RT. HON. SIR TONY BALDRY

Law:

Sir Tony Baldry is a Barrister, a Director of a number of companies, and involved in a number of charitable and Church activities.

Sir Tony Baldrywas a Member of Parliament for almost 33 years.

He was knighted for political and public services in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2012 and was appointed a member of the Privy Council in November 2013.

Deputy Lieutenant (DL) for Oxfordshire 2016 –

High Steward of Banbury 2016 –

He has been a member of the Council of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor since April 2015.

As a practising Barrister, Sir Tony is head of a set of commercial Chambers, at 1 Essex Court, in the Temple, where he specialises primarily in commercial and international law, mediation and arbitration. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Mediator. He is a member of the International Bar Association.

Business:

Sir Tony is a Director of the following companies:

  • Anglo Kazakh TransAsian Pipeline Corporation Ltd., (Chairman), a UK company owned by British energy investors, which is leading a British initiative to develop and build a natural gas pipeline in Kazakhstan, permitting for the first time the construction of new high efficiency gas-fired clean-tech power plants in Central Kazakhstan;
  • Mass Dragon Energy (Executive Director). Developing offshore gas exploration in Taiwan.
  • Westminster Group plc, (Deputy Chairman); the Westminster Group is an AIM Listed security company specialising in a range of security activities including airport security;
  • Gatenet plc, (Non-Executive Director); a Chinese based company specialising in providing e-commerce platforms for the retail industry;
  • Anglo Somaliland Resources Ltd. (Chairman); a UK company undertaking development projects in Somaliland, including a project to encourage responsible international fishing companies to fish in Somaliland waters.

Sir Tony was made a Honorary Citizen of Somalia in February 2014 in recognition of his work for Somalia in the Horn of Africa.

Church of England:

Sir Tony Baldrywas the Second Church Estates Commissioner for five years from June 2010-2015.

(Essentially a Crown Appointment, and essentially the link between Parliament and the Church of England).

He was a Church Commissioner and ex officio a member of the Church of England’s General Synod. Tony Baldry was at the time the only Member of Parliament to be a member of General Synod and the only member of General Synod to be a Member of Parliament.

He became a Lay Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford in January 2015.

Sir Tony Baldry is Chair of the Church Buildings Council, a statutory body which is responsible for the care and maintenance of all 16,000 Parish Churches in England.

He is Chair of the Trustees of St. Ethelburga’s Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in the City of London.

He is also the founder and Chairman of the Bloxham Festival of Faith and Literature, which was first held in 2011 and celebrates its fourth Festival in February 2016.

He was elected to the House of Laity of General Synod in 2015.

Politics:

SirTony Baldry was Personal Aide to Margaret Thatcher in the October 1974 General Election and subsequently remained in her Private Office when she became Leader of the Opposition.

He was elected as Member of Parliament for Banbury in 1983.

Sir Tony was a Minister for some eight years, appointed to Government by Margaret Thatcher, and then served in the Conservative Government throughout the whole of John Major’s premiership. During the 2001-2005 Parliament, he chaired the Commons Select Committee on International Development and continues to take a close interest in International Development and Foreign Affairs.

He was

  • Chairman of the Conservative Party’s Commission on Human Rights 2009-2010;
  • A Governor of the Commonwealth Institute 1997-2005;
  • A member of the Council of the Overseas Development Institute 2006-2011;
  • A member of the Council of Chatham House 2005-2001.

Sir Tony Baldry held various Ministerial posts:

  • 1990: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Energy when, together with John Wakeham, he privatised the electricity industry.
  • This was followed by a four year period in the Department of the Environment where, as a Minister, he was responsible for all aspects of the Department’s work, including environmental protection, construction, housing and planning.
  • From 1994-1995 he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with a wide range of responsibilities including South Asia, Africa and being the spokesman in the House of Commons for the Overseas Development Administration – the forerunner of DFID.
  • And lastly, from 1995-1997, Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Whilst a Minister, Sir Tony led numerous overseas business export missions, which won millions of pounds of orders for UK plc.

In September 2014, Sir Tony announced that he would not stand in the General Election 2015. Following his announcement, and in respect of his time in Parliament, the Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP said that Sir Tony was “the finest example of an MP” and that his “wise counsel” would be missed.

Sir Tony was awarded

  • the Robert Schumann Silver Medal for European politics in 1975.
  • E-Politix International Charity Champion in 2003; and
  • A 48 Group Fellowship in recognition of outstanding contribution to Sino-British Relations in 2013.

Continuing North Oxfordshire Involvement:

Sir Tony is

  • a Patron of the Katharine House Hospice in Adderbury near Banbury and
  • a Patron of the Banbury Museum Trust.

Sir Tony has Master of Arts Degree in International Development and a Bachelor of Law Degree, both from the University of Sussex.

He was a for a time a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, 1998-1999 and continues to be a Guest Member of the College.

Sir Tony is also

  • a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel Development;
  • a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, and
  • a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Sir Tony served for 22 years in the TAVR. His final appointment was as an Honorary Colonel RLC (V). He is a member of the Royal College of Defence Studies.

Website:

Mobile: 07798 840 570

Email:

Chambers: 1st Floor, 1 Essex Court, Temple, London EC4Y 9AR

Tel:020 7936 3030

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