30 Facts About Alistair Burt

Alistair James Hendrie Burt was born on 25 May 1955 and is a Conservative British politician who served as Member of Parliament for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019.

Alistair Burt was previously MP for his native Bury North in Greater Manchester from 1983 until 1997.

Alistair Burt was Minister of State at the Department of Health from May 2015 to July 2016.

Alistair Burt was born in Bury, Lancashire, and was educated at the Bury Grammar School, where he was appointed Head Boy in 1973.

Alistair Burt read Jurisprudence at St John's College, Oxford, graduating in 1977.

Whilst a student at Oxford, Alistair Burt attended the televised 1975 A Question of Europe debate wearing the stereotyped French dress of a beret, striped shirt, and string of onions.

Alistair Burt was elected president of the Oxford Law Society in 1976.

Alistair Burt was elected as a councillor on Haringey Borough Council in 1982 and left the council in 1984.

Alistair Burt contested the new seat of Bury North at the 1983 general election at which he was elected as the Conservative MP with a majority of 2,792 votes.

Alistair Burt represented the seat until 1997 and returned to parliament again in 2001.

In Parliament Alistair Burt became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for the Environment Kenneth Baker in 1985, he remained as PPS to Baker in his role as Secretary of State for Education and Science from 1986 and in his role as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1989 until 1990.

Alistair Burt was one of many ministers who lost their seats at the 1997 general election when Bury North fell to Labour's David Chaytor by 7,866 votes.

Alistair Burt re-entered parliament at the 2001 general election for the very safe Conservative seat of Bedfordshire North East, previously represented in parliament by the former Attorney General Nicholas Lyell who had retired.

Alistair Burt was elected with a majority of 8,577; he was made an opposition spokesman on Education and Skills under William Hague in 2001, before becoming PPS to the Leader of the Opposition Iain Duncan Smith in 2002.

However, in January 2008, Alistair Burt was promoted to Assistant Chief Whip and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for Internal Development.

Alistair Burt is a former officer of the Conservative Friends of Israel, a position which he resigned upon entering government as a Minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Alistair Burt is joint founder and first Chairman of The Enterprise Forum, an organisation set up in 1997 to facilitate discussions on policy between the Business Community and the Conservative Party.

Alistair Burt is a vice-president of the Tory Reform Group.

Alistair Burt was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 14 May 2010.

Alistair Burt was angered at the failure of MPs in August 2013 to support the British government's plan to participate in military strikes against the Syrian government, in the wake of a chemical-weapons attack at Ghouta.

Alistair Burt had been delegated under William Hague specific responsibilities for advancing FCO policy on:.

In June 2014 Alistair Burt called the lack of intervention in Syria "a disaster".

Alistair Burt spoke in Parliament for nearly half an hour to filibuster the proposed Off-Patent Drugs Bill, a plan that had cross-party support from backbenchers.

In July 2016, Alistair Burt announced that he would be resigning from his Ministerial position, "Twenty-four years and one month ago, I answered my first question as a junior minister in oral questions and I've just completed my last oral questions," Alistair Burt said.

Historically Alistair Burt had been active in seeking justice for the victims of the Tainted Blood Scandal.

The role is a shared one, with Alistair Burt being Minister in the Department for International Development.

Alistair Burt resigned from government by voting for Oliver Letwin's amendment on 25 March 2019.

On 3 September 2019, Alistair Burt joined 20 other rebel Conservative MPs to vote against the Conservative government of Boris Johnson.

Alistair Burt himself decided that he would not seek re-election at the next general election.

Alistair Burt enjoys athletics and football, and supports Bury FC Alistair Burt is a member of Biggleswade Athletics Club, and has run many London Marathons and Harrold Pit Runs.