MARK HARPER

'Mark James Harper' (born 26 February 1970) British politician and accountant. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Forest of Dean.

Contents

Early life and career

Parliamentary career

Issues

Harriet the Cow

Defence Issues

Road Safety

Forces Families Manifesto

Trident Debate

Trivia

External links

Early life and career

Mark Harper was educated at the Headlands School in Swindon, Wiltshire, Swindon College, and Brasenose College, Oxford where he received a degree in philosophy, politics and economics. He began his career as an auditor with KPMG for four years from 1991 before qualifying as a chartered accountant and joining Intel Corporation Ltd as a senior financial analyst in 1995, becoming the finance manager in 1997, and operations manager from 2000 until he left Intel in 2002 to set up his own accountancy practice. He is married to Margaret and they have two labrador dogs and they live together in the constituency at Newham Bottom. He was a governor of Newent Community School from 2000 to 2005 and is a member of The Freedom Association.
He became the treasurer of the Swindon Conservative Association in 1993 and from 1997 to the new Swindon South Conservative Association, becoming the vice chairman for a year in 1998. He contested the Gloucestershire seat of Forest of Dean at the 2001 General Election but was defeated by the sitting Labour MP Diana Organ by 2,049 votes. Organ retired at the 2005 General Election and Harper gained the seat for the Tories with a majority of 2,049 (oddly exactly the same number of votes by which he was defeated at the previous election),[1] and made his maiden speech on May 24, 2005 in which he concentrated on the education needs of his constituents with learning disabilities.[2]

Parliamentary career

In Parliament, he served on the administration select committee from 2005 to 2006. In December 2005 he was promoted to the front bench by David Cameron as a spokesman on defence and Veterans. On 15 May 2006, he hosted the first Conservative Party Veterans Summit, bringing together organisations from across the country to discuss the issues facing war veterans and established a platform from which to develop Conservative Party policy on the issue. On 11 April 2007, David Cameron appointed Mark to the position of Shadow Minister for Forces Families & Welfare. In this capacity he will lead an investigation into a number of areas, resulting from the issue of overstretch which impacts on the performance of, and recruitment and retention in, the British Armed Forces. The end result will be the Forces Families Manifesto that will lay out what the next Conservative Government will do in these areas.
In July 2007 Mark was appointed Shadow Minister for Disabled People in David Cameron's frontbench reshuffle.
Harper has campaigned hard to protect local health services following announcements that local health trusts planned to close the local Sir Charles Dilke Memorial Hospital and replace the Lydney and District Hospital with a new centre.
He is a strong supporter of Israel and is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel. He is also a member of the Cornerstone Group.

Issues

Harriet the Cow

Harper had been working to save the life of Harriet, a pet Jersey cow owned by Mr. and Mrs. Price, who live near Newent, Gloucestershire. Another calf, born on the same farm as Harriet, later became infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Under European and national regulations, all cohort animals must be slaughtered and, at the moment Harriet is within that description.
On 23 March 2007, Harriet the Cow was put down by the family vet because of kidney failure. Following tests after her death, it was discovered that Harriet never had BSE.

Defence Issues

Since December 2005 he has been a Shadow Minister for Defence. In April 2007 he was appointed to the position of Shadow Minister for Forces Families & Welfare.
His remit includes veterans’ affairs, the welfare of the armed forces and the defence budget. Presently, he shadows Derek Twigg MP, the Minister for Veterans. His main focus is on welfare of the British Armed Forces, veterans’ issues, defence budget, overstretch of the British Armed Forces and the renewal of Trident.

Road Safety

Mark has played a leading role in improving road safety in the Forest of Dean.
He believes that the best way forward is to improve driver education and behaviour.
Mark Harper has urged local council officers to go for new funding available to groups that are promoting road safety.
Mark has also spearheaded the effort to have speed limit reduced from 60mph to 40mph following on the A48 road between Lydney and Aylburton following the tragic death of a school boy in a traffic accident.

Forces Families Manifesto

Mark, in his role as the Shadow Minister for Forces Families & Welfare, will publish a report before the next UK General Election on ways the Conservative Party will improve the care and welfare of British service personnel and their families. Areas that are expected to be covered include: forces overstretch, housing and accommodation, health care, mental health services, education opportunities for service personnel, their spouses and children, and career structure and pay.

Trident Debate

He is a strong supporter of renewing Trident. On 19 January 2007 he spoke at a debate in Gloucestershire in favour of Trident renewal alongside Dr Lee Willett from the Royal United Services Institute. Speaking against the motion was Bruce Kent, the former head of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and Michael Meacher MP.

He has also written several articles in support of Trident renewal for The Citizen and The Forester, local newspapers in the Forest of Dean. On 25 January 2007 he visited the submarine base at Faslane, Scotland.

Trivia

In July 2006, the Forester, a local newspaper in the Forest of Dean, compared Mark’s resemblance to Newcastle United striker Michael Owen.

External links

★ Mark Harper MP official site

★ Mark Harper MP biography at the site of the Conservative Party

★ Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Mark Harper MP

★ TheyWorkForYou.com - Mark Harper MP

★ The Public Whip - Mark Harper MP voting record