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Andrew Murrison

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Surgeon Commander The Right Honourable
Andrew Murrison
VR MP
Official portrait, 2024
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Families
In office
30 October 2022 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded bySarah Atherton
Succeeded byTBC
Minister of State for International Development and the Middle East
In office
9 May 2019 – 13 February 2020
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byAlistair Burt
Succeeded byJames Cleverly
Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee
In office
12 July 2017 – 9 May 2019
Preceded byLaurence Robertson
Succeeded bySimon Hoare
Minister of State for Northern Ireland
In office
14 July 2014 – 12 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byAndrew Robathan
Succeeded byBen Wallace
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Security Strategy
In office
4 September 2012 – 14 July 2014
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byGerald Howarth
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Member of Parliament
for South West Wiltshire
Westbury (2001–2010)
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 June 2001
Preceded byDavid Faber
Majority3,243 (7.0%)
Personal details
Born (1961-04-24) 24 April 1961 (age 63)
Colchester, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseJenny Murrison
Children5 daughters
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth
Hughes Hall, Cambridge
ProfessionPhysician
AwardsIraq Medal (2004)
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
Websitewww.andrewmurrison.co.uk
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service Royal Navy
Royal Naval Reserve
Years of service1989–present
RankSurgeon Commander
Battles/warsIraq War

Surgeon Commander Andrew William Murrison (born 24 April 1961) is a British doctor, naval officer and Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Wiltshire, previously Westbury, since 2001. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Families from October 2022 to July 2024.[1]

Murrison has held a variety of positions within the British government, including Minister for International Security Strategy, Minister of State for Northern Ireland, and then Minister of State for International Development and the Middle East. In Parliament, he chaired the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee[2] from July 2017 to May 2019.

Early life and education

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Andrew Murrison was born on 24 April 1961 in Colchester. The son of William Gordon Murrison RD and Marion Murrison, he grew up in Harwich, where he attended Harwich and Dovercourt High School,[3][4] and the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.[5]

Medical and naval career

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Having been awarded a Royal Navy scholarship, Murrison qualified as a doctor from the University of Bristol's medical school in 1984. He holds the degrees of MD and MB ChB.[3][5]

After his graduation and until 2000, Murrison served in the Royal Navy as a medical officer based at Fareham and retired with the rank of Surgeon-Commander.[3][5] During his naval career he worked as an Honorary Research Registrar at Southampton General Hospital and spent a year as a postgraduate student at Hughes Hall, Cambridge, obtaining a Diploma in Public Health.[3] From 2000, he worked as a general practitioner locum in Wiltshire and as a consultant in occupational health at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

In 2003, as a naval reserve officer, Murrison served in Iraq for a six-month tour of duty.[3]

Political career

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Before entering full-time politics, Murrison was a member of the Bow Group, an assistant to Sir Peter Lloyd, and then from 1999 to 2000 an assistant to Lord Freeman, whose role at Conservative Central Office was screening potential parliamentary candidates.[5]

Parliamentary career

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At the 2001 general election, Murrison was elected to Parliament as the Conservative MP for Westbury with 42.1% of the vote and a majority of 5,294.[6]

In the 2001 Conservative leadership election, Murrison supported Michael Portillo.[5]

In 2004, in a free vote, Murrison voted against the bill to ban foxhunting and hare coursing which became the Hunting Act 2004.[7]

Murrison was re-elected as MP for Westbury at the 2005 general election with an increased vote share of 44.5% and an increased majority of 5,346.[8] After the election, he was appointed as shadow defence minister.[9]

In 2005, he spoke in parliament against a proposed 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".[9]

In a 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.[7]

He is the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Clinical Leadership and Management, and is a member of the "Cardiac Risk in the Young All Party Parliamentary Group".[10]

Prior to the 2010 general election, Murrison's constituency of Westbury was abolished, and replaced with South West Wiltshire. He was elected as MP for South West Wiltshire with 51.7% of the vote and a majority of 10,367.[11][12]

In November 2011, Murrison was appointed as the Prime Minister's special representative for First World War centenary commemorations.[13]

He was in September 2012 appointed as Minister for International Security Strategy in the Ministry of Defence.[14]

In July 2014, Murrison was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office.[15]

At the 2015 general election, Murrison was re-elected as MP for South West Wiltshire with an increased vote share of 52.7% and an increased majority of 18,168.[16]

In January 2016, he appointed Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Tunisia and Morocco,[17] until his resignation on 5 July 2022.[18]

Murrison was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 60% and an increased majority of 18,326.[19] He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 60.2% and an increased majority of 21,630.[20] At the 2024 general election, Murrison was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 33.8% and a decreased majority of 3,243.[21]

Personal life

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Murrison is married to Jennifer (Jenny) Munden, a physiotherapist. They have five daughters and live near Mere in Wiltshire.[3][4]

He was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council on 22 May 2019 at Buckingham Palace.[22] This gave him the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable" for life.

Honours

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Ribbon Description Notes
Iraq Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
  • 2002
  • UK version of this medal
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
  • 2012
  • UK version of this medal
Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
  • 2022
  • UK version of this medal
King Charles III Coronation Medal
  • 2023
  • UK version of this medal
Volunteer Reserves Service Medal

Publications

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  • Andrew Murrison (31 October 2011). Tommy This an' Tommy That: The military covenant. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-255-5.
  • Andrew Murrison (19 April 2017). Redemption. Endeavour Press. ISBN 978-1-52131-825-6.

References

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  1. ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Northern Ireland Affairs Committee – Dr Andrew Murrison elected as Chair". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "andrewmurrison.co.uk biography". Archived from the original on 24 September 2008.
  4. ^ a b MURRISON, Dr Andrew William Archived 8 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine at ukwhoswho.com (subscription site)
  5. ^ a b c d e Robert Waller & Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics, Routledge, 2002, p. 852 Archived 8 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine at books.google.com
  6. ^ "Westbury: General Election result, May 1997". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Politics | The Guardian". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  8. ^ "UK General Election results May 2005". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Andrew Murrison: Electoral history and profile". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  10. ^ "c-r-y.org.uk Andrew Murrison MP". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007.
  11. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Results of Poll, South West Wiltshire". BBC News. 7 May 2010.
  13. ^ "Afternoon press briefing from 2 November 2011: Special representative for WWI commemorations". number10.gov.uk. 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  14. ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy – GOV.UK". Archived from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  15. ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office". www.gov.uk. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Trade Envoys". www.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Twitter – Rt Hon Andrew Murrison MP". Twitter. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Parliamentary elections 2017". Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  20. ^ "General Election 12 December 2019 – Wiltshire Council". www.wiltshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  21. ^ "South West Wiltshire – General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  22. ^ Tilbrook, Richard (22 May 2019). "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 22ND MAY 2019" (PDF). The Privy Council Office. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrew Murrison.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by 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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