Mark Gerard Hoban (born 31 March 1964) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he is a former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Fareham (2001–2015) and former

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

for Work and Pensions (2012–2013).

Early life

Hoban was born in

Peterlee Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It lies between Sunderland to the north, Hartlepool to the south, the Durham Coast to the east and Durham to the west. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946. The act also cre ...

and was educated at St Leonard's Catholic School in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. He graduated from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

where he was awarded a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in economics in 1985. He joined

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

in 1985 as a

financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, ...

, becoming a chartered account manager in 1990, and was appointed as a senior manager in 1992 until his election to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Parliamentary career

Hoban joined the Conservative Party in 1980, and in 1989 was elected as the treasurer of the

Southampton Itchen Southampton, Itchen is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Royston Smith, a Conservative member of parliament. Discounting the Speaker (of the House of Commons) returned in the early 1970s in two ...

Conservative Association, serving until he was elected as the Association's vice chairman for two years in 1991. He was the campaign manager for the local sitting Conservative MP Christopher Chope at both the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

and 1992 general elections. He contested the

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

seat of South Shields at the 1997 general election, finishing in second place, 22,153 votes behind the sitting Labour MP, David Clark. He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at the 2001 general election for the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

seat of Fareham following the retirement of the Conservative MP Peter Lloyd. Hoban held the seat with a majority of 7,009 and remained the MP there until 2015. He made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 4 July 2001, in which he recalled one of his Fareham predecessors, Arthur Lee, who had donated the Prime Minister's country house, Chequers, to the nation in 1921. In parliament he served as a member of the

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

and

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

select committee for two years from 2001. He was made an Opposition Whip by

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was ...

in 2002, joining the

frontbench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

under the leadership of Michael Howard in 2003 as a spokesman on

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

. Following the election of David Cameron as the party's leader in 2005, Hoban became Shadow

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

. After the May 2010 general election, Hoban took his shadow portfolio into Government when he was appointed Financial Secretary and

City Minister The position of City Minister is a United Kingdom Government mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury. The minister is responsible for the British financial services sector which is commonly known as ' the City'. The post is normally held in co ...

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

's Treasury team. His responsibilities included financial services policy, including banking and financial services reform and regulation, financial stability, City competitiveness, wholesale and retail markets in the UK, Europe and internationally; the Financial Services Authority (FSA); UK Financial Investments (UKFI); and personal savings and pensions policy. He supported the Chancellor on EU and wider international finance issues. He was also chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Group on Business, Finance and Accountancy, until succeeded by Ian Wright MP. It was reported in the ''Independent'' in December 2011 that Hoban had been involved in meetings with bankers lobbying to avoid proposals in the Vickers Report that were intended to reduce risks in the banking industry. The talks were alleged to be secret, but were obtained via a Freedom of Information request. In September 2012 Hoban was moved from the Treasury to the Department of Work and Pensions. The Work Capability Assessment for which Hoban had responsibility has been heavily criticised due to its failure rate of more than 30% reversals of decisions upon appeal and because "the descriptors used to qualify for long-term support are so limited that almost nobody does so." In July 2013, Hoban's department asked

to "provide independent advice in relation to strengthening quality assurance processes across all its health and disability assessments.". Hoban received £22,507 in non-cash donations from his former employer

in 2009. Hoban left the Government front benches in October 2013. Hoban voted against gay couples adopting children in 2002, and against the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations in 2003. In 2013, Hoban took part in a discussion about Russia's anti-gay legislation with actor

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...

and claimed "We have seen a change of people's attitudes in the UK and that's gathered momentum over time...you can have quite rapid change in these areas." During the

MPs expenses scandal The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009, concerning expenses claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords over the previous year ...

newspapers reported on Hoban's £12,000 furniture bill including £35 on a toilet-roll holder, £10 on a chrome shower rack and £79 on four silk cushions on his second-home allowance. Hoban said, "At the time I made these claims I believed that they were reasonable and within the spirit of the rules." Hoban announced that he would be standing down at the 2015 general election, and it was reported that he had already taken up board-level roles at three businesses.

Personal life

He has been married to Fiona Jane Barrett since August 1994 and they live in his former constituency, at Locks Heath. He has been an associate of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of July 2022, it has over 198,000 members ...

since 1988. Hoban is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and attends mass regularly at St. Margaret Mary's Catholic Parish in Park Gate.

References

External links

Mark Hoban MP
''Official constituency website''
Mark Hoban MP
Conservative Party profile *
Democracy Live Mark Hoban
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoban, Mark 1964 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people People from Peterlee UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 PricewaterhouseCoopers people British Roman Catholics