Vernon Edward Hartley Booth (born 17 July 1946) is a former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Conservative Party politician. From 1999 to 2012 he was chairman of the Uzbek British Trade and Industry Council at UK Trade & Investment.

Early life and career

Booth was educated at

Queen's College, Taunton Queen's College is a co-educational private school located in Taunton, the county town of Somerset, England. It is a day/boarding school for pupils aged 0–18. The school incorporates nursery, pre-prep, prep, and senior schools. The current Hea ...

, the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

and

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

, where he graduated with LLM and PhD degrees. Called to the Bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1970, he was in legal practice for the next 14 years.

Political career

In 1984 Booth became a special adviser to Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

and a member of the

Number 10 Policy Unit The Number 10 Policy Unit is a body of policymakers based in 10 Downing Street, providing policy advice directly to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support Harold Wilson in 1974, it has gone ...

. During his time there he and

Oliver Letwin Sir Oliver Letwin (born 19 May 1956) is a British politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dorset from 1997 to 2019. Letwin was elected as a member of the Conservative Party, but sat as an independent after having the whip removed in ...

, a fellow Policy Unit adviser, co-authored a memo which argued that the government ought not to regenerate certain inner cities, claiming that black youths would use the money for the "discotheque and drug trade", and added: "So long as these bad moral attitudes remain, efforts to improve the inner cities will flounder." However, Booth has (unlike Letwin) "largely escaped notice" with regard to co-authoring the memo. Having stood unsuccessfully for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, Booth succeeded Margaret Thatcher as the Conservative Member of Parliament for

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

from the 1992 general election until the constituency was abolished in the 1997 general election. Booth resigned in February 1994 as a parliamentary private secretary to Douglas Hogg, then the Foreign Office minister of state, after newspaper reports of a relationship with House of Commons researcher

Emily Barr Emily Venie Barr (born 10 October 1971) is a British travel writer and novelist. She debuted with the novel ''Backpack'' in 2001. In additional to travel fiction, she has also written young adult novels and a horror. Early life Barr spent her ...

. Despite his resignation, Booth insists that "there was no sexual impropriety" between himself and Barr. This was politically embarrassing to the

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

government of the time, following the backlash of Major's '' Back to Basics'' initiative, and in January 2015, the satirical magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'' criticised Booth for his alleged

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...

, saying it went against his recommendations in the newly released 1985 memo that the government should instill values of "personal responsibility, basic honesty, nd respect forthe law and the police" from an early age. Barr went on to be a successful journalist and novelist. Booth lost a bruising nomination battle with the Hendon South MP

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

for the new

Finchley and Golders Green Finchley and Golders Green is a constituency created in 1997. It is represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Sarah Sackman of the Labour Party. Boundaries The constituency covers Finchley, Golders Green, Childs Hill, Te ...

constituency, and was unsuccessful in finding another seat before the election. Marshall lost the 1997 general election to Labour's Rudi Vis.

Personal life

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

lay preacher with a wife and three children, Booth is related to the founders of

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

Publication

Booth, with Mark Mallon who had been his constituency election campaign manager, co-wrote and self-published a book on the subject of long-term unemployment and homelessness, titled ''Return ticket : one hundred and one stories of long-term unemployed people who successfully made the journey back to work'' (publisher Lennard, isbn 1-85291-123-9.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Hartley Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge UK MPs 1992–1997 1946 births Living people