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|website = {{url|nickboles.co.uk|Official website}}
|website = {{url|nickboles.co.uk|Official website}}
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'''Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles''' (born 2 November 1965)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/35373.stm|title=Nicholas Boles MP|work=BBC Democracy Live|accessdate=25 July 2010|publisher=BBC}}</ref> is a British politician who has served as the [[Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[Grantham and Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)|Grantham and Stamford]] constituency in [[Lincolnshire]] since 2010. He was elected as a candidate for [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in the 2010, 2015 and 2017 General Elections. Boles resigned from his local Conservative Association on 16 March 2019 and resigned the party whip on 1 April 2019 following a series of indicative votes on the [[Brexit]] process, accusing the party of failing to compromise on Brexit.<ref name="resign2">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47594875|title=Nick Boles: Tory MP quits local party over Brexit|author=|date=16 March 2019|website=BBC News|accessdate=16 March 2019}}</ref>
'''Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles''' (born 2 November 1965)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/35373.stm|title=Nicholas Boles MP|work=BBC Democracy Live|accessdate=25 July 2010|publisher=BBC}}</ref> is a British politician who has served as the [[Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[Grantham and Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)|Grantham and Stamford]] constituency in [[Lincolnshire]] since 2010. He was elected as a candidate for [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in the 2010, 2015 and 2017 General Elections. Boles resigned from his local Conservative Association on 16 March 2019<ref name="resign2">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47594875|title=Nick Boles: Tory MP quits local party over Brexit|author=|date=16 March 2019|website=BBC News|accessdate=16 March 2019}}</ref> and resigned the party whip on 1 April 2019 following a series of indicative votes on the [[Brexit]] process, accusing the party of failing to compromise on Brexit..<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/1112828931818881025 |website=Twitter |accessdate=1 April 2019}}</ref>


Boles served as Minister of State for Skills from 2014 to 2016. Before entering Parliament he was a [[Westminster City Council|Westminster City council]]lor and the Director of [[Policy Exchange]], a [[think tank]] based in [[Westminster]].
Boles served as Minister of State for Skills from 2014 to 2016. Before entering Parliament he was a [[Westminster City Council|Westminster City council]]lor and the Director of [[Policy Exchange]], a [[think tank]] based in [[Westminster]].

Revision as of 21:53, 1 April 2019

Nick Boles
MP
Minister of State for Skills
In office
14 July 2014 – 13 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Sec. of StateVince Cable
Sajid Javid
Preceded byMatthew Hancock
Succeeded byRobert Halfon
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
In office
5 September 2012 – 14 July 2014
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Sec. of StateEric Pickles
Preceded byGreg Clark (Minister of State)
Succeeded byPenny Mordaunt
Member of Parliament
for Grantham and Stamford
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byQuentin Davies
Majority20,094 (35.5%)
Personal details
Born
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles

(1965-11-02) 2 November 1965 (age 59)
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Conservative (until 2019)
Alma materMagdalen College, Oxford
Harvard University
WebsiteOfficial website

Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (born 2 November 1965)[1] is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Grantham and Stamford constituency in Lincolnshire since 2010. He was elected as a candidate for Conservative Party in the 2010, 2015 and 2017 General Elections. Boles resigned from his local Conservative Association on 16 March 2019[2] and resigned the party whip on 1 April 2019 following a series of indicative votes on the Brexit process, accusing the party of failing to compromise on Brexit..[3]

Boles served as Minister of State for Skills from 2014 to 2016. Before entering Parliament he was a Westminster City councillor and the Director of Policy Exchange, a think tank based in Westminster.

Early life

Boles is the son of Sir Jack Boles, the Head of the National Trust from 1975 to 1983,[4] and the great-nephew of Conservative MP Dennis Boles.[5]

Boles was a scholar at Winchester College before reading PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford, then winning a Kennedy Scholarship to study for a Master's in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.[6]

Career

In 1995, he founded a small DIY supply business, Longwall Holdings Limited, where he is non-executive chairman, having served as the chief executive until 2000. In 1998, he was elected to Westminster City Council for the West End ward comprising Mayfair and Soho. He was chairman of the Housing Committee from 1999 to 2001, before stepping down in 2002.[7]

He and Michael Gove, along with Ed Vaizey, David Cameron, George Osborne and Rachel Whetstone, were often described as being the Conservative Party's 'Notting Hill Set'.[8] He founded the think tank Policy Exchange in 2002 and served as the Director until leaving the organisation in 2007 to avoid a potential conflict of interest.[9]

Boles was the Conservative Party candidate for the Labour-held marginal seat of Hove for the May 2005 general election. He received some media attention during 2005 election by being an openly gay Conservative candidate for a winnable seat. However, Celia Barlow retained the seat for Labour. The share of the Conservative vote fell by two percent. He was a candidate in the Conservative primary for the London mayoral election, 2008 but withdrew after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.[8][10]

Boles recovered from his illness and in October 2007 was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate to contest Grantham and Stamford, the seat occupied by Quentin Davies, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives to Labour earlier in 2007.[8] In May 2008, he was appointed as the Chief of Staff for the new Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson for a period of three months.[11] In the later half of 2008, he started work on preparing the Conservatives for potential government by meeting senior civil servants to discuss how to implement Conservative policies if they won the next general election.[9]

He was elected as member for Grantham and Stamford on 6 May 2010 with a majority of 14,826 votes.[12] He was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb in 2010. [citation needed]

Boles was Minister for Planning between November 2012 and August 2014.[7] He introduced a "presumption for sustainable development" aimed at making new housing development easier, which required councils to create local plans identifying areas that were suitable for further building.[13] In a November 2013 speech, at a conference fringe meeting, he argued that despite their unpopularity the reforms were "making the world a slightly better place", but told Conservative Party activists if he was still planning minister after the next election they should shoot him.[13] In August 2014, Boles was appointed Minister for Skills, which included responsibilities for education and construction.[7]

On 26 October 2016, Boles announced that a cancerous tumour had been found in his head and he expected to undergo treatment soon.[14] The following February, he took a trip out of hospital after a third round of chemotherapy in order to vote for the government's bill on withdrawal from the European Union.[15] He announced on 19 April 2017 he would be standing at the 2017 general election.[16] The tumour was eradicated by chemotherapy.[17]

On 9 March 2019, Boles was accused of being 'creepy' after posting a tweet in which he stated that he found Labour MP Jess Phillips to be "irresistible" and he would "walk over hot coals for her".[18]

2019 defection

On 16 March 2019, Boles resigned from his local Conservative Association after disagreeing with them about his rejection of leaving the EU with no deal. The local association had been considering deselecting him as candidate at the next election, due to the disagreement.[19]

On 1 April 2019, Boles resigned from the Conservative Party following the announcement of the results of the second round of indicative votes on exiting the European Union. He accused the party of failing to compromise on Brexit. He currently sits as an Independent Progressive Conservative.

Policy positions

Boles speaking in 2013

Boles has called for the forming of a "National Liberal" faction within the Conservative Party formed of social liberals with fiscal conservative views, and suggested some Conservative candidates might benefit from running for election under that name to win over voters who did not consider themselves Conservatives.[20][21]

In July 2012 Boles used a speech at the Resolution Foundation think tank to call for:

  • An end to winter fuel payments, free prescriptions, free bus travel and free TV licences for better-off pensioners from 2015;[22][23]
  • A postponement of deciding on full implementation of Andrew Dilnot’s solution to the future funding of social care until the next Comprehensive Spending Review;
  • A cut of £10.5 billion from welfare bills by 2016/17 and devising a better solution to support good parenting of young children than the Sure Start programme which in the speech he says is "demonstrably ineffective".[22]

Boles is a member of the think tank the Henry Jackson Society, which advocates a pro-active approach to the spread of democracy in the world. In 2012, Boles was listed as being a participant in that year's Bilderberg Group meeting.[24]

Boles supported the Remain campaign in the European Union membership referendum in 2016.[15] Boles favours a Norway style relationship between the UK and the EU after Brexit and strongly opposes a no deal Brexit. Boles stated, "If at any point between now and 29 March [2019] the government were to announce that 'no deal' Brexit had become its policy, I would immediately resign the Conservative whip and vote in any way necessary to stop it from happening."[25]

Boles supports Land Value Tax.[26] As of March 2019 Boles, who had suffered a life-threatening illness before supporting the campaign, is the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life, who believe that terminally ill patients should have the right to an assisted death.[27]

Personal life

Boles is gay[28] and in May 2011 entered a civil partnership, as noted in his contribution to the parliamentary debate on the Middle East on 16 May 2011.[29] Boles claimed £679 in Parliamentary expenses for Hebrew lessons so that he could talk to his partner, Israeli Shay Meshulam.[30][31] Following public criticism he donated money equivalent to the amount spent on the lessons to three local charities in his constituency.[32]

He is the brother-in-law of former Conservative MP Dudley Fishburn.[33]

Bibliography

  • Boles, Nick (2010). Which Way's Up? The future for Coalition Britain and how to get there. Biteback. ISBN 1-84954-063-2.
  • Vaizey, Edward; Gove, Michael; Boles, Nicholas (2001). A blue tomorrow. Politico's Pub. ISBN 978-1-84275-027-8.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Nicholas Boles MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. ^ "Nick Boles: Tory MP quits local party over Brexit". BBC News. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  3. ^ Twitter https://twitter.com/NickBoles/status/1112828931818881025. Retrieved 1 April 2019. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Watt, Nicholas (13 September 2012). "Free up green-belt land for new housing, says Policy Exchange". The Guardian. London, UK.
  5. ^ Boles family genealogy site, scribd.com; accessed 8 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Nick Boles". Conservative Party. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Boles, Nick. "Nick Boles". UK.Gov. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "Nick Boles selected to fight Thatcher seat". Pink News. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  9. ^ a b Hencke, David (7 June 2008). "Thinkers behind fresh Tory policies move up in party hierarchy". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  10. ^ "Boris considered for London mayor". BBC News. 4 July 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  11. ^ "Conservative candidate working with London mayor". Grantham Journal. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  12. ^ Grantham and Stamford, BBC News Election 2010
  13. ^ a b Dominiczak, Peter (11 November 2013). "Controversial planning reforms make Britain a better place, Nick Boles says". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  14. ^ "Tory MP Nick Boles reveals new cancer diagnosis". The Guardian. Press Association. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  15. ^ a b "Nick Boles leaves hospital for Brexit vote". BBC News. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  16. ^ Horton, Helena (19 April 2017). "Nick Boles MP: 'My cancer has been eradicated and I am standing for election'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  17. ^ "Boles 'back to full strength by summer'". 8 May 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  18. ^ Drury, Colin (9 March 2019). "Tory MP Nick Boles denounced over 'creepy' tweet about Labour's Jess Phillips". The Independent. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  19. ^ "Nick Boles: Tory MP quits local party over Brexit". BBC News. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  20. ^ Wintour, Patrick (19 November 2013). "Revive National Liberals to broaden Tory appeal, says minister". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  21. ^ Fearn, Hannah (22 November 2013). "Why Nick Boles is now the most important person in housing". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  22. ^ a b "Key Cameron Ally Calls for end to universal benefits for better-off pensioners" (PDF). Resolutionfoundation.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Rich elderly should lose benefits, says David Cameron ally". BBC News. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  24. ^ "Bilderberg Meetings". Bilderbergmeetings.org. 3 June 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  25. ^ Tory MPs could resign whip if no-deal Brexit becomes primary focus The Guardian. 19 December 2018
  26. ^ "Henry George: The Land Value Tax in British Political Culture". Canvas.union.shef.ac.uk. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  27. ^ "All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life". Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  28. ^ Sylvester, Rachel (2 February 2002). "Gay Tory who aims to modernise party". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  29. ^ "Hansard 16 May 2011". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  30. ^ Savage, Michael (10 August 2012). "MP claims £678 for Hebrew lessons after marrying Israeli partner". The Times. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  31. ^ Julien, Cyril (10 August 2012). "British lawmaker with Israeli partner studies Hebrew at taxpayers' expense". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  32. ^ Lyons, James (3 August 2013). "Millionaire Tory minister Jeremy Hunt learns lover's lingo...costing taxpayer £4,000". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  33. ^ https://www.civilserviceworld.com/interview-nick-boles
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nicholas Boles.
Non-profit organization positions
New office Director of Policy Exchange
2002–2007 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Grantham and Stamford
2010–present 		Incumbent
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