Crispin Blunt
Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt (born
15 July 1960) is the
Conservative Member of Parliament for the
English constituency of
Reigate. He replaced rebel
Eurosceptic George Gardiner in
1997.
Crispin Blunt was born in
1960 and is married with two children. He was educated at
Wellington College, and the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he won the
Queen's Medal, gaining a Regular
Commission, before reading
Politics at the
University of Durham between
1981 and
1984, where he was elected President of the
Union Society in
1983 and graduated with a 2/1 degree. In
1991, he gained an
MBA at the
Cranfield University School of Management.
Blunt was commissioned as an
Army Officer into the
13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) and served until
1990. During the
1980s, he was stationed in
Cyprus,
Germany and the UK, serving as a
Troop Leader,
Regimental Operations Officer and Armoured Reconnaissance
Squadron Commander. He resigned his commission as a
Captain in
1990.
He contested his first Parliamentary seat in
West Bromwich East for the Conservative Party. From
1991 to
1992, Blunt was a representative of the "Forum of Private Business". In
1993, he was appointed as Special Adviser to
Malcolm Rifkind the
Secretary of State for Defence, and worked in the same capacity when Malcolm Rifkind became
Foreign Secretary between
1995 and
1997.
In May
1997, Blunt was elected to Parliament as Member for
Reigate in
Surrey and was subsequently appointed to the
House of Commons Defence Select Committee. In July
1997, he was elected as Secretary of the
Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Committee and the
Conservative Middle East Council. In May
2000, he joined the House of Commons
Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee.
The new Conservative Party leader
Iain Duncan Smith appointed him to the Opposition front bench as
Shadow Minister for
Northern Ireland in September
2001. In July
2002, he was appointed as deputy to
Tim Yeo, Shadow
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. On
1st May 2003 he resigned his position on the front bench saying that Iain Duncan Smith was a "handicap". His decision to resign at this time, on these grounds, was seen by many commentators as having been taken in the expectation that the Conservative Party would perform badly in the local elections held on the same day. Blunt timed his resignation so that it did not become public until after the polls closed but before the results were declared. When the party exceeded virtually all forecasts by gaining over 500 local government seats, though without a substantial increase in its share of the popular vote, Blunt accepted that no challenge for the party leadership would be forthcoming and retired to the back benches.
He subsequently became a party whip under Duncan Smith's successor,
Michael Howard, but on
June 9 2005 again stood down from the front bench, this time to support the expected leadership bid of Sir
Malcolm Rifkind. However, when Sir Malcolm was knocked out of the leadership race of the
Conservative Party, Mr Blunt wrote to all Party members in his constituency asking for them to rank the remaining contenders in order of preference so he could best represent his constituents.
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Crispin Blunt MP official website
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Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Crispin Blunt MP*
TheyWorkForYou.com – Crispin Blunt MP*
The Public Whip - Crispin Blunt MP voting record
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BBC News – Crispin Blunt MP profile 10 February, 2005
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Resignation statement
