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Sir Julian Brazier | |
|---|---|
 Brazier in 2005 | |
| Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Reserves[1] | |
| In office 14 July 2014 – 16 July 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Member of Parliament forCanterbury | |
| In office 11 June 1987 – 3 May 2017 | |
| Preceded by | David Crouch |
| Succeeded by | Rosie Duffield |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1953-07-24)24 July 1953 (age 71) Dartford,Kent, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Katharine Elizabeth Blagden |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Brasenose College, Oxford |
| Website | parliament..julian-brazier |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1972–1985 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Special Air Service Parachute Regiment |
| Awards | Efficiency Decoration |
Sir Julian William Hendy BrazierTD (born 24 July 1953) is a BritishConservative Partypolitician. He was theMember of Parliament (MP) forCanterbury from 1987 to 2017. Since 2019, he has served as the President ofCatholics in the Conservative Party.[2]
Born into amilitary family, his father being alieutenant colonel, Brazier was educated at twoindependent schools: theDragon School inOxford andWellington College in the village ofCrowthorne inBerkshire. He then went toBrasenose College, Oxford, graduating with a BA inmathematics andphilosophy, later promoted to anOxford MA. He was the President of theOxford University Conservative Association in 1973.
Brazier joined theTerritorial Army aged 19 in 1972 and served for 13 years, five of which were with21 SAS(R). He was awarded theEfficiency Decoration in 1993. He was employed by Charter Consolidated Ltd between 1975 and 1984, being involved in economic research from 1975 to 1977 and corporate finance from 1977 to 1981, and was on the executive committee of the board from 1981 to 1984, when he became a management consultant with HB Maynard International,[3] now owned byAccenture.
Brazier contested the1983 general election inBerwick-upon-Tweed, but was defeated by theLiberal MPAlan Beith by 8,215 votes. He contested the Conservativesafe seat of Canterbury at the1987 general election following the retirement of the sitting MP,David Crouch. He held the seat with a majority of 14,891.[4]
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Brazier became theParliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) toGillian Shephard, theMinister of State at theTreasury. He remained Shephard's PPS following the1992 general election in her new capacity as theSecretary of State for Employment, but he resigned in 1993 as a protest against defence cuts. He was awarded the 'Backbencher of the Year' at the annualSpectator magazine awards in 1996. Following the1997 general election, he became a member of theDefenceSelect committee.[5]
Beginning in 1998,[6] Brazier led a campaign opposing the closure ofKent and Canterbury Hospital and in support of itsCancer Centre.[7] This included multiple adjournment debates in the Commons,[8] questions to the minister, and taking part in public demonstrations.[9] The initial plans for shutdown were overturned in 2005,[10] but he continued to campaign in 2017.[9]
Following the2001 general election that Brazier was given a job byIain Duncan Smith, thenLeader of the Opposition, initially as anOpposition Whip in 2001, then as a spokesman onWork and Pensions in 2002.[1]
He was brieflyHome Affairs spokesman in 2003, before being moved later in the year byMichael Howard, who had succeeded Duncan Smith, to be a spokesman onInternational Affairs. Brazier remained on the frontbench after the2005 general election as a spokesman onTransport (Shipping & Aviation).[11]
Brazier was a member of theCornerstone Group of Conservative MPs.[12] This group is considered to be on the right of the Conservative Party, and away from the more centrist direction of the leadership. As a practisingRoman Catholic,[13] he is asocial conservative. Brazier supported a bill put forth byLaurence Robertson in June 2005 that would have put heavy restraints on abortion.[14]
In 2008, he proposed a law that would allow parliament to ban seriously violent films and games, even if theBBFC had approved them.[15]
During the run up to the2016 EU membership referendum, Julian Brazier was in favour of leaving the EU.[16]
Towards the end of theLebanese Civil War, Brazier visitedBeirut andLebanese presidentMichel Aoun, while the city was besieged by Syrian occupation forces.[17] In 1996 he returned, organising the British delegation to an Anglo-Lebanese conference on Freedom and Democracy held in defiance of the Syrian-backed regime but attended by the UK and US ambassadors.[18] He later returned in 2006 as UK representative at an international protest against the treatment of Lebanese lawyer, Dr Muhamad Mugraby, who had exposed the arrest and illegal detentions during the Syrian-dominated era.[19]
Brazier consistently voted against bills furthering LGBT rights, including equaling the age of consent, civil partnerships and scrapping the controversialSection 28 act, which banned teachers from "promoting homosexuality" or "teaching ... the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship".[20] He opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage, saying that it would "undermine a treasured institution and could haveunforeseen consequences". Brazier was also quoted as saying, "We shouldn’t allow an institution of this importance to be re-defined simply to meet a rights agenda".[21]
Because of his earlier career, Brazier has a special interest in the armed forces and was an advocate of military issues in theHouse of Commons. He was also a member of thePublic Bill Committee for theDefence Reform Act 2014.[22] In 2010, Brazier was appointed by Prime MinisterDavid Cameron as a member of a three person commission to plan the future of Britain's reserve armed forces. This reported in July 2011, providing a blueprint which was subsequent largely adopted by the government in its 2013 white paper.[23][24] In May 2014, he was one of eight candidates for the chairmanship of the House of CommonsDefence Select Committee. Although unsuccessful, he came third on the first round, and was eliminated after six rounds of voting.[25][26] He served as a member of the committee from 2010 to 2014, when he was appointed Minister for Reserves at theMinistry of Defence.[27][28]
As co-chairman of the All Party Group for Adventure and Recreation in Society, Brazier campaigned against the impact of so-calledcompensation culture and excessive health and safety legislation on adventure opportunities for young people.[29][30] For this, he was shortlisted for theGrassroot Diplomat Initiative Award in 2015, and he remains in the directory of the Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who publication.[31]
Brazier wasknighted in the2017 New Year Honours.[32] At thegeneral election 2017, he narrowly lost his seat to Labour'sRosie Duffield.[33]
Following his defeat in the 2017 general election, Brazier became non-executive chairman of a 'counter-terrorism'security company,[34] and non-executive director of avirtual reality startup,[35] as well as a member of the Council of theAir League.[36] He remains a trustee of the Summer Camps Trust.[37]
He was Honorary Colonel of the Land Information Assurance Group Army Reserve until August 2023, when his commission with the Land Forces also expired.[38]
Brazier married Katharine Elizabeth Blagden on 21 July 1984 inHampshire. The couple have three sons (twins born July 1990, and another son born December 1992). His youngest son, John, was elected councillor for Westgate ward at the2015 Canterbury City Council election, and resigned in 2017.[39] He is the son-in-law of BrigadierPaddy Blagden, aUnited Nationsde-mining expert.[40]
In February 2002, Brazier was given a four-month suspended sentence after he crashed into and killed a motorcyclist in Italy on 29 August 2001.[41][42] Brazier had been driving on the wrong side of the road approaching a sharp bend when he hit a motorcyclist, 42-year-old Carlo Civitelli, near Siena. He used his TA training to give Civitelli first aid at the scene, but the man died three days later. Italian police found that Mr Civitelli's helmet was not properly fitted and that he was probably speeding. After the verdict, Brazier said in a statement: "I am still deeply saddened by the tragic consequences of my lapse of attention. My thoughts are with the Civitelli family whose reaction to the whole terrible business has been so generous". He also said "as a parent, I shall carry the memory of this man's death with me for the rest of my life."[41]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCanterbury 1987–2017 | Succeeded by |
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