32 Facts About Stephen Dorrell

Stephen James Dorrell was born on 25 March 1952 and is a British Liberal Democrat politician.

Stephen Dorrell served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Loughborough between 1979 and 1997 and then for Charnwood from 1997 to 2015.

Stephen Dorrell did not contest the 2015 general election and retired from the House of Commons.

Stephen Dorrell was born in Worcester and educated at Uppingham School, Rutland, and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Stephen Dorrell was a member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve for two years from 1971.

Stephen Dorrell remained an MP until standing down from Parliament at the 2015 General Election.

Stephen Dorrell was succeeded as the Baby of the House on 9 April 1981 when Bobby Sands was elected at the April 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election; however, Sands died on 5 May 1981 whilst on hunger strike in Long Kesh Prison.

Stephen Dorrell again became the Baby of the House until 20 August 1981, when Sands' successor Owen Carron was elected at the August 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election.

Stephen Dorrell was appointed as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health in by Thatcher in 1990, and continued in that role under the premiership of John Major.

Stephen Dorrell was promoted to the Major Cabinet as the Secretary of State for National Heritage in 1994, and on appointment became a Member of the Privy Council.

Stephen Dorrell headhunted Jennie Page for the job of Millennium Dome Chief Executive according to The Observer.

Stephen Dorrell was transferred to become the Secretary of State for Health in 1995, and remained in position until the end of the Conservative administration at the 1997 general election.

Stephen Dorrell won the seat comfortably with a majority of 5,900, although Loughborough was lost to Andy Reed of Labour.

Stephen Dorrell launched a bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1997, but withdrew before the first ballot when it became clear his support amongst Conservative MPs was negligible.

In June 2010, Stephen Dorrell was elected Chairman of the Health Select Committee.

In June 2011, following concerns over the unpopularity of Andrew Lansley's NHS reforms, Stephen Dorrell was tipped as a possible successor but stated that he wanted to continue as the committee chairman for the full parliament.

Stephen Dorrell acknowledged that resources would become tighter but changes driven by new medicines and new expectations were inevitable and integration of health care and social care would be both better and more efficient.

Stephen Dorrell resigned in June 2014 and was succeeded by Sarah Wollaston.

Stephen Dorrell denied claims she would stand in Dorrell's Charnwood seat at the 2015 general election, saying that these were "rumour-mongering" by members of the Labour Party.

Stephen Dorrell responded saying no issues were raised as he was not seeking re-election.

Stephen Dorrell was criticised for his actions when, in 2009, his family-owned firm went into a prepack administration, a "controversial" but legal procedure which the Government's Insolvency Service said was "mocking rules".

Stephen Dorrell's stake was in clothing company, Faithful, a family business established in the 19th century which made blue collar workwear in Worcester.

Stephen Dorrell was reckoned by the Health Service Journal to be the 24th most influential person in the English NHS in 2015 after he became Chair of the NHS Confederation.

In 2018, Stephen Dorrell became a committee member of the Tories Against Brexit campaign, which is run by Citizens4Britain.

Stephen Dorrell became the chair of healthcare consultancy LaingBuisson, where he is a Non Executive Director in addition to being a Director of NHS change consultancy Four Eyes Insight, global policy institute Public Policy Projects and its holding company Dorson Transform, and affiliate Dorson Inform.

Stephen Dorrell became a supporter of Change UK in 2019.

Stephen Dorrell stood for the party in the 2019 European Parliament elections in the constituency of the West Midlands.

Stephen Dorrell stood unsuccessfully in the 2019 general election as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Buckingham to succeed former Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, having joined the Lib Dems in August from Change UK.

Stephen Dorrell was beaten by the Conservative Greg Smith, who had a majority of over 20,000.

Stephen Dorrell is married to Penelope Taylor and has three sons and a daughter.

Stephen Dorrell is a Trustee of Uppingham School and a Governor of Loughborough Endowed Schools.

Stephen Dorrell was Chairman of Trustees at Uppingham from 2008 to 2017.