78 Facts About Liam Fox

Sir Liam Fox was born on 22 September 1961 and is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011.

Liam Fox studied medicine at the University of Glasgow and worked as a GP and civilian army medical GP before being elected as an MP.

In July 2016, in the wake of the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union, Liam Fox was appointed the first Secretary of State for International Trade by new Prime Minister Theresa May He was made President of the Board of Trade.

Liam Fox has twice stood unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Conservative Party, in 2005 and 2016.

Liam Fox was knighted in the 2023 Political Honours for public and political service.

Liam Fox was born and raised in a Roman Catholic family of Irish heritage in East Kilbride, Scotland, and brought up in a council house that his parents later bought.

Liam Fox then studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, graduating with a MB ChB in 1983.

In June 1993, Fox was appointed Parliamentary private secretary to the Home Secretary, Michael Howard.

Liam Fox was Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1996 to 1997.

In June 1997, Liam Fox was appointed Opposition Front Bench Spokesman on Constitutional Affairs and joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1998 as the principal spokesman for Constitutional Affairs.

In November 2003, Liam Fox was appointed campaign manager for Michael Howard following the no-confidence vote against the Conservative's party leader, Iain Duncan Smith.

Liam Fox became co-chairman of the party following Michael Howard's elevation to the post of party leader in November 2003.

Liam Fox supported the idea of the American Surgel, believing that it was successful, and visited Iraq several times as Shadow Defence Secretary.

In September 2005, Liam Fox announced he would join the contest to be the next leader of the Conservative party.

Liam Fox was eliminated in the second ballot with 51 votes in third place behind David Cameron and David Davis.

In February 2008, Liam Fox spoke in the House of Commons in opposition to the defence provisions in the Lisbon Treaty.

Liam Fox has been an outspoken supporter of the war in Afghanistan and the British presence there.

On 5 February 2013, Liam Fox voted against a second reading of the Marriage Bill, designed to introduce same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom.

Liam Fox described David Cameron's plans to legalise same-sex marriage as "divisive, ill thought through and constitutionally wrong", arguing that redefining marriage for the majority to satisfy a "small, yet vocal, minority" was not a good basis for a stable, tolerant society.

In late June 2016, Liam Fox announced on LBC that he intended to run for the leadership of the Conservative party , after David Cameron resigned following the result of the EU referendum, in which Liam Fox supported leaving the EU.

Liam Fox stated that he would not allow freedom of movement to be considered as part of any alternative trade arrangement with the EU.

Liam Fox promised to increase defence spending, stating that he would particularly like to see "an increase in the size of the Navy and our cyber capability".

Liam Fox was eliminated in the first ballot, finishing in last place with 16 votes.

Liam Fox progressed to the second round of the selection process.

Liam Fox was appointed as Secretary of State for Defence in the cabinet of David Cameron on 12 May 2010.

Liam Fox said that the strongest signal that it will have to give up one or more of these capabilities, which have been maintained at the same time as contributing to collective security pacts such as NATO.

Liam Fox's admission cast doubt on the future of the 25,000 troops currently stationed in Germany.

In September 2010, in a private letter to David Cameron, Liam Fox refused to back any "draconian cuts" in the Armed Forces at a time when Britain was at war.

In February 2011, Liam Fox criticised "ballooning" spending in his own department.

Liam Fox criticised what he called a "conspiracy of optimism based on poor cost-estimation, unrealistic timescales" at the MoD and in industry.

In March 2011, Liam Fox defended the decision to make 11,000 redundancies in the armed forces, insisting that personnel who have recently returned from Afghanistan would not be sacked.

Liam Fox said it was essential that service personnel were made "fully aware of the options available and the time-scales involved".

In May 2011, Liam Fox opposed plans to sharply increase Britain's aid budget, in a direct challenge to David Cameron's authority.

Liam Fox suggested that development funding should be diverted to the defence budget, writing that reneging on the aid pledge would release more public money to be spent on "other activities or programmes rather than aid".

Liam Fox warned that high-ranking members of the Armed Forces were facing the sack because the Government wanted to reduce bureaucracy by cutting "the star count".

On 27 June 2011, Liam Fox announced that Baron Levene had completed his report on the reform of the MoD which suggested that they could cut the number of senior officers and could lead to ministerial posts being axed.

Additionally, over a 17-month period, ending October 2011, Werritty was present at 40 of Liam Fox's 70 recorded engagements.

The uncertain nature of Werritty's relationship with Liam Fox led to an investigation by senior civil servants, initially the MoD's Permanent Secretary, Ursula Brennan and latterly the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell.

Liam Fox said that Werrity had never worked for him either in an official or unofficial capacity despite allegations that Liam Fox was using a source of advice outside the Civil Service, paid for by private funds, allegedly a private intelligence firm.

The Cabinet Secretary's investigation into the incident concluded that Liam Fox's conduct constituted a "clear breach of the Ministerial code" and that his actions posed a "security risk".

The Wall Street Journal reported Liam Fox as saying he would prefer a free trade agreement with the EU rather than be part of the EU customs union, which he said could restrict Britain's ability to negotiate lower tariffs with other trading partners.

Liam Fox was a registered shareholder of the medical educational firm Arrest Ltd which was dissolved in 2010.

In March 2013, Liam Fox was one of the chief guests at a conference in Bahrain designed to rally Western opinion to the side of the Bahrain government in its struggle against the Arab Spring.

Liam Fox supported Brexit at the EU Referendum 2016, and is a self-proclaimed "staunch Eurosceptic".

In March 2018, Liam Fox said that he would "no longer support" an extension to the EU transition period.

Liam Fox had previously said that a post-Brexit trade deal "should be the easiest in human history".

In July 2010, Liam Fox said that an early withdrawal of coalition troops from Afghanistan would risk a return of civil war and act as a "shot in the arm to jihadists" across the world.

In marked contrast to David Cameron, who pledged to withdraw all British troops by 2015, Liam Fox said Britain would be betraying the sacrifices of its fallen soldiers if it left "before the job is finished".

Liam Fox told MPs that UK forces had made "good progress" in Sangin, but the move would enable Britain to provide "more manpower and greater focus" on Helmand's busy central belt, leaving the north and south to the US.

On 19 July 2010, Liam Fox said that within four years the Afghan army and police should take responsibility for security, leaving British troops to work only as military trainers.

Liam Fox believes that NATO is the cornerstone of the United Kingdom and Europe's defence and that NATO must have primacy over the European Union including the right of first refusal for all matters relating to the defence of continental Europe.

Liam Fox has been critical of the common funding mechanism within NATO and has called for a system to be used that allows for more proportionate burden sharing between NATO member states for NATO led military operations.

Liam Fox is considered to be staunchly Eurosceptic and opposed to European defence integration as well as European political integration.

Liam Fox is opposed to the European Commission having any role in defence policy.

Liam Fox believes that the European Security and Defence Policy duplicates and takes away scarce national resources from NATO.

Liam Fox is critical of abortion and has called for "huge restriction, if not abolition" on the UK's "pro-abortion laws".

Liam Fox has stated on a number of occasions that the Military Covenant is broken and that the British Armed Forces are being asked to do too much for what they are resourced to do.

Liam Fox has a particular interest in mental health issues and has criticised Gordon Brown's Labour Government for failing to adequately address the problem.

Liam Fox is a supporter of Israel and is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel.

Liam Fox is a strong believer in the Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Liam Fox was the UK Director and founding member of The Atlantic Bridge, a UK-based charity that aims to preserve and promote the Special Relationship.

Liam Fox led the Conservative delegation to the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Liam Fox criticised protesters against Donald Trump's visit to the UK in 2018, calling them a "embarrassment to themselves".

In October 2013, Liam Fox called for The Guardian newspaper to face prosecution over the 2013 mass surveillance disclosures.

In January 2015, Liam Fox published a video on YouTube detailing his opinions and criticism of Edward Snowden.

Liam Fox argued that bombing attacks against ISIL in Iraq should be extended into Syria, and safe havens should be created in Syria by military intervention.

Liam Fox's appeal was rejected and the decision was upheld by Sir Paul Kennedy, a former high court judge.

Liam Fox stated that his decision to remortgage his second home to pay for redecorations and claim the higher interest repayments on his expenses represented value for money because he could have charged the taxpayer for the decorating bills directly.

Liam Fox stated that the high bill was due to regular trips overseas, in his capacity as Shadow Defence Secretary and said he was looking for a cheaper tariff.

The study showed that Liam Fox receives rental income from his London home while simultaneously claiming rental income from the taxpayer to live at another residence.

In October 2013, documents showed that Liam Fox claimed 3p for a 100 metre car trip a year earlier.

In March 2010, Fox admitted breaking parliamentary rules on two occasions by visiting Sri Lanka on a trip paid for by the Sri Lankan government without declaring the trip in the Register of Members' Financial Interests in the required time of 30 days and failing to declare an interest in Sri Lanka when asking ministers how much UK aid had been given to Sri Lanka.

Liam Fox has declared all of his trips to Sri Lanka paid for by the Sri Lankan government in the Register of Members' Financial Interests.

Liam Fox blamed a "changeover of staffing responsibilities" for this error.

Liam Fox previously dated Natalie Imbruglia and is credited in the liner notes of her 1997 album Left of the Middle.

Liam Fox has lived in North Somerset since 1990, and currently resides in Tickenham.

In September 2013, Liam Fox launched Rising Tides: Facing the Challenges of a New Era, a 384-page book in which he warns that many of the world's institutions are ill-equipped to tackle the economic and security threats of the 21st century.

Liam Fox is a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners.