Tony Baldry
Tony Brian Baldry (born 10 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Banbury since 1983.
Political Career[edit]
Tony Baldry started his political career when he acted as Personal Aide to Margaret Thatcher in the October 1974 General Election and subsequently remained in her private office when she became Leader of the Opposition. Following this step into politics he was elected as Conservative MP for Banbury in 1983. He was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Energy in 1990 when, together with John Wakeham, he privatised the electricity industry. Tony has led nearly 30 overseas business export missions which have won millions of pounds of orders. Between 1990 and 1994, he was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of the Environment, responsible for all aspects of the Department’s work including environmental protection, construction, housing and planning. Following this Baldry was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1994-95, with a range of responsibilities including South Asia, Africa, North America and the West Indies. He held various ministerial posts from 1990 until the last General Election, serving as Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1995-97. Sir Tony was Chairman of the Conservative Human Rights Commission from 2009-10. He is President of the Pakistani UK India Friendship Society and was appointed Second Church Estates Commissioner in June 2010, with responsibility for answering questions in the House in a manner similar to questions to ministers on the work of the Church Commissioners.
Education[edit]
He was educated at Leighton Park, University of Sussex, and Lincoln’s Inn.
