23 Facts About David Lidington

1.

Sir David Roy Lidington was born on 30 June 1956 and is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019.

2.

David Lidington resigned from the government on 24 July 2019, in anticipation of the appointment of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

3.

David Lidington did not seek reelection in the 2019 general election.

4.

David Lidington read Modern History at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

5.

David Lidington's PhD was entitled The Enforcement of the Penal Statutes at the Court of the Exchequer c 1558 - c 1576.

6.

David Lidington was the Captain of the Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge team that won the 1979 series of University Challenge.

7.

David Lidington moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1989 when Hurd was appointed Foreign Secretary.

8.

David Lidington was selected as the Conservative candidate for the safe seat of Aylesbury in December 1990.

9.

David Lidington became the constituency's member of parliament at the 1992 general election.

10.

At Westminster, David Lidington previously participated in the Education Select Committee and Conservative Backbench Home Affairs Committee.

11.

David Lidington first joined the Conservative front bench team in August 1994, when he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Secretary Michael Howard.

12.

In September 2001, David Lidington was promoted to become Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

13.

David Lidington became a member of the Shadow Cabinet in May 2002, replacing Ann Winterton as Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food after she resigned.

14.

When Michael Howard was elected Conservative Party leader in November 2003, David Lidington became Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, but was not included as a member of the Shadow Cabinet.

15.

David Lidington continued to serve as the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under David Cameron.

16.

In November 2013, David Lidington was criticised in an editorial of the local newspaper the Bucks Herald after he abstained on votes on the HS2 rail project which will run through his constituency.

17.

On 7 December 2016, when he was serving as Leader of the House of Commons, David Lidington deputised for Prime Minister Theresa May at PMQs questioned first-hand by the Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry who deputised, as per custom, for Jeremy Corbyn on the day.

18.

David Lidington's appointment was criticised due to his record on LGBT rights, having opposed scrapping the ban on 'promotion of homosexuality' in schools, as well as civil partnerships.

19.

David Lidington later said that he regretted voting against civil partnerships.

20.

On 8 January 2018, during a cabinet reshuffle, David Lidington became the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office.

21.

On 24 July 2019, David Lidington resigned as Cabinet Office Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and on 10 September, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in Theresa May's resignation honours "for political and public service".

22.

David Lidington officially stepped down as the MP for Aylesbury on 6 November 2019.

23.

David Lidington was raised as a Congregationalist but is an Anglican.