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It is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Tora |
Oliver Letwin MP FRSA (born 19 May 1956, in Hampstead) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he is currently the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, and a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of West Dorset. He is also the Chairman of the Conservative Research Department and Chairman of the Conservative Party's Policy Review.
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Letwin is the son of William Letwin, Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics, and conservative academic Shirley Letwin. Letwin was educated at Hall School in Hampstead and Eton College. He went on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge. Whilst a student at Cambridge, he was an active member of the Cambridge University Liberal Club. When asked about his membership of the Liberal club he explained:
"I was also a member of the Fabian Society. But I am sorry to have to tell you that this was because I was interested in the thoughts of Liberals and Fabians (and still am) rather than because I was ever a Liberal Democrat or a Fabian."
From 1980–81, Letwin was a visiting fellow (a Procter Fellow) of Princeton University, then a research fellow at Darwin College, Cambridge, from 1981–82. His PhD thesis, Emotion and Emotions was awarded by the Cambridge Philosophy Faculty in 1982. In 1985 he attended the Corporate Finance Evening Programme at the London Business School.
From 1983 to 1986, he was a member of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Policy Unit. He stood at the 1987 election for Hackney North, and again unsuccessfully stood against Glenda Jackson for the Hampstead and Highgate seat in the 1992 election, before winning the West Dorset seat in 1997, by the narrow margin of 1,840 votes. In September 2001 he was appointed Shadow Home Secretary, by Iain Duncan Smith. In late 2003, the new party leader, Michael Howard, appointed Letwin his successor as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
During the campaign for the 2001 general election, Letwin, as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, expressed an aspiration to curtail future public spending by 20 billion pounds per annum relative to the plans of the Labour government. When this proposal came under attack as regressive, Letwin found few allies among his colleagues prepared to defend it, and adopted a low profile for the remainder of the campaign. He famously went into 'hiding' during the 2001 election, and for some time after the election had finished.
In the lead-up to the 2010 general election, Letwin played an important role in the development of Conservative policy, and was described as "the Gandalf of the process".
He is a member of the Conservative Party. He was a non-executive director of NM Rothschild Corporate Finance Ltd (a merchant bank) until December 2009.
As Shadow Home Secretary he attracted plaudits for his advocacy of a "neighbourly society", which manifested itself in calls for street by street neighbourhood policing modelled on the philosophy of the police in New York. He was also largely credited with forcing the Home Secretary to withdraw his proposal in 2001 to introduce an offence of incitement to religious hatred. He successfully argued that such an offence would be impossible to define, so there would be little chance of prosecution. He also argued that Muslims would feel persecuted by such a law.
As Shadow Chancellor he focused on reducing waste in the public sector. At the 2005 election the Conservative Party claimed to have found £35bn worth of potential savings, to be used for increased resources for front line services and for tax cuts. This approach was credited with forcing the government to introduce bureaucracy reduction and cost-cutting proposals of their own.
At the 2001 election Letwin had a majority of just 1,414 in his constituency. There was some speculation as to whether he could retain his seat if Labour voters voted tactically for the Liberal Democrats in order to unseat him. However, at the 2005 general election, he increased his majority to 2,461.
In May 2005, Letwin was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It was reported that he had requested a role less onerous than his former treasury brief so that he would have time to pursue his career in the City.
Following the decision by Michael Howard to stand down as Conservative Party leader after the May 2005 general election, Letwin publicly backed the youngest candidate and eventual winner David Cameron. He was subsequently given the newly created role of Chairman of the Policy Review, when Cameron formed his first shadow cabinet in December 2005.
Oliver Letwin reportedly agreed to repay a bill for £2,145 for replacing a leaking pipe under the tennis court at his constituency home in Somerset, which he had claimed on his parliamentary expenses.
Speaking to consultancy firm KPMG, on 27 July 2011, Letwin caused controversy after stating you can't have "innovation and excellence" without "real discipline and some fear on the part of the providers" in the public sector. This was widely reported, with The Guardian headline stating Letwin says 'public sector workers need "discipline and fear"', and drew derision from a large swathe of the general public
On 14th October 2011, The Daily Mirror reported a story that Letwin had thrown away more then 100 secret government documents in public bins in St. James's Park, London, with no real care in disposing of them properly. Enquiries made by the Information Commissioner's Office found that Oliver did not dispose of any government documents. Letwin later apologised for his actions. The event was discussed on Have I Got News For You, where hilarious scenarios were discussed.
He married Isabel Grace Davidson on 14 September 1984 in Cambridge. They have a twin son and daughter born in July 1993. His grandparents were Jewish Ukrainians who moved to the United States.
After two strangers on his London street had asked if they could use his lavatory at 5am in 2002, and he agreed to let them do so, they then stole his credit cards and other belongings. He retrieved his credit cards after chasing the accomplices in his dressing gown and pyjamas. He once declared that he would rather beg on the street than let his children go to an inner city comprehensive school.
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Oliver Letwin
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