Nicholas Piers Huxley Hillman (born 21 April 1972 in

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

, Oxfordshire) is an English

higher education policy Higher may refer to: Music * The Higher, a 2002–2012 American pop rock band Albums * ''Higher'' (Ala Boratyn album) or the title song, 2007 * ''Higher'' (Chris Stapleton album) or the title song, 2023 * ''Higher'' (Ezio album) or the title ...

adviser, previously a school history teacher and

special adviser Special adviser may refer to: *Special adviser (Norway), a high-ranking civil servant *Special adviser (UK) A Special Adviser, also known as a SpAd, is a temporary civil servant who advises and assists UK government ministers or ministers in th ...

for the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

. He has been the director of the

Higher Education Policy Institute Higher may refer to: Music * The Higher, a 2002–2012 American pop rock band Albums * Higher (Ala Boratyn album), ''Higher'' (Ala Boratyn album) or the title song, 2007 * Higher (Chris Stapleton album), ''Higher'' (Chris Stapleton album) or the ...

since 2014.

Education

Hillman studied as an undergraduate at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He taught English at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

in Romania in 1992, then gained a PGCE in history at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

before teaching history at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

from 1995 to 1998. He received a master's degree in contemporary British history at

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

Career

Hillman worked for Conservative MP

David Willetts David Linsay Willetts, Baron Willetts, (born 9 March 1956) is a British politician and life peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire. He served as Minister of State for Uni ...

, first as a Senior Research Officer from 2000 to 2003. Hillman stood for the Conservatives in the 2002 local elections in Hammersmith Broadway Ward, coming sixth in a three-seat election with 528 votes. He worked on pensions policy for the

Association of British Insurers The Association of British Insurers, or ABI, is a trade association made up of insurance companies in the United Kingdom. History The ABI began in 1985 after several specialised insurance industry trade associations joined to form one trade associ ...

from 2003 to 2007, before returning to politics. From 2007 to 2010, Hillman served as Willetts' chief of staff. He was the Conservative parliamentary candidate for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 2010, selected from six candidates in an

open primary Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

in December 2009 after Richard Normington stepped down as candidate. A fundraising dinner was supported by Clarissa Dickson-Wright. He represented himself as a "liberal Tory", but ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' reported he was "not getting much help from the party's big guns". Hillman came second behind the Liberal Democrat Julian Huppert with 12,829 votes. From 2010 to 2013 he was a special adviser in the

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Gordon Brown premiership on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Uni ...

when Willets was Science Minister. As a special adviser Hillman helped introduce higher university

tuition fees Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spen ...

. Since January 2014 he has been the director of a

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, the Higher Education Policy Institute in Oxford. Since 2016 he has been on the board of governors of his alma mater, the University of Manchester, and he became a fellow of another alma mater, Queen Mary University of London, in 2016. From 2015 to 2018 he was a school governor at Haddenham St Mary's. He has been a trustee of the

National Foundation for Educational Research The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is an educational research charity which creates a range of insights on educational policy and practice that aim to strengthen practice in the classroom and inform and influence policymake ...

since April 2018 and he is a member of the Higher Education Policy Development Group at the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

. He was previously a research fellow with

Policy Exchange Policy Exchange is a British conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". Policy Exchange is a registered charity; it most ...

Personal life

Hillman grew up in Banbury. He met his wife while they were undergraduates and they married in Cambridge. While a teacher in London he lived in Covent Garden. They have children and live in Haddenham, Buckingham.

Works

* Adam Bogdanor, David Willetts MP, Nicholas Hillman
Left Out, Left Behind
Policy Exchange, 2003 * David Willetts and Nicholas Hillman
Tax Credits: Do They Add Up?
Politeia, 2002 * Nicholas Hillman; Edited by Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich
Quelling the Pensions Storm: Lessons from the past
March 20, 2008
''The Guardian'' columnist
* Nicholas Hillman, "Public schools and the Fleming report of 1944: shunting the first-class carriage on to an immense siding?." History of Education 41#2 (2012): 235–255. * * * * *

References

External links

HEPI profile

2010 election pagearchived version)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillman, Nick Living people British special advisers 1972 births Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of Queen Mary University of London People from Banbury People from Aylesbury Vale Schoolteachers from Oxfordshire 20th-century English educators English educational theorists British lobbyists Higher education in the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates