David Ruffley was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, which encompasses Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, having first taken his seat at the 1997 general election.
26 Facts About David Ruffley
1.
2.
David Ruffley sat on the Treasury Select Committee from 1999 to 2004, on which he was an arch-critic of Gordon Brown, before becoming a whip in 2004.
3.
David Ruffley served as Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform from 2005 to 2007 and Shadow Minister for Police Reform from 2007 to 2010.
4.
David Ruffley went to the Bolton School, an independent school in the town.
5.
David Ruffley studied at Queens' College, Cambridge, receiving a BA in law in 1985.
6.
David Ruffley was then a special adviser to Ken Clarke, first as Secretary of State for Education and Science, then as Home Secretary, and finally as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
7.
David Ruffley sought selection for parliamentary seats, being beaten to selection in Harrogate and Knaresborough by Norman Lamont.
8.
David Ruffley won by a majority of 368 in 1997, increasing this at subsequent elections to 2,503,9,930 and 12,380.
9.
David Ruffley served on William Hague's campaign team in the 1997 party leadership election.
10.
David Ruffley was voted onto the powerful Treasury Select Committee in 1999.
11.
David Ruffley remained on the committee until 2004, and criticised then-Chancellor Gordon Brown's handling of the economy, dubbing him 'Gambling Gordon' in 2002.
12.
David Ruffley criticised Brown for hiding higher taxes by counting tax credits as a negative income tax, citing the OECD's classification of it as an increase in spending.
13.
On his return to the backbenches, David Ruffley resumed an active role in representing his constituents.
14.
David Ruffley had taken up the cause and helped deliver a large petition to the government in London.
15.
From July 2007 to 2010, David Ruffley was Shadow Minister for Police Reform replacing Nick Herbert MP.
16.
David Ruffley said that there was an 'emerging crisis of public confidence' in the Criminal Records Bureau, after 700 people were falsely accused of having criminal records in the year to February 2008, and highlighted the risk posed by CRB checks to work experience.
17.
David Ruffley pledged to end police moonlighting, after it was discovered in January 2009 that 4,300 officers held second jobs.
18.
David Ruffley was voted back onto the Treasury Select Committee in November 2010, replacing David Rutley.
19.
David Ruffley has criticised the withdrawal of cheque guarantee cards in July 2011, saying that the public were not given sufficient warning.
20.
David Ruffley has opposed the Liberal Democrats' plan to give the government's shares in the partly nationalised Lloyds and RBS to each of the 46 million people on the electoral roll, and called instead for them to be sold to raise money for a cut in the basic rate of income tax.
21.
On 24 July 2014, it was reported that David Ruffley was under investigation by the Conservatives' Chief Whip, Michael Gove, with the possibility that disciplinary measures may be taken against him.
22.
On 17 June 2010, David Ruffley suffered minor injuries after jumping into the path of an oncoming train at Victoria Station, London.
23.
David Ruffley missed the live rail and the train safely passed over him, inflicting only cuts and bruises.
24.
David Ruffley was reported to have been suffering from depression at the time and was granted sick leave to recover.
25.
In March 2016 David Ruffley was reported to have been convicted for drink-driving following his arrest on 27 January when he was found slumped over the wheel of his car following a crash in Page Street, Westminster.
26.
David Ruffley was reported to be nearly three times over the legal limit and received a two-year ban and ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid community service.