Andrew Murrison

Surgeon Commander
Andrew Murrison
RNR, MP
Minister of State for Northern Ireland
In office
14 July 2014 – 12 May 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Andrew Robathan
Succeeded by Ben Wallace
Minister for International Security Strategy
In office
4 September 2012 – 14 July 2014
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Gerald Howarth
Succeeded by None
Member of Parliament
for South West Wiltshire
Assumed office
7 June 2001
Preceded by Constituency created
Majority 18,168 (35.2%)
Personal details
Born (1961-04-24) 24 April 1961
Colchester, Essex, England
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Jenny Murrison
Children 5 daughters
Alma mater University of Bristol
Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth
Hughes Hall, Cambridge
Profession Physician
Awards Gulf Medal (1992)
Iraq Medal (2004)
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
Website andrewmurrison.co.uk
Military service
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  Royal Navy
Royal Naval Reserve
Years of service 1989–
Rank Surgeon Commander
Battles/wars Gulf War
Iraq War
The South West Wiltshire constituency within Wiltshire

Andrew William Murrison (born 24 April 1961, Colchester) is a doctor and Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. After serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Westbury from 2001 to 2010, at the 2010 general election he was elected for the new seat of South West Wiltshire, covering much of the same area, including the towns of Trowbridge, Warminster and Westbury.

Early life

The son of William Gordon Murrison RD and Marion Murrison, he grew up in Harwich, Essex, and went to local schools there, Harwich High School (now Harwich and Dovercourt High School),[1][2] and the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.[3]

Medical and naval career

With the benefit of a Royal Naval scholarship, Murrison qualified as a doctor from the University of Bristol medical school in 1984 and holds the degrees of MD, MB ChB.[1][3]

Until 2000, he served in the Royal Navy as a medical officer based at Fareham.[3] He served in the Gulf War of 1990–1991[4] and retired with the rank of Surgeon-Commander.[1] During his Naval career he served as an Honorary Research Registrar at Southampton General Hospital and spent one year as a postgraduate student at Hughes Hall, Cambridge, obtaining a Diploma in Public Health.[1] From 2000, he worked as a general practitioner locum in Wiltshire and as a Consultant at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

In 2003, as a naval reserve officer, he was recalled to serve in Iraq for a six-month tour of duty.[1]

In September and October 2008, he took part in Exercise Apollo, based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, to refresh his skills, including dealing with combat casualties.[5]

Political career

Before entering full-time politics, Murrison was a member of the Bow Group, an assistant to Sir Peter Lloyd, the member of parliament for his home constituency of Fareham, and then from 1999 to 2000 an assistant to Lord Freeman, whose role at Conservative Central Office was screening potential parliamentary candidates.[3]

In September 2000, Murrison was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate for the West Wiltshire constituency of Westbury and in June 2001 he was elected as Member of Parliament for the constituency. He was then appointed to the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee and was also a member of the Standing Committee on the NHS Reform Bill.

In the 2001 Conservative leadership election, Murrison supported Michael Portillo.[3]

In November 2003, Murrison was appointed as a Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, while also taking an active interest in defence policy.

In 2004, in a free vote, he voted against the bill to ban foxhunting and hare coursing which became the Hunting Act 2004.[6]

He was re-elected to parliament at the General Election in May 2005, and was appointed as shadow defence minister.[7]

In 2005, he spoke in parliament against European military union, saying "The threat that the proposed Euro force might pose to one of the most successful post-war organisations, NATO, and to our symbiotic relationship with the United States, has surely not been adequately explored".[7]

In House of Commons divisions in 2007 on a number of House of Lords reform options, Murrison voted for options 7 and 8, proposing a 100% elected House of Lords, including the removal of all remaining hereditary peers, and against options 4 and 5, which proposed a partly elected and partly appointed upper chamber.[6]

In the debate on a Human Embryology and Fertilisation Bill in May 2008, he supported amendments to the bill aimed at reducing the maximum gestational age for an abortion from twenty-four to twenty weeks, commenting: "The shock of the abortion list twenty-five years ago is still clear in my mind. Since then, societal attitudes have changed, in part because of improved imaging of the unborn child. I'm sure the law needs updating and twenty weeks appears to strike the right balance".[5]

He is a member of the "Cardiac Risk in the Young All Party Parliamentary Group".[8]

Murrison's Westbury constituency was formally abolished at the end of the parliament of 2005 to 2010, but he was selected as the Conservative candidate for the new South West Wiltshire constituency, which includes most of his former electoral area, and was duly elected on 6 May 2010.

Appointments during the 2010 Parliament

Family

Murrison is married to Jennifer Jane Munden (Jenny), a physiotherapist. They have five daughters and live near Mere in Wiltshire.[1][2]

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 andrewmurrison.co.uk biography Archived 24 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. 1 2 MURRISON, Dr Andrew William at ukwhoswho.com (subscription site)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Robert Waller & Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics, Routledge, 2002, p. 852 at books.google.com
  4. ↑ Milan Rai, Regime Unchanged: Why the War on Iraq Changed Nothing (Pluto Press, 2003) p. xvii
  5. 1 2 andrewmurrison.co.uk events Archived 15 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. 1 2 howtheyvoted (Andrew Murrison)
  7. 1 2 "Andrew Murrison: Electoral history and profile". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  8. ↑ c-r-y.org.uk Andrew Murrison MP Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "Afternoon press briefing from 2 November 2011: Special representative for WWI commemorations". number10.gov.uk. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/People/Ministers/MinisterForInternationalSecurityStrategy.htm
  11. ↑ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office". www.gov.uk. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
David Faber		 Member of Parliament for Westbury
2001–2010 		Constituency renamed
New constituency Member of Parliament for South West Wiltshire
2010–present 		Incumbent
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