49 Facts About Owen Paterson

Owen William Paterson was born on 24 June 1956 and is a British former politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2010 to 2012 and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2012 to 2014 under Prime Minister David Cameron.

Owen Paterson was dismissed as Environment Secretary by Prime Minister David Cameron as part of the 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, and was replaced by Liz Truss.

Owen Paterson resigned from the House of Commons on 5 November 2021 amid controversy surrounding a report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards that found that he had broken paid advocacy rules.

Owen Paterson was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire, and grew up on his family's farm.

Owen Paterson attended Abberley Hall School and Radley College, before reading History at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Owen Paterson then went on to the National Leathersellers College.

Owen Paterson joined his family business, British Leather Company, in 1979, becoming Sales Director in 1983 and managing director from 1993 to 1999.

Owen Paterson was President of COTANCE, the European Tanners Confederation, from 1996 to 1998.

Owen Paterson was a Director of Parsons and Sons leather company in Halesowen in the 1990s.

Owen Paterson is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Leathersellers' Company.

Owen Paterson was first elected as the Member of Parliament for North Shropshire at the 1997 general election with a majority of 2,195 and increased his majority at each subsequent election, up to 22,949 in 2019.

Owen Paterson served on several committees, including the Welsh Affairs Committee, the European Standing Committee, and the Agriculture Committee.

Owen Paterson is a supporter of the Royal Irish Regiment, which has been based in his constituency at Tern Hill.

Owen Paterson was Shadow Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister from 2003 to 2005.

Owen Paterson visited Michigan, Maryland and Washington to discuss bovine TB policy, writing extensively on the issue facing the UK.

Owen Paterson travelled all over the North Atlantic to produce a Green paper on Fisheries.

Owen Paterson joined the crew of the Kiroan, one of the few remaining trawlers out of Fleetwood, Lancashire, to view the fishing practices that have been created by the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.

Owen Paterson wrote the Green paper "Consultation on a National Policy on Fisheries Management in UK Waters".

Owen Paterson served as Shadow Minister for Transport from 2005 to 2007.

Whilst he was Shadow Minister for Roads, Owen Paterson researched relevant best practice and the latest ideas from Europe and North America.

Owen Paterson was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 2 July 2007.

Owen Paterson negotiated an agreement between the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionist Party to re-establish the traditional links between the two parties, which had been broken in 1972.

Owen Paterson was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the Coalition Government on 12 May 2010.

Owen Paterson was created a Privy Councillor on 13 May 2010.

Owen Paterson worked with the Treasury to deliver his promise of a consultation on the devolution of the power to reduce the rate of corporation tax to Stormont.

Owen Paterson was the first cabinet member to publicly oppose the Coalition Government's Marriage Bill, defying David Cameron and ministerial convention.

Owen Paterson was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in September 2012.

Owen Paterson voted and spoke strongly against the fox hunting ban, in one speech likening supporters of the bill to Nazis.

Owen Paterson is known as a strong supporter of genetically modified food technology.

Owen Paterson was mentioned by journalist Benedict Brogan as a possible replacement on the European Commission when the term of Baroness Ashton expired.

Owen Paterson was one of three MPs to leave the cabinet as part of the re-shuffle on 15 July 2014, and was succeeded by Liz Truss as Environment Secretary.

Owen Paterson's departure was widely attributed to his botched handling of the summer floods and the badger cull.

In 2015, Owen Paterson joined John Redwood to found internal pressure group Conservatives for Britain, which took pride of place at the party conference in Manchester pledging on the fringe to strive for independence from European interventionism; it formed the backbone of the Conservative effort for Leave.

Owen Paterson continued to be critical of David Cameron's attempts to negotiate a settlement with the European Union over net migration figures, an issue that featured highly in the referendum campaign.

In 2014, Owen Paterson established UK 2020, an independent centre-right think tank, to develop policies to address challenging and complex public policy areas.

Owen Paterson announced in October 2019 that UK 2020 would be shut down.

Owen Paterson was a subscribed supporter of the Conservative pro-Brexit European Research Group.

Owen Paterson first became involved with the healthcare company Randox based in Northern Ireland whilst he was Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary before 2010 and contact continued when he became a minister and was campaigning for corporation tax to be devolved in Northern Ireland.

Owen Paterson represented Randox in a call with James Bethell, the minister responsible for awarding contracts to the private sector during the pandemic in April 2020.

In October 2021, Owen Paterson was found by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to have breached paid advocacy rules for making three approaches to the Food Standards Agency and four approaches to the Department for International Development in relation to Randox and seven approaches to the Food Standards Agency relating to Lynn's Country Foods.

The Commissioner said Owen Paterson had "repeatedly used his privileged position to benefit two companies for whom he was a paid consultant, and that this has brought the house into disrepute" and that "no previous case of paid advocacy has seen so many breaches or such a clear pattern of behaviour in failing to separate private and public interests".

The Commons Select Committee on Standards recommended Owen Paterson be suspended from the Commons for 30 sitting days.

Owen Paterson said without information on the true source of donations, "the register of members' interests is unable to fulfil its vital purpose".

Owen Paterson stated that "All the expenses incurred on these trips have been declared according to parliamentary rules", but has not confirmed the original source of the funding.

Owen Paterson married Rose Ridley, the daughter of Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley, and sister of Matt Ridley, in 1980.

Owen Paterson's daughter, Evie, is a successful eventer who won the British Junior Eventing Championships in 2008, aged 16.

In January 2018, Owen Paterson fell from a horse while riding and broke three vertebrae in his back.

Owen Paterson's wife Rose died on 24 June 2020, her husband's birthday.

Owen Paterson's body was found in the early hours of the morning in woodland at their country house, Shellbrook Hill.