Majority 14,151 (28.4%) Spouse Liza Wallace (m. 2001) Preceded by New Office | Prime Minister David Cameron Name Ben Wallace Role British Politician Succeeded by Nanette Milne | |
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Books The Common Purpose Manifesto Similar Penny Mordaunt, David Cameron, Hilton Dawson Profiles | ||
Ge2017 richard burgon vs ben wallace on security and terrorism
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace, MP PC (born 15 May 1970) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wyre and Preston North since the 2010 general election, having been the MP for Lancaster and Wyre from 2005 to 2010.
Contents
- Ge2017 richard burgon vs ben wallace on security and terrorism
- Early life and career
- Military and business career
- Scottish Parliament
- United Kingdom Parliament
- Personal life
- References
Early life and career
Wallace attended Millfield School. He studied politics under Clive Thomas, who also taught Julian Smith MP and Margot James MP. After school Wallace qualified as a ski instructor and taught in the village of Alpbach in Austria. During that period his parents moved to Pennsylvania in the United States where they lived for 7 years.
Military and business career
Aged 19, Wallace attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, before being commissioned as a platoon commander into the Scots Guards. During his eight-year army career he served in Germany, Windsor, Cyprus, Central America and Northern Ireland. In 1992 he was mentioned in despatches. His last post was as Company Commander of F Company Scots Guards.
From 2003 to 2005 he was overseas director of QinetiQ, the UK's part-privatised National Defence Laboratory.
Scottish Parliament
After leaving the Army, he became in 1999 a Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament, as a list MSP for North East Scotland, before standing down in 2003. He was the Scottish Conservatives' shadow health spokesman during that time.
United Kingdom Parliament
Wallace won the Lancaster and Wyre Constituency from Labour in 2005. The election result saw a 481-vote (0.92%) Labour majority swing to a 4171 vote (8.00%) Conservative majority. The overall swing was 4.50% from Labour to Conservative. This constituency was number nine on the 2005 Conservative 'target list'.
From 2005 to 2010 Wallace was a member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee. From 2006 to 2010 Wallace was the Shadow Minister of State for Scotland. He was Chairman of the British–Iran Parliamentary Group from 2006 to 2014.
On 13 November 2008, Wallace was elected Campaigner of the Year in the Spectator/Threadneedle Parliamentarian awards, for his work promoting transparency of MPs expenses. In February 2008, in conjunction with the Sunday Times, Wallace published all his expenses and receipts.
Following his re-election to Parliament, Wallace was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then-Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, and later Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office, Ken Clarke MP.
On 4 September 2012, Wallace turned down a position as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury during the cabinet reshuffle. to remain Clarke's PPS. In July 2014, as Clarke returned to the back benches, Wallace was again offered a job in Government as a whip. This time he accepted. In May 2015 he was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office. After the EU referendum, the new Prime Minister, Theresa May, promoted him to Minister of State for Security in the Home Office.
Wallace was appointed to the Privy Council for his role in coordinating the government response to the 2017 Westminster attack.
Personal life
In 2001, he married Liza and they have three children. Wallace currently resides near Lancaster. He enjoys rugby, skiing and motorsport. He is currently a member of the Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers.