The Right Honourable
The Lord Henley
PC
Lord Henley in 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
In office
27 October 2017 – 26 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byThe Lord Prior of Brampton
Succeeded byThe Lord Duncan of Springbank
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
21 December 2016 – 15 June 2017
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byThe Lord Freud
Succeeded byThe Baroness Buscombe
Lord-in-waiting
Government Whip
In office
21 November 2016 – 20 June 2017
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byThe Lord Ashton of Hyde
Succeeded byThe Baroness Vere of Norbiton
In office
13 February 1989 – 24 July 1989
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byNew appointment
Succeeded byThe Viscount Ullswater
Minister of State for Crime Prevention and Antisocial Behaviour Reduction
In office
16 September 2011 – 4 September 2012
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byThe Baroness Browning
Succeeded byJeremy Browne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Resource Management, the Local Environment and Environmental Science
In office
11 May 2010 – 16 September 2011
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byThe Lord Davies of Oldham
Succeeded byThe Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Opposition Chief Whip of the House of Lords
In office
3 December 1998 – 18 September 2001
LeaderWilliam Hague
Preceded byThe Lord Strathclyde
Succeeded byThe Lord Cope of Berkeley
Minister of State for Education and Employment
In office
6 July 1995 – 2 May 1997
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byAnn Widdecombe
Succeeded byThe Baroness Blackstone
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence
In office
20 July 1994 – 6 July 1995
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byThe Viscount Cranborne
Succeeded byThe Earl Howe
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment
In office
16 September 1993 – 20 July 1994
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byThe Viscount Ullswater
Succeeded byJames Paice
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security
In office
25 July 1989 – 28 November 1990
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byThe Lord Skelmersdale
Succeeded byAnn Widdecombe
Member of the House of Lords
as a hereditary peer
28 February 1978 – 11 November 1999
Preceded byThe 7th Baron Henley
Succeeded bySeat abolished
as an elected hereditary peer
11 November 1999
Election1999
Preceded bySeat established
Personal details
Born (1953-11-22) 22 November 1953 (age 70)
Political partyConservative
Alma materCollingwood College, Durham

Oliver Michael Robert Eden, 8th Baron Henley, 6th Baron Northington PC (born 22 November 1953), is a British hereditary peer and politician, who is a Conservative member of the House of Lords. He has served in a number of ministerial positions in the governments of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, most recently as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Lord Henley served as a Minister of State at the Home Office with responsibility for Crime Prevention and Anti-Social Behaviour Reduction, a role in which he succeeded Lady Browning in September 2011 to September 2012.[1]

Early life

Arms of the Baron Henley: Quarterly: 1st and 4th: Gules, on a chevron argent between three garbs or banded vert as many escallops sable (Eden); 2nd and 3rd: Azure, a lion rampant argent ducally crowned or a bordure of the second charged with eight torteaux (Henley).

Lord Henley is the eldest son and fourth child of Michael, the seventh Baron, and Nancy Mary Walton. He was educated at Clifton College. He graduated from Collingwood College, Durham University, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1975. He was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1977.

Political career

By right as an hereditary peer

Lord Henley succeeded to the peerage in 1977 upon the death of his father. An Irish peer, he is able to sit in the House of Lords by virtue of a United Kingdom peerage granted to the 3rd Baron Henley, namely Baron Northington. He was an elected County Councillor for Cumbria from 1986 to 1989. He was also at that time President of the Cumbria Association of Local Councils.

He served as a House of Lords whip under Margaret Thatcher from 1989 to July 1990. He then moved to become a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security, retaining the position when John Major rose to power and serving until 1993. He was then briefly moved to the Department of Employment, when in 1994 he was again fleetingly moved to the Ministry of Defence. In 1995 he was promoted to Minister of State at the Department for Education and Employment, serving until the Conservative government lost the 1997 general election.

By election from among hereditary peers

With the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Lord Henley along with almost all other hereditary peers lost his automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. He was however elected as one of the 92 hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords pending completion of House of Lords reform. He first served as opposition spokesman for Home Affairs before becoming Opposition Chief Whip in the Lords from 1998 to 2001 and as Opposition spokesman for Justice from 2003 to 2010.

After the 6 May 2010 general election, Lord Henley was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the Cameron Ministry. He was promoted to Minister of State at the Home Office on 16 September 2011, with special responsibility for crime prevention and anti-social behaviour reduction, replacing Baroness Browning who stepped down for health reasons.[2] He was a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights until November 2016. On 21 November 2016, it had been announced that he had been appointed a Lord in Waiting, one of the government whips in the House of Lords.[3] In addition to that role, he was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions on 21 December 2016.[4]

He was appointed to the Privy Council (PC) in 2013.

Personal life

Eden married Caroline Patricia Sharp, daughter of Alan G. Sharp, on 11 October 1984. The couple has four children. The family seat is Scaleby Castle, Carlisle.

References

  1. ^ Home Office Announcement appointment of Lord Henley
  2. ^ Number10.gov.uk - New appointments to the House of Lords made by the Queen
  3. ^ "New ministerial appointment: Lord Henley". gov.uk. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street and Office of the Leader of the House of Lords. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Ministerial appointments: 21 December 2016". 10 Downing Street. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
Party political offices Preceded byThe Lord Strathclyde Conservative Chief Whipin the House of Lords 1998–2001 Succeeded byThe Lord Cope of Berkeley Political offices Preceded byThe Lord Strathclyde Opposition Chief Whipof the House of Lords 1998–2001 Succeeded byThe Lord Cope of Berkeley Preceded byThe Baroness Browning Minister of State for Crime Preventionand Antisocial Behaviour Reduction 2011–2012 Position abolished Peerage of Ireland Preceded byMichael Eden Baron Henley 1977–present IncumbentHeir apparent:Hon. John Eden Peerage of the United Kingdom Preceded byMichael Eden Baron Northington 1977–present Member of the House of Lords(1978–1999) IncumbentHeir apparent:Hon. John Eden Parliament of the United Kingdom New officecreated by the House of Lords Act 1999 Elected hereditary peer to the House of Lordsunder the House of Lords Act 1999Sat as Baron Northington 1999–present Incumbent


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