Sir Nicholas Barton Harvey (born 3 August 1961) is a British

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

politician. He was the

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 ...

(MP) for North Devon from 1992 to 2015 and the

Minister of State for the Armed Forces The minister of state for the armed forces is a mid-level ministerial position at the Ministry of Defence in the Government of the United Kingdom. When of Minister of State rank (until the appointment of James Heappey as a Parliamentary Under- ...

from 2010 to 2012.

Early life and education

Harvey was born in

Chandler's Ford Chandler's Ford (originally The Ford and historically Chandlersford) is a largely residential area and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It has a population of 21,436 in the 2011 UK Census. Chandler's Ford lies on ...

, Hampshire, and was educated at Queen's College, an independent school in the county town of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

in Somerset. He then attended the

Middlesex Polytechnic Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries of ...

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

where he was awarded a BA degree in business studies in 1983. He was the president of the students' union from 1981 to 1982.

Early career

He joined Profil PR Ltd in 1984 as a

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and marketing executive, before being appointed by the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

firm Dewe Rogerson (now known as Citigate Dewe Rogerson) as a marketing executive in 1986. He worked as a communications consultant from 1991 until his election to parliament.

Parliamentary career

He was elected as the vice-chairman of the Union of

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Students for a year in 1981. He unsuccessfully contested the

London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London borough in North London. It borders the London boroughs of Barnet to the west, Haringey to the south, and Waltham Forest to the southeast. To the north are the districts of Hertsmere, Welwyn Hat ...

seat of Enfield Southgate at the 1987 general election. He finished in second place some 18,345 votes behind the then

government whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

Michael Portillo Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo (; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster and former politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as '' Great British Railway Journeys'' and '' Great Continental Railway Jour ...

. 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 ...

for North Devon at the 1992 general election by defeating the Conservative MP, Antony Speller, who had ended the parliamentary career of former Liberal leader

Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the ...

in the same seat at the 1979 general election. Harvey won the seat with a majority of just 794, but 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 11 May 1992. He was made a spokesman on

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

in 1992 by

Paddy Ashdown Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, (27 February 194122 December 2018), better known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Internati ...

, before being moved to speak on trade and industry in 1994. He became the spokesman on constitutional affairs following the 1997 general election. He became a member the front bench team under

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...

in 1999 when he became the party's health spokesperson. After the 2001 general election, he became the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for culture, media and sport until he stood down in 2003 to spend more time with his young family. He was a member of both the

home affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

select committee and the standards and privileges committee since the 2005 general election. He was the vice-chairman of the all party group on beer. Until 2009, in addition to his career as an MP, he devoted time to advising a commercial public relations agency, Harrison Cowley, for which he declared an annual income of up to £10,000. After the 2010 general election, as part of the Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition, he was made minister for the armed forces. After the September 2012 reshuffle, he was knighted as a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

. He was also a member of the

public bill committee In the British House of Commons, public bill committees (known as standing committees before 2006) consider Bills – proposed Acts of Parliament. The House of Lords does not have such committees, as Bills are usually considered by the House as a ...

for the ''

Defence Reform Act 2014 The Defence Reform Act 2014 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with defence procurement and the UK Reserve Forces, particularly the Territorial Army. It has 51 sections and seven schedules. Part 1 of the Act relates t ...

''. He lost his seat in the General Election 2015 by 6,936 votes. He contested the seat unsuccessfully in the General Election 2017, increasing his vote by 8.6%, but falling 4,332 votes short.

Corporate career

After leaving Parliament, he ws chair of the trustees of the

Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust {{Use British English, date=January 2018 The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home ...

and worked for Global Partners, where he was an adviser on Egypt and Jordan. In August 2017, he was appointed interim chief executive of the Liberal Democrats, following the resignation of Tim Gordon. He was appointed as permanent Chief Executive on 28 November 2018, but stood down less than a year later.

Political views

He was the only Liberal Democrat MP to vote against the

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Communities, ...

in 1992 and was a critic of Liberal Democratic leader

, having called into question his "political direction" and "leadership skills". He returned to the front bench as defence spokesperson under Kennedy's successor, Sir Menzies Campbell. He voted against the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

and called repeatedly for troops to be withdrawn under a phased timetable. He also voted against the government's decision to renew Britain's

nuclear deterrent Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends. In addit ...

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...

Personal life

Harvey married Kate Harvey in May 2003 in North Devon. They have a daughter born in 2002 and a son born in 2004.

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Nick 1961 births Alumni of Middlesex University Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people People educated at Queen's College, Taunton People from Chandler's Ford UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Knights Bachelor Politicians awarded knighthoods