Stephen Dorrell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Dorrell in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Health | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 July 1995 – 2 May 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Virginia Bottomley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Frank Dobson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for National Heritage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 20 July 1994 – 4 July 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Peter Brooke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Virginia Bottomley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 14 April 1992 – 19 July 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Francis Maude | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sir George Young | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 May 1990 – 14 April 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher John Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Roger Freeman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Tom Sackville | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 20 December 1988 – 3 May 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Tony Durant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Michael Fallon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1952-03-25)25 March 1952 (age 73) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Liberal Democrats (2019–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Conservative (before 2019) Change UK (2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Penelope Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Brasenose College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stephen James Dorrell (born 25 March 1952) is a British politician.[1] He served as theConservativeMember of Parliament (MP) forLoughborough between 1979 and 1997 and then forCharnwood from 1997 to 2015, before joining theLiberal Democrats in 2019.[2]
Dorrell most recently served for four years as Chairman of theHouse of CommonsHealth Select Committee from 2010 to 2014. In the 1990s he was a full member ofJohn Major'sCabinet for almost three years, whilst serving as bothSecretary of State for National Heritage and thenSecretary of State for Health until the1997 general election. He did not contest the2015 general election and retired from the House of Commons. Returning to politics in 2019, he left the Conservatives and stood as aChange UK candidate at the2019 European Parliament election. After failing to be elected, he defected to theLiberal Democrats and was the unsuccessful Liberal Democrat candidate forBuckingham in the2019 general election.
Dorrell was born inWorcester and educated atUppingham School,Rutland, andBrasenose College, Oxford, where he was awarded aBachelor of Arts degree. He was a member of theRoyal Air Force Volunteer Reserve for two years from 1971.
During theFebruary 1974 general election, Dorrell acted as a personal assistant to Conservative ministerPeter Walker.[3] Aged only 22, he contested the safeLabour seat ofKingston upon Hull East at the October 1974 general election, but was heavily defeated by the sitting MP (and laterDeputy Prime Minister),John Prescott, who was returned with a majority of 25,793 votes.
At the1979 general election, the Conservatives were returned to office under the leadership ofMargaret Thatcher. Dorrell, then 27, was elected to theHouse of Commons for the marginal seat ofLoughborough, ousting the veteran Labour MPJohn Cronin by 5,199 votes. He remained an MP until standing down from Parliament at the 2015 General Election.
On his election he was theBaby of the House of Commons, an informal title for the youngest member.[4] He was succeeded as the Baby of the House on 9 April 1981 whenBobby Sands was elected at theApril 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election; however, Sands died on 5 May 1981 whilst onhunger strike inLong Kesh Prison. Dorrell again became the Baby of the House until 20 August 1981, when Sands' successorOwen Carron was elected at theAugust 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election. Dorrell nonetheless remained the youngest MP to take his seat in the House of Commons until the 1983 election, whenCharles Kennedy succeeded him—Sands and Carron never took their seats, following the same rationale asSinn Féin with whom they were closely aligned.
Following his election toParliament in 1979, Dorrell was a member of theTransportSelect committee. After the1983 general election he was appointed as theParliamentary Private Secretary to his old boss Peter Walker, who had now become theSecretary of State for Energy.
Dorrell was promoted to government after the1987 general election byPrime MinisterMargaret Thatcher as anAssistant Government Whip, and in 1988 became a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury—a 'full' whip. He was appointed as theParliamentary Under Secretary of State at theDepartment of Health in by Thatcher in 1990, and continued in that role under the premiership ofJohn Major. After the1992 General Election he became theFinancial Secretary to the Treasury.
Dorrell was promoted to the MajorCabinet as theSecretary of State for National Heritage in 1994, and on appointment became a Member of thePrivy Council. He headhuntedJennie Page for the job ofMillennium Dome Chief Executive according toThe Observer.[5] He was transferred to become theSecretary of State for Health in 1995, and remained in position until the end of the Conservative administration at the1997 general election.
When constituency boundaries were revised for the1997 election, he moved with his key rural voters into the newCharnwood constituency. He won the seat comfortably with a majority of 5,900, although Loughborough was lost toAndy Reed of Labour.[6]
He 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. Instead he threw his support behindKenneth Clarke's bid. UnderWilliam Hague he becameshadowSecretary of State for Education and Employment, but left the shadow cabinet in 1998, and was abackbencher for the remainder of his parliamentary career.
In June 2010, Dorrell was elected Chairman of theHealth Select Committee. In June 2011, following concerns over the unpopularity ofAndrew Lansley'sNHS reforms, Dorrell was tipped as a possible successor but stated that he wanted to continue as the committee chairman for the full parliament.[7] An alternate view was that David Cameron would not want any more "Tory retreads" from previous governments.[7] 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.[7]
Interviewed in 2012, Dorrell stated that the 4% per year for four years efficiency targets, agreed before the 2010 election and described as "a huge challenge", were taking too long to achieve.[8] Whilst the bill had good points, e.g. involving clinicians and local authorities, more independence for public health etc. savings required a change in the way care is delivered not just changes in management structure.[8] The reforms were acting as a "disruption and distraction".[8] They were a secondary issue compared with the need to make efficiency savings of £20bn, he added.[9]
Dorrell resigned in June 2014 and was succeeded bySarah Wollaston.[10]
In November 2012 Dorrell was reported to theIndependent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) after arranging to sell his London flat to “friends” who owned a chain of nursing homes, subsequently renting it back at £1,400 a month, funded by the taxpayer. His impartiality as chairman was questioned as the Health Select Committee was investigating social care, and some of the chain's nursing homes had been criticised by theCare Quality Commission. Committee members were not aware of the financial connection.David Cameron refused to get involved, saying it was a matter for IPSA. IPSA said that the rules banned MPs from renting from family members, not from friends.[11]
In November 2014, he surprised local party members and staff by announcing his future retirement from the House to take a job with consultancyKPMG in "a senior role supporting their health and public service practice...". The role, he said, was "incompatible with seeking re-election to the House of Commons". Fellow Leicestershire Conservative MPAndrew Bridgen also expressed surprise, but said that the prestige of Parliament had fallen since theexpenses scandal, and a number of experienced MPs were leaving. Neighbouring Loughborough MPNicky Morgan described him as "a really important political figure in Leicestershire since 1979. He has been a great support to me". She denied claims she would stand in Dorrell's Charnwood seat (rather than Loughborough) at the 2015 general election, saying that these were "rumour-mongering" by members of the Labour Party. (In May 2015 she held the Loughborough seat with an increased majority.)
The Labour candidate for Charnwood, Sean Kelly Walsh, paid tribute to Dorrell's long service and constituency work, as well as his roles as Secretary of State for Health and chairman of the Health Affairs Select Committee.[12]
In December 2014, Dorrell was criticised for alleged conflict of interest when it became clear that he would be working both as an MP and KPMG consultant for six months until the election, and that KPMG were considering bidding for a £1 billion NHS contract. Pointing out that Dorrell had previously admitted the two roles were incompatible, Dr Clive Peedell, co-leader of theNational Health Action Party, called for him to resign from one of the posts. Dorrell responded saying no issues were raised as he was not seeking re-election.[13]
In January 2015, a group of six pensioners, who called at Dorrell's offices inThurmaston to hand in a 2,286 signature petition calling on him to resign, were told they were trespassing and the police would be called. Hanif Asmal, Chairman of Charnwood Conservative Association claimed police were called as the group didn't have an appointment.[14]
According toThe Daily Telegraph, Dorrell's extra-parliamentary work took up 1,736 hours, or 33.4 hours per week, in 2014.[15]The Telegraph also stated he voted in 63% of opportunities in Parliament, ranking him 517 out of 650 MPs.[16]
Dorrell was criticised for his actions when, in 2009, his family-owned firm went into aprepack administration, a "controversial" but legal procedure which the Government'sInsolvency Service said was "mocking rules".[17] David Blake, Director of theCass Business School in London, believes the method is used to dump pension fund liabilities.[18] The controversy may have deterred David Cameron from inviting Dorrell to join the Front Bench.[17] His stake was in clothing company, Faithful, a family business established in the 19th century which madeblue collarworkwear inWorcester.[19] Finance Director Steve Hall reported the company had been quite profitable until 2004 when it was split between Dorrell and his brother.[19]
By 2005, after loss-making acquisitions, thecompany pensionsdeficit was almost £3 million. The pension scheme was changed tomoney purchase, and the factory site waspledged to support it.[19] However, when the site was sold, some of the money was used to buy another business, and the firm was bought by stock market-listed Wensum.[19] None of the money was paid into the pension scheme.[19] According to Dorrell, the scheme then required 10% of annual turnover, making (debt or equity) restructuring (by financiers) impossible.[19] An independent trustee was appointed, the pension fund received nothing and Wensum continued as a company.[19] In May 2009, Wensum was put into a prepack administration which allowed a new company, GG125, to acquire Wensum's assets for £7.9 million, whilst leaving its debts unpaid.[20]
GG125 was then renamed Wensum Group Limited.[20] The deal was completed in a day, Dorrell receiving a director salary (increased to £200,000 in September 2009) plus 15% share ownership in the new company.[19][21] As company contributions had ceased, the workers were put into thePension Protection Fund (PPF), which caps (often reducing) personal payouts and tends to erode with inflation.[19] Hall expected 30–40% pension loss to him as such.[18] Dorrell and his wife had already withdrawn their pensions.[19] Dorrell claimed he had lost £550,000 because of the failure and that the alternative to the prepack would have offered less.[17]
The prepack was criticised as "completely immoral", and inappropriate for listed companies, by a South African creditor, LA group. It had sold a clothing manufacturer to Wensum in May 2009 for Wensum shares which became worthless and ceased after the prepack.[20] Another Wensum shareholder compared the deal to a "spider eviscerating a fly it has caught, taking all the good bits, then dropping the useless carcass, which is the creditors, the shareholders and of course the taxpayer".[17]
He was reckoned by theHealth Service Journal to be the 24th most influential person in the English NHS in 2015 after he became Chair of theNHS Confederation.[22]
In 2016 he became Chair of theEuropean Movement UK, succeedingRichard Corbett, in order to lead its campaign to stopBrexit. He stood down in 2021.
In 2018, Dorrell became a committee member of the Tories Against Brexit campaign, which is run by Citizens4Britain.org. He also became the chair of healthcare consultancyLaingBuisson,[23] where he is now a Non Executive Director[24] in addition to being a Director of NHS change consultancy Four Eyes Insight,[25] global policy institute Public Policy Projects[26] and its holding company Dorson Transform,[27] and affiliate Dorson Inform[28]
He became a supporter ofChange UK in 2019.[29] He stood for the party in the2019 European Parliament elections in the constituency of theWest Midlands.[30]
Dorrell stood unsuccessfully in the2019 general election as theLiberal Democrat candidate forBuckingham to succeed formerSpeaker of the House of CommonsJohn Bercow, having joined the Lib Dems in August fromChange UK.[31] He was beaten by the ConservativeGreg Smith, who had a majority of over 20,000.[32]
Dorrell stood for the Liberal Democrats at the2025 Worcestershire County Council election in the ward of Bedwardine. He came sixth out of six candidates;Reform candidate and fellow former Tory MP,Alan Amos, won with 41.47%.[33][34]
Dorrell is married to Penelope Taylor[35] and has three sons and a daughter.
He is a Trustee ofUppingham School and a Governor of Loughborough Endowed Schools.[36] He was Chairman of Trustees at Uppingham from 2008 to 2017.[37]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLoughborough 1979–1997 | Succeeded by |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forCharnwood 1997–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baby of the House 1979–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baby of the House 1981 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1992–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for National Heritage 1994–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Health 1995–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Health 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment 1997–1998 | Succeeded by |
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