Oliver Letwin

Sir Oliver Letwin
Official portrait, 2015
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
15 July 2014 – 14 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byThe Lord Hill of Oareford
Succeeded byPatrick McLoughlin
Minister of State for Government Policy
In office
12 May 2010 – 14 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
2000–2001Chief Secretary to the Treasury
2001–2003Home Department
2003–2005Chancellor of the Exchequer
2005Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Member of Parliament
for West Dorset
In office
1 May 1997 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byJames Spicer
Succeeded byChris Loder
Personal details
Born (1956-05-19) 19 May 1956 (age 68)
London, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Isabel Davidson
(m. 1984)
Children2
EducationEton College
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
London Business School
Academic background
ThesisEmotion and emotions (1982)

Sir Oliver Letwin FRSA (born 19 May 1956)[1] 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 September 2019. He was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Michael Howard and Shadow Home Secretary under Iain Duncan Smith. He was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 2014 to 2016.

Following the 2015 general election Letwin was given overall responsibility for the Cabinet Office and became a full member of the Cabinet in the Conservative government. Previously he had been the Minister of State for Government Policy from 2010.[2]

During the Second May ministry in 2019, Letwin rebelled against leading Eurosceptics within the Conservative Party by tabling a cross-party motion to hold "indicative votes", allowing MPs to vote on several Brexit options in order to establish whether any could command a majority in the House of Commons; it transpired that none of them could.[3] Letwin sought to extend Article 50 through passing the Cooper–Letwin Act. In August 2019 he announced that he would stand down at the next election.[4] On 3 September 2019, he lost the Conservative party whip and sat as an independent MP after that.

  1. ^ "Election Guide 2010 » Dorset West". UK Polling Report. 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Minister of State for Government Policy". GOV.UK. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  3. ^ Sleator, Laurence; Kraemer, Daniel (26 March 2019). "What are indicative votes?". BBC News.
  4. ^ "Tory grandee and chief Remainer Sir Oliver Letwin to stand down at next election". Evening Standard. 21 August 2019.