Dominic Grieve

The Right Honourable
Dominic Grieve
QC MP
Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee
Assumed office
15 September 2015
Preceded by Sir Malcolm Rifkind
Attorney General for England and Wales
Advocate General for Northern Ireland
In office
12 May 2010 – 15 July 2014
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by The Baroness Scotland of Asthal
Succeeded by Jeremy Wright
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
In office
19 January 2009 – 11 May 2010
Leader David Cameron
Preceded by Nick Herbert
Succeeded by Jack Straw
Shadow Home Secretary
In office
12 June 2008 – 19 January 2009
Leader David Cameron
Preceded by David Davis
Succeeded by Chris Grayling
Shadow Attorney General
In office
6 November 2003 – 7 September 2009
Leader Michael Howard
David Cameron
Preceded by Bill Cash
Succeeded by Edward Garnier
Member of Parliament
for Beaconsfield
Assumed office
2 May 1997
Preceded by Tim Smith
Majority 24,543 (43.9%)
Personal details
Born (1956-05-24) 24 May 1956
London, England
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Caroline Hutton
Children 2
Alma mater Magdalen College, Oxford
University of Westminster
City Law School
Website Official website

Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve, QC (born 24 May 1956)[1] is a British Conservative politician, barrister, Queen's Counsel[2] and a Member of the Privy Council. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield since 1997, and served as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland from May 2010 to July 2014, attending Cabinet.[3] He left the office of Attorney General as part of the Cabinet reshuffle of 14 July 2014, and was replaced by Jeremy Wright.

Grieve has been described as a liberal conservative.[4] Widely considered to be one of the leading rebel Conservatives working to secure a soft Brexit, Grieve has claimed that he and fellow rebels would 'collapse the government' to prevent a 'catastrophic' Brexit deal.[5]

Early life

Grieve was born in Lambeth, London, the son of Percy Grieve QC (the MP for Solihull 1964–83) and of an Anglo-French mother, Evelyn Raymonde Louise Mijouain.[6] He was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle on Cromwell Road in South Kensington, Colet Court preparatory school in Barnes, Westminster School, and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History[2] in 1978. He was the President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1977.

He continued his studies at the Polytechnic of Central London (now the University of Westminster), where he received a Diploma in Law[2] in 1979.

He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1980[7] and is a specialist in occupational safety and health law. He was made a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 2005 and appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2008.

Political career

Local council

He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in 1982, remaining a councillor until 1986.[2] He contested the Norwood constituency in the London Borough of Lambeth at the 1987 general election[2] but finished in second place behind the veteran Labour MP John Fraser.

Member of Parliament

Grieve speaking in the House of Commons

He was elected to the House of Commons for the Buckinghamshire seat of Beaconsfield at the 1997 general election[2] following the resignation of Tim Smith in the cash-for-questions affair. Grieve was elected with a majority of 13,987 votes and has remained the MP there ever since, increasing his share of the vote at each successive election.

He made his maiden speech on 21 May 1997.[8]

He was a member of both the Environmental Audit and the Statutory Instruments select committees from 1997 to 1999.[9] In 1999, he was promoted to the frontbench by William Hague as a spokesman on Scottish affairs, moving to speak on home affairs as the spokesman on criminal justice following the election of Iain Duncan Smith as the new leader of the Conservative Party in 2001, and was then promoted to be shadow Attorney General by Michael Howard in 2003.[2] Grieve also had responsibility for community cohesion on behalf of the Conservative Party. He was retained as Shadow Attorney General by the new Conservative Leader David Cameron, and was appointed Shadow Home Secretary on 12 June 2008, following the resignation of David Davis.[10]

In early 2006, Grieve was instrumental in the defeat of the Labour government on its proposal that the Home Secretary should have power to detain suspected terrorists for periods up to 90 days without charge.

In the last Conservative Shadow Cabinet reshuffle before the general election of 2010, carried out on 19 January 2009, Grieve was moved to become Shadow Justice Secretary, opposite Jack Straw. According to the BBC, Grieve was said to be "very happy with the move" which would suit his talents better.[11]

On 28 May 2010, he was appointed to the Privy Council as part of the 2010 Dissolution of Parliament Honours List.[12][13]

After the 2010 general election, Grieve was appointed as Attorney General. He was one of four members of the cabinet who abstained in the May 2013 same-sex marriage vote. He said that he believed that the Bill had been "badly conceived".[14]

On 22 November 2013, Grieve was reported as stating politicians need to "wake up" to the issue of corruption in some minority communities[15] and that "corruption in parts of the Pakistani community is 'endemic'".[16] Two days later he apologised and said he had not meant to suggest there was a "particular problem in the Pakistani community".[17]

Brexit

Grieve was opposed to Brexit before the 2016 referendum.[18] In December 2017, he tabled an amendment (Amendment 7) to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill requiring any Brexit deal to be enacted by statute, rather than implemented by government order; the amendment was passed, representing a defeat for the government.[19]

Grieve threatened to oppose the government on another amendment in the EU Withdrawal Bill, Amendment 19, on 12 June 2018 but, after verbal assurances from Prime Minister Theresa May,[20] he voted with the government.[21] Grieve threatened to rebel against the government yet again when the same amendment came back to the House of Commons on 20 June 2018 but withdrew his support for the amendment on receiving a concession from the government, allowing others to vote for his amendment while he voted with the government once more.[22] Grieve's agreement to the compromise has been reported to have provoked anger amongst some Remain supporters; the outcome was summarised by The Guardian as "Technically, MPs can still have a vote on the final deal – or no deal – but unless it is a vote of confidence, the government can ignore it."[23]

On 24 July 2018 Grieve wrote a column for The Independent[24] backing the online paper's final say petition, which calls for the British electorate to have a "final say on the Brexit deal".[25] The petition was also backed by the leader of the People's Vote campaign, Labour's Chuka Umunna.[26] Grieve stated that Brexit puts the Conservative Party’s reputation for, “economic competence” at risk.[27]

Grieve wrote that Theresa May risked a, "polite rebellion" from pro-EU MPs and a, "significant" number would support another referendum if there was no deal. Grieve wrote further, "A no-deal Brexit is a proposal so damaging to our future that it cannot be accepted. So the only possible response must be to return to the British electorate and ask them what they want. That, it seems to me, is good pragmatic Conservative position."[28]

Donations

The Conservative Friends of Pakistan have given in excess of £500,000 to the central party, mostly through the Beaconsfield Constituency, making them Grieves' largest backer.[29][30]

Personal life

Grieve in 2007

He is a practising Anglican and was a member of the London Diocesan Synod of the Church of England[9] for six years from 1994. He married barrister Caroline Hutton[9] in October 1990 in the City of London. They have two sons.[31]

He lists his hobbies as "canoeing, boating on the Thames at weekends, mountain climbing, skiing and fell walking, architecture, art and travel".[9] He was a police station lay visitor[9] for six years from 1990, and worked in Brixton on various bodies set up to reconcile the different communities after the riots.

Grieve is president of the Franco-British Society.[32] He was awarded the Legion of Honour in 2016.[32] He broadcasts in French on French radio and television.[33]

Grieve's wealth is estimated at £3.1 million.[34][35] Grieve was criticised for investments in multinational companies with significant projects in Zimbabwe and Pakistan.[36]

Styles

  • Mr Dominic Grieve (1956–97)
  • Mr Dominic Grieve MP (1997–2008)
  • Mr Dominic Grieve QC MP (2008–2010)
  • The Rt Hon. Dominic Grieve QC MP (2010–)

References

  1. ↑ "Dominic Grieve". BBC News. 30 March 2006. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dominic Grieve MP". Conservative Party. Archived from the original on 17 April 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  3. ↑ "Cabinet reshuffle: David Cameron's new line-up". BBC News. 9 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "Keir Starmer, a Lilliputian against a giant". The Economist. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  5. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-deal-latest-dominic-grieve-collapse-government-theresa-may-final-vote-eu-a8403041.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Who's Who. London: A & C Black. 1964.
  7. ↑ "Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Dominic Grieve MP". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  8. ↑ "House of Commons Hansard for 21 May 1997 (pt 40)". House of Commons Hansard. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dominic Grieve MP". Dominic Grieve official site. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  10. ↑ "– David Davis resigns from Commons". BBC News. 13 June 2008.
  11. ↑ "Pickles chairman in Tory shake-up". BBC News. 19 January 2009.
  12. ↑ "Peerages, honours and appointments". Prime Minister's Office. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "Privy Counsellors | Privy Council". Privy Council Office. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  14. ↑ Nadal, James (23 May 2013). "Beaconsfield MP: gay marriage bill 'badly conceived'". Bucks Free Press. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  15. ↑ "Corruption problem among some UK minorities, says MP". BBC News. 23 November 2013.
  16. ↑ Brogan, Benedict (22 November 2013). "Corruption rife in the Pakistani community, says minister". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  17. ↑ Doyle, Jack (24 November 2013). "Attorney General forced to apologise after saying corruption is 'endemic' in Britain's Pakistani community". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  18. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  19. ↑ Sharman, Jon (14 December 2017). "Amendment 7: What is it and how does it change Brexit?". The Independent. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  20. ↑ Watts, Joe (12 June 2018). "Brexit: Rebels force Theresa May to give parliament veto over her plans in case of no deal with Brussels". The Independent. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  21. ↑ Walker, Peter (13 June 2018). "How MPs voted on the EU withdrawal bill amendments". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  22. ↑ "UK government heads off Brexit rebellion with compromise". POLITICO. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  23. ↑ Perkins, Anne; Elgot, Jessica (20 June 2018). "Brexit 'meaningful vote': May wins after rebels accept compromise". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  24. ↑ Grieve, Dominic (24 July 2018). "A mature democracy would allow for a vote on the final deal, rather than allow bullying tactics to shut down further debate". The Independent. Voices. Retrieved 3 August 2018. I first raised this issue soon after the first referendum, although at the time I saw it as a rather remote possibility. But the further our political crisis deepens the more it seems to me to offer a sensible way forward.
  25. ↑ The Independent Voices (24 July 2018). "The referendum gave sovereignty to the British people, so now they deserve a final say on the Brexit deal". The Independent. Editorial. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  26. ↑ Umunna, Chuka (24 July 2018). "If Brexit negotiations have taught us anything, it's that our future should not be left to 650 politicians in London". The Independent. Voices. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  27. ↑ Brexit damaging Tory reputation for economic competence, says Dominic Grieve The Scotsman
  28. ↑ Brexit plan critics are playing politics, says Theresa May BBC
  29. ↑ The Guardian. "The winners". Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  30. ↑ The electoral commission records
  31. ↑ "Dominic Grieve MP". Dominic Grieve official site. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  32. 1 2 "Dominic Grieve decorated for work in Franco-British relations". French Embassy in London. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  33. ↑ "Spéciales élections en Grande-Bretagne - Vidéo Dailymotion". Dailymotion.com. 13 July 2012.
  34. ↑ "The new ruling class". New Statesman. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  35. ↑ Owen, Glen (23 May 2010). "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. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  36. ↑ "Blood money: the MPs cashing in on Zimbabwe's misery". The Independent. London. 29 June 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Tim Smith		 Member of Parliament
for Beaconsfield
1997–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Bill Cash		 Shadow Attorney General
2003–2009		 Succeeded by
Edward Garnier
Preceded by
David Davis		 Shadow Home Secretary
2008–2009		 Succeeded by
Chris Grayling
Preceded by
Nick Herbert		 Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
2009–2010		 Succeeded by
Jack Straw
Preceded by
The Baroness Scotland of Asthal		 Attorney General for England and Wales
2010–2014		 Succeeded by
Jeremy Wright
Advocate General for Northern Ireland
2010–2014
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