32 Facts About Sir Michael Fallon

Sir Michael Cathel Fallon was born on 14 May 1952 and is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017.

Sir Michael Fallon lost his seat as MP for Darlington at the 1992 general election.

Sir Michael Fallon re-entered Parliament at the 1997 general election as MP for Sevenoaks.

Sir Michael Fallon served as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2012, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise from 2012 to 2014, Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2013 to 2014 and Minister for Portsmouth in 2014.

Sir Michael Fallon's father was an Irish-born surgeon, Dr Martin Fallon, who was educated in Dublin and became a high-ranking medical officer in the British Army.

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Dr Sir Michael Fallon received the OBE for services to the wounded including at Arnhem.

Michael Fallon was educated at Craigflower Preparatory School near Dunfermline and at Epsom College, an independent boys' school in Surrey.

Sir Michael Fallon then read Classics and Ancient History at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1974 with a Master of Arts degree.

Sir Michael Fallon became Research Assistant to Baroness Elles in 1979, around the time that she became an MEP.

Sir Michael Fallon was selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Darlington in July 1982, and fought the Darlington by-election on 24 March 1983, which was held after the Labour MP Ted Fletcher had died.

Sir Michael Fallon remained MP for Darlington until the 1992 general election, when he lost to Labour's Alan Milburn by a margin of 2,798 votes.

Sir Michael Fallon re-entered Parliament at the 1997 general election, holding the safe Conservative constituency of Sevenoaks following the retirement of the sitting Tory MP, Mark Wolfson.

Sir Michael Fallon was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Energy Cecil Parkinson following the 1987 general election, and in 1988 joined the government of Margaret Thatcher as an Assistant Whip, becoming a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury in 1990.

Sir Michael Fallon remained in that office until his 1992 general election defeat.

Sir Michael Fallon has been a director at Tullett Prebon, a leading brokerage firm in the City of London, and one of the biggest supporters of the privatisation of Royal Mail.

In January 2014, Sir Michael Fallon was appointed Minister for Portsmouth, subsequently being promoted to the Cabinet, on 15 July 2014, as Secretary of State for Defence.

In December 2016, Sir Michael Fallon admitted that UK-supplied internationally banned cluster munitions had been used in Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign in Yemen.

In 2017, Sir Michael Fallon warned that Russia's Zapad 2017 exercise in Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast was "designed to provoke us".

Sir Michael Fallon falsely claimed that number of Russian troops taking part in exercise could reach 100,000.

Sir Michael Fallon subsequently declined the opportunity to describe Miliband as a decent person and his comments embarrassed some Conservative supporters.

Miliband gave a response, saying that Sir Michael Fallon had fallen below his usual standards and demeaned himself, which the New Statesman asserted was dignified, contrasting with Sir Michael Fallon's counter-productive personal attack.

Between 2002 and 2004, Sir Michael Fallon regularly claimed £1,255 per month in capital repayments and interest, rather than the £700–£800 for the interest component alone.

In late October 2017 it was reported that Sir Michael Fallon had repeatedly and inappropriately touched journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer's knee during a dinner in 2002.

Hartley-Brewer recalled that after Sir Michael Fallon kept putting his hand on her knee, she "calmly and politely explained to him, that if he did it again, I would punch him in the face".

Sir Michael Fallon resigned two days later believing his "previous conduct" towards women had "fallen below" what is acceptable.

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The former political editor of The Independent on Sunday, Jane Merrick, said in The Observer in early November 2017 that Sir Michael Fallon was the previously unnamed Conservative MP who had "lunged" at her a decade and a half earlier.

Sir Michael Fallon had contacted Downing Street about the incident several hours before he resigned.

In September 2019, Sir Michael Fallon announced he would not seek re-election at the 2019 United Kingdom general election.

Between 1992 and 1997, Sir Michael Fallon set up a chain of children's nurseries called Just Learning with funding from the British Dragons' Den member Duncan Bannatyne, becoming chief executive.

Sir Michael Fallon has been married to Wendy Elisabeth Payne, a HR professional, since 27 September 1986; the couple have two sons.

Sir Michael Fallon was banned from driving for 18 months in 1983 after admitting a drink-driving offence during the general election campaign.

Sir Michael Fallon was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for political and public service as part of the Resignation Honours of the outgoing prime minister David Cameron.