Oliver_Eden,_8th_Baron_Henley
Oliver Eden, 8th Baron Henley
British Conservative politician
Oliver Michael Robert Eden, 8th Baron Henley, 6th Baron Northington PC (born 22 November 1953), is a British hereditary peer and politician, who is a Conservative member of the House of Lords. He has served in a number of ministerial positions in the governments of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, most recently as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Lord Henley served as a Minister of State at the Home Office with responsibility for Crime Prevention and Anti-Social Behaviour Reduction, a role in which he succeeded Lady Browning in September 2011 to September 2012.[1]
Lord Henley is the eldest son and fourth child of Michael, the seventh Baron, and Nancy Mary Walton. He was educated at Clifton College. He graduated from Collingwood College, Durham University, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1975. He was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1977.
By right as an hereditary peer
Lord Henley succeeded to the peerage in 1977 upon the death of his father. An Irish peer, he is able to sit in the House of Lords by virtue of a United Kingdom peerage granted to the 3rd Baron Henley, namely Baron Northington. He was an elected County Councillor for Cumbria from 1986 to 1989. He was also at that time President of the Cumbria Association of Local Councils.
He served as a House of Lords whip under Margaret Thatcher from 1989 to July 1990. He then moved to become a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security, retaining the position when John Major rose to power and serving until 1993. He was then briefly moved to the Department of Employment, when in 1994 he was again fleetingly moved to the Ministry of Defence. In 1995 he was promoted to Minister of State at the Department for Education and Employment, serving until the Conservative government lost the 1997 general election.
By election from among hereditary peers
With the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Lord Henley along with almost all other hereditary peers lost his automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. He was however elected as one of the 92 hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords pending completion of House of Lords reform. He first served as opposition spokesman for Home Affairs before becoming Opposition Chief Whip in the Lords from 1998 to 2001 and as Opposition spokesman for Justice from 2003 to 2010.
After the 6 May 2010 general election, Lord Henley was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the Cameron Ministry. He was promoted to Minister of State at the Home Office on 16 September 2011, with special responsibility for crime prevention and anti-social behaviour reduction, replacing Baroness Browning who stepped down for health reasons.[2] He was a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights until November 2016. On 21 November 2016, it had been announced that he had been appointed a Lord in Waiting, one of the government whips in the House of Lords.[3] In addition to that role, he was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions on 21 December 2016.[4]
He was appointed to the Privy Council (PC) in 2013.
Eden married Caroline Patricia Sharp, daughter of Alan G. Sharp, on 11 October 1984. The couple has four children. The family seat is Scaleby Castle, Carlisle.
- "New ministerial appointment: Lord Henley". gov.uk. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street and Office of the Leader of the House of Lords. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- "Ministerial appointments: 21 December 2016". 10 Downing Street. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages – Peerages beginning with "H" (part 3)[self-published source] [better source needed]
Party political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Conservative Chief Whip in the House of Lords 1998–2001 |
Succeeded by |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | Opposition Chief Whip of the House of Lords 1998–2001 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of State for Crime Prevention and Antisocial Behaviour Reduction 2011–2012 |
Position abolished |
Peerage of Ireland | ||
Preceded by | Baron Henley 1977–present |
Incumbent Heir apparent: Hon. John Eden |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by | Baron Northington 1977–present Member of the House of Lords (1978–1999) |
Incumbent Heir apparent: Hon. John Eden |
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
New office created by the House of Lords Act 1999 |
Elected hereditary peer to the House of Lords under the House of Lords Act 1999 Sat as Baron Northington 1999–present |
Incumbent |