Damian Green | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| First Secretary of State | |
| In office 11 June 2017 – 20 December 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | George Osborne[a] |
| Succeeded by | Dominic Raab[b] |
| Minister for the Cabinet Office | |
| In office 11 June 2017 – 20 December 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Ben Gummer |
| Succeeded by | David Lidington |
| Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | |
| In office 14 July 2016 – 11 June 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Stephen Crabb |
| Succeeded by | David Gauke |
| Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice | |
| In office 4 September 2012 – 14 July 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Nick Herbert |
| Succeeded by | Mike Penning |
| Minister of State for Immigration | |
| In office 13 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Phil Woolas |
| Succeeded by | Mark Harper |
| Chair of theCulture, Media and Sport Committee[a] | |
| Acting 25 April 2023 – 17 May 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Julian Knight |
| Succeeded by | Caroline Dinenage |
| Acting 10 January 2023 – 31 March 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Julian Knight |
| Succeeded by | Julian Knight |
| Chair of theOne Nation Conservatives Caucus | |
| In office 24 July 2019 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Leader | Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Nicky Morgan & Amber Rudd |
| Member of Parliament forAshford | |
| In office 1 May 1997 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Keith Speed |
| Succeeded by | Sojan Joseph |
| Shadow Cabinet portfolios | |
| 2001–2003 | Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills |
| 2003–2004 | Shadow Secretary of State for Transport |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Damian Howard Green (1956-01-17)17 January 1956 (age 70) Barry, Wales |
| Party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Alicia Collinson |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Official website |
| a.^ Office vacant from 13 July 2016 to 11 June 2017. b.^ Office vacant from 20 December 2017 to 24 July 2019. | |
Damian Howard Green (born 17 January 1956)[1] is a British politician. A member of theConservative Party, he served asMember of Parliament (MP) forAshford from1997 to2024.
Green was born inBarry, Vale of Glamorgan, inWales and studiedphilosophy, politics and economics atBalliol College, Oxford. He is married to the barrister Alicia Collinson who was a contemporary ofTheresa May atSt Hugh's College, Oxford.[2]
After working as a journalist for theBBC,Channel 4 andThe Times, he entered parliament at the1997 general election by winning the seat ofAshford inKent.
Green served in several shadow ministerial positions, includingShadow Transport Secretary andShadow Education and Skills Secretary. He came to national prominence in November 2008 after being arrested and having his parliamentary office raided by police, although no case was brought.[3] He served in theCameron–Clegg coalition until July 2014, first asMinister of State for Immigration and then asMinister of State for Police and Criminal Justice.
Green was appointed asSecretary of State for Work and Pensions by Prime MinisterTheresa May in July 2016. Following the2017 general election, he was promoted to First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office. After the results of an inquiry into allegations that he sexually harassed a woman and viewed pornography on a work computer were published, it was found that he had breached the ministerial code and he was instructed toresign from the cabinet amidst the2017 Westminster sexual misconduct allegations.[4] He became chair of theOne Nation Conservatives caucus following the formation ofBoris Johnson's government in July 2019. In January 2023, he became acting chair of theDigital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee afterJulian Knight temporarily stood aside, and again in April 2023 after Knight resigned.
At the2024 general election, Green lost the Ashford constituency toSojan Joseph of theLabour Party amidst a strong nationwide swing from the Conservatives. This represented the first time since1929 that the seat had returned a non-Conservative MP.[5]
Damian Green was born inBarry,Glamorgan, Wales. He grew up inReading and was educated atReading School.
Green studiedphilosophy, politics and economics atBalliol College, Oxford. He was president of theOxford Union in 1977 and was the vice-chairman of theFederation of Conservative Students (now known asConservative Future) from 1980 until 1982.
During his time at Oxford, Green broke a wrist after a group of fellow students ambushed him and threw him into the River Cherwell. Reportedly the group includedDominic Grieve, who was later to serve alongside Green as a cabinet minister.[6][7]
In 1978, Green was appointed byBBC Radio as a financial journalist, before joiningChannel 4 News as a business producer in 1982. He joinedThe Times for a year in 1984 as the business news editor before returning to television journalism and Channel 4 as the business editor in 1985. He became theCity editor and presenter on Channel 4'sBusiness Daily television programme in 1987 until he left television to join Prime MinisterJohn Major's Policy Unit in 1992. Green had acted as an occasional speechwriter for Major since 1988. He left10 Downing Street in 1994 to run his ownconsultancy inpublic affairs.
Green stood unsuccessfully for election inBrent East at the1992 general election, where he came second with 36.6% of the vote behind the incumbentLabour MPKen Livingstone.[8]
At the1997 general election, Green was elected as MP forAshford, winning with 41.4% of the vote and a majority of 5,345.[9][10] He made hismaiden speech on 20 May 1997.[11] He was re-elected as MP for Ashford at the2001 general election with an increased vote share of 47.4% and an increased majority of 7,359.[12][13] At the2005 general election, Green was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 51.6% and an increased majority of 13,298.[14][15] At the2010 general election, Green was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 54.1% and an increased majority of 17,297.[16]
Green is an advocate of allowing illegal immigrants to return to the UK sooner.[17] He has supportedvoluntary return for overstayers and other migrants in order to avoiddeportation, claiming "we expect those with no right to be in the country to leave voluntarily". In 2011, in his role as Immigration Minister, he relaxed a five-year re-entry ban to two years[18] He has stated that the illegal immigrants being in the UK for a "shorter period of time" was a positive and "saves money",[17] although children kept being detained.[19]
At the2015 general election, Green was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 52.5% and an increased majority of 19,296.[20]
Green was opposed toBrexit prior to the2016 EU membership referendum.[21]
Green is chairman of Parliamentary Mainstream, a vice-president of theTory Reform Group and is a vice-chairman of the John Smith Memorial Trust.[22]
At the snap2017 general election, Green was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 59% and a decreased majority of 17,478.[23][24] He was again re-elected at the2019 general election, with an increased vote share of 62.1% and an increased majority of 24,029.[25]
While abackbencher, he was a member of theCulture, Media and Sport Select Committee from 1997 until his appointment to thefrontbench byWilliam Hague in 1998 as a spokesman on education and employment. He spoke on theenvironment from 1999 and was promoted to theshadow cabinet byIain Duncan Smith in 2001 as the Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills.
In 2003,Michael Howard gave him the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Transport. In September 2004, he left the frontbench altogether of his own accord[26] and joined theHome Affairs Select Committee.
Following the 2005 general election, Green returned to the shadow frontbench under the leadership ofDavid Cameron as a spokesman on home affairs and shadow minister for immigration.[27]
Whilst sitting as an MP he was a non-executive director ofMid Kent Water from 2005 to 2007, and of its successor companySouth East Water until 2010.[28] Between July 2009 and February 2010, Green was paid £16,666.64 for 112 hours by South East Water for "attending meetings and offering advice" according to the House of Commons Record of Members Interests.[29]
As Police Minister in the coalition government, Green called for increased partnerships between the police and the private sector.[30]
Green was appointed asSecretary of State for Work and Pensions byTheresa May in July 2016.[31]
He was appointed asFirst Secretary of State on 11 June 2017 following the2017 general election. He was also promoted toMinister for the Cabinet Office.[32]
With the2023 boundary review foreshadowing substantial changes to the Ashford constituency, Green sought selection for the new seat of Weald of Kent. On 19 February 2023 he announced on Twitter that he had been unsuccessful.[33][34][35] On 28 February he announced that he would seek selection for the revised seat of Ashford.[36] Green's selection for Ashford was confirmed on 31 March 2023.[37]
Green came second in the Ashford constituency at the 2024 UK general election.
Green was arrested by theMetropolitan Police at his constituency home on 27 November 2008 on suspicion of "aiding and abetting misconduct in public office" and "conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office".[3][38] The documents were reported to include information politically embarrassing to the then-Labour government.[39] He was later released on bail. In a statement to parliament on 3 December,Michael Martin,Speaker of the House of Commons, responsible for the security of the Palace of Westminster, stated that although the police undertaking the search had neither presented asearch warrant nor given "the requisite advice that such a warrant was necessary", the search of the Parliamentary office had been undertaken with the express written consent of theSerjeant-at-Arms,Jill Pay, who had signed a consent form without consulting theClerk of the House.[40]
The arrest led to speculation about the apparent coincidence that it was authorised on the last day in office of Metropolitan Police Commissioner SirIan Blair.[41] It was criticised by political figures and journalists.[42][43] It was reported inThe Andrew Marr Show that he believed he was the subject of abugging operation, which would have required the authorisation of the Home Secretary.Jacqui Smith stated that she had not granted any such order.[44] Green's constituency agent subsequently confirmed that a search of Green's property and car had been commissioned, but that no listening devices were discovered.[45]
A junior Home Office civil servant, Christopher Galley, subsequently admitted leaking four "embarrassing" documents to Green and was sacked.[46] On 16 April 2009, theCrown Prosecution Service announced that it was not going to bring a case against either Green or Galley as there was "insufficient evidence".[47]
During theUK parliamentary expenses scandalThe Daily Telegraph newspaper revealed that, although Green's constituency is a 45-minute commute from Westminster, he claimed expenses for a designated second home in Acton, west London.[48] Green has regularly claimed expenses up to the maximum of £400 for food. He has also claimed for the interest on his mortgage, for his council tax, and for his phone bills.[49]
During the2017 Westminster sexual scandals revelations, a Cabinet Office inquiry was started into allegations Green sent suggestive text messages and "fleetingly" touched the knee of a young Conservative activist. He disputes this, stating it's "absolutely and completely untrue that I’ve ever made any sexual advances on Ms [Kate] Maltby".[50] BothBaroness Kennedy and journalist Rosamund Urwin stated that Maltby had made the claims to them over a year before making them public. Urwin published Facebook messages and time stamps, showing that Maltby had complained to her, and detailed her earlier experience with Green, within four minutes of receiving what she reported as an “inappropriate” text message from Green in 2016.[51][52]
During this investigation, allegations emerged that pornography had been found on Green's work computer when he was arrested over leaks in 2008. He said this was a "political smear".[53] The police detective computer forensics expert who examined the computer when Green was arrested rebutted this in early December 2017, stating: "The computer was in Mr Green’s office, on his desk, logged in, his account, his name ... it was ridiculous to suggest anybody else could have done it".[54] In December 2017 the police expert was being investigated by Scotland Yard for keeping copies of confidential material, unrelated to the case he was working on, and then releasing it to the public.[55] Green denied that he downloaded or looked at such images.[54][56] Green said that the claims made by the retiredBob Quick were "political smears".[57][58] Metropolitan Police CommissionerPaul Stephenson confirmed that he was informed about the matter at the time but regarded it as a "side issue".[59]
On 20 December 2017, Green was removed from his position asFirst Secretary of State; it was found that he had lied to colleagues over pornography found on his computer. The report concluded that Green's conduct as a minister had "generally been both professional and proper", but that regarding the allegations by Maltby, although the private nature of their meetings meant that it was "not possible to reach a definitive conclusion" regarding his behaviour towards her, the report found her account to be "plausible".[60] In his resignation letter, Green said that he deeply regretted the distress to Maltby that the reaction to her article about him had caused, and although maintaining that he did not recognise the events described in it, he "clearly made her feel uncomfortable" and apologised for doing so.[61] Theresa May had asked him to resign and accepted his resignation. She stated she had "greatly appreciated" his hard work and contribution to her team and that it was "right" that he had apologised to Maltby.[62]
A few days later, Green faced calls to stand down as an MP, following the disclosure of a "dirty tricks" campaign which appeared to target his accuser.[63] It emerged that text messages passed to theMail on Sunday, allegedly sent between Maltby and Green before she made her complaint, had been edited and rewritten in order to inaccurately suggest that Maltby, rather than Green, had encouraged a continued close relationship and solicited a meeting between the two.[64] After contacting Maltby prior to publication, theMail on Sunday corrected one series of messages and the newspaper later issued a further post-publication correction acknowledging that it had published a second forged message and falsely attributed it to her. The faked message and subsequent article falsely accused of her of having flirtatiously texted Green that she regretted his absence from his party, because in his stead one of his aides had "been smooching the room on your behalf x".[65]
The Conservative MPAnna Soubry, previously an ally of Green, told theSunday Times that attempts to smear Maltby were "wrong and shameful". Another Conservative MP said: "It appears that Green's allies barely paused for breath after he apologised for the distress caused to Kate Maltby before launching an attack. It smacks of a dirty tricks campaign and is unhelpful to the government when it is still dealing with the fallout of the Westminster harassment scandal."[64] Maltby and her supporters had accused Green of also being behind a negative, anonymously-briefed attack on her written by theDaily Mail journalistAndrew Pierce. Her parents, in a statement, responded angrily to claims made by Pierce that they disapproved of her actions and condemned "the attempted campaign in certain sections of the media to denigrate and intimidate her and other witnesses".[66]
Writing in theSunday Times, Maltby alleged that theDaily Mail attack had been coordinated by Green's team and formed part of a broader strategy of witness intimidation. Maltby alleged that two other women had intended to make allegations against Green, but "as a result" of theDaily Mail' coverage of her own complaint, "immediately backed out".[67] In May 2018, theDaily Mail paid £11,000 towards Maltby's legal costs after she prepared to go to court regarding Pierce's article. The article was removed from theMail's website without an admission of fault.[68]
Following his defeat at the 2024 election, Green was appointed as Chair of the Social Care Foundation.[69]
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forAshford 1997–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Education andEmployment | Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills 2001–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Transport 2003–2004 | Succeeded byas Shadow Secretary of State forEnvironment and Transport |
| Preceded byas Minister of State for Borders and Immigration | Minister of State for Immigration 2010–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice 2012–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by George Osborne | First Secretary of State 2017 | Vacant Title next held by Dominic Raab |
| Preceded by | Minister for the Cabinet Office 2017 | Succeeded by |
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| Asylum and immigration 1999–2002 | | |
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| Immigration, citizenship and counter-terrorism 2002–2005 | ||
| Immigration, citizenship and nationality 2005–2006 | ||
| Borders and immigration 2006–2010 | ||
| Immigration 2010–2023 | ||
| Legal migration and delivery 2023–2024 | ||
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| Departures | ||
| International | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
