and the standards and privileges committee since the 2005 general election. He is the vice-chairman of the all party group on beer. Until 2009, Nick Harvey, in addition to his career as an MP, devoted time to advising a commercial public relations agency, Harrison Cowley, for which he declared an annual income of up to £10,000.

After the 2010 general election, as part of the Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition, he was made Minister for the Armed Forces. After the September 2012 reshuffle he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor.[4]

He was also a member of the Public Bill Committee for the Defence Reform Act 2014.[5]

He lost his seat in the General Election 2015 by 6,936 votes. He contested the seat unsuccessfully in the General Election 2017, increasing his vote by 8.6%, but falling 4,332 votes short.

Corporate career

After leaving Parliament he served as chair of the trustees of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and worked for Global Partners, where he was an adviser on Egypt and Jordan.[6]

In August 2017 he was appointed interim Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats, following the resignation of Tim Gordon.[7] He was appointed as permanent Chief Executive on 28 November 2018,[8] but stood down less than a year later.[9]

Political views

He was the only Liberal Democrat MP to vote against the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and was a critic of Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy, having called into question his "political direction" and "leadership skills".[10] He returned to the front bench as Defence spokesperson under Kennedy's successor, Sir Menzies Campbell. He voted against the Iraq War and called repeatedly for troops to be withdrawn under a phased timetable. He also voted against the Government's decision to renew Britain's nuclear deterrent, Trident.

Personal life

Harvey married Kate Harvey in May 2003 in North Devon. They have a daughter born in 2002 and a son born in 2004.[11]

Notes

  1. "Our new CEO". Liberal Democrats.
  2. "Citigate Dewe Rogerson is an award-winning public relations agency, with expertise in capital markets, government, business-to-business, consumer and financial PR". Citigatedewerogerson.com. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  3. Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 11 May 1992". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2010.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "Knighthood conferred upon the Rt Hon Nick Harvey MP". Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  5. "House of Commons Public Bill Committee on the Defence Reform Bill 2013–14". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  6. "Nick Harvey appointed as Lib Dems' interim Chief Executive".
  7. "Nick Harvey appointed interim Lib dem Chief Exec". 30 August 2017.
  8. "Nick Harvey appointed Lib Dem chief exec". Liberal Democrats.
  9. "Nick Harvey stepping down as Lib Dem Chief Executive". Mark Pack. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  10. "UK | UK Politics | Kennedy faces fresh calls to quit". BBC News. 6 January 2006. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  11. "About Nick Harvey". Nick Harvey MP. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Antony Speller
Member of Parliament for North Devon
19922015
Succeeded by
Peter Heaton-Jones
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