Andrew Murrison

Surgeon Commander The Right Honourable
Andrew Murrison
MP
Surgeon Commander The Right Honourable Andrew Murrison MP
	Official portrait, 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 30 October 2022
Prime Minister	Rishi Sunak
Preceded by	Sarah Atherton
Minister of State for International Development and the Middle East
	In office; 9 May 2019 – 13 February 2020
Prime Minister	Theresa May; Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Alistair Burt
Succeeded by	James Cleverly
Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee
	In office; 12 July 2017 – 9 May 2019
Preceded by	Laurence Robertson
Succeeded by	Simon Hoare
Minister of State for Northern Ireland
	In office; 14 July 2014 – 12 May 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Andrew Robathan
Succeeded by	Ben Wallace
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Security Strategy
	In office; 4 September 2012 – 14 July 2014
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Gerald Howarth
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Member of Parliament; for South West Wiltshire; Westbury (2001–2010)
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 7 June 2001
Preceded by	David Faber
Majority	21,630 (39.4%)
Personal details
Born	24 April 1961; Colchester, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Jenny Murrison
Children	5 daughters
Alma mater	University of Bristol; Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; Hughes Hall, Cambridge
Profession	Physician
Awards	Iraq Medal (2004); Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002); Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
Website	andrewmurrison.co.uk
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy; Royal Naval Reserve
Years of service	1989–present
Rank	Surgeon Commander
Battles/wars	Iraq War

Andrew William Murrison (born 24 April 1961) is a British doctor, naval officer and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Wiltshire, previously Westbury, since the 2001 general election. He has been serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families since October 2022.[1]

The South West Wiltshire constituency within Wiltshire

Murrison has held a variety of positions within the British government, including Minister for International Security Strategy, and Minister of State for Northern Ireland. Most recently he served as the Minister of State for International Development and the Middle East. In Parliament, he chaired the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee[2] from July 2017 to May 2019.

Early life

The son of William Gordon Murrison RD and Marion Murrison, Murrison was born in Colchester and grew up in Harwich, Essex, where he attended the local Harwich High School (now Harwich and Dovercourt High School),[3][4] and the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.[5]

Medical and naval career

Having been awarded a Royal Navy scholarship, Murrison qualified as a doctor from the University of Bristol's medical school in 1984. He holds the degrees of MD, MB ChB.[3][5]

Until 2000, Murrison served in the Royal Navy as a medical officer based at Fareham and retired with the rank of Surgeon-Commander.[3][5] During his naval career he served as an Honorary Research Registrar at Southampton General Hospital and spent one year as a postgraduate student at Hughes Hall, Cambridge, obtaining a Diploma in Public Health.[3] From 2000, he worked as a general practitioner locum in Wiltshire and as a consultant in occupational health at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

In 2003, as a naval reserve officer, Murrison was recalled to serve in Iraq for a six-month tour of duty.[3]

Political career

Before entering full-time politics, Murrison was a member of the Bow Group, an assistant to Sir Peter Lloyd (the MP for his home constituency of Fareham), and then from 1999 to 2000 an assistant to Lord Freeman, whose role at Conservative Central Office was screening potential parliamentary candidates.[5]

In September 2000, Murrison was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate for the West Wiltshire constituency of Westbury and in June 2001 he was elected as Member of Parliament for the constituency. He was then appointed to the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee and was also a member of the Standing Committee on the NHS Reform Bill.

In the 2001 Conservative leadership election, Murrison supported Michael Portillo.[5]

In November 2003, Murrison was appointed as a Shadow Minister for Health, while also taking an active interest in defence policy.

In 2004, in a free vote, he voted against the bill to ban foxhunting and hare coursing which became the Hunting Act 2004.[6]

He was returned to Parliament at the General Election in May 2005, and was appointed as shadow defence minister.[7]

In 2005, he spoke in parliament against European military union, saying "The threat that the proposed Euro force might pose to one of the most successful post-war organisations, NATO, and to our symbiotic relationship with the United States, has surely not been adequately explored".[7]

In Commons divisions in 2007 on a number of House of Lords reform options, Murrison voted for options 7 and 8, proposing a 100% elected House of Lords, including the removal of all remaining hereditary peers, and against options 4 and 5, which proposed a partly elected and partly appointed upper chamber.[6]

In the debate on a Human Embryology and Fertilisation Bill in May 2008, he supported amendments to the bill aimed at reducing the maximum gestational age for an abortion from twenty-four to twenty weeks, commenting: "The shock of the abortion list twenty-five years ago is still clear in my mind. Since then, societal attitudes have changed, in part because of improved imaging of the unborn child. I'm sure the law needs updating and twenty weeks appears to strike the right balance".[8]

He is the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Clinical Leadership and Management, and is a member of the "Cardiac Risk in the Young All Party Parliamentary Group".[9]

Murrison's Westbury constituency was abolished at the end of the Parliament of 2005 to 2010, but he was the Conservative party candidate for the new South West Wiltshire constituency, which includes most of his former constituency, and was elected on 6 May 2010.

Appointments since 2010

After re-election to Parliament – appointed as PPS to the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley owing to his experience as a physician.
November 2011 – appointed as the Prime Minister's special representative for First World War centenary commemorations.[10]
September 2012 – as part of the Prime Minister's first major cabinet reshuffle, appointed as Minister for International Security Strategy in the Ministry of Defence.[11]
July 2014 – appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office.[12]
January 2016 – appointed Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Tunisia and Morocco,[13] until his resignation on 5 July 2022.[14]

Family

Murrison is married to Jennifer (Jenny) Munden, a physiotherapist. They have five daughters and live near Mere in Wiltshire.[3][4]

Honours

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Iraq Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	2002 UK version of this medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012 UK version of this medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal	2022 UK version of this medal
	Volunteer Reserves Service Medal

He was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council on 22 May 2019 at Buckingham Palace.[15] This gave him the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable" for life.

Publications

Andrew Murrison (31 October 2011). Tommy This an' Tommy That: The military covenant. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-255-5.
Andrew Murrison (19 April 2017). Redemption. Endeavour Press. ISBN 978-1-52131-825-6.

References

"Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
"Northern Ireland Affairs Committee – Dr Andrew Murrison elected as Chair". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
"andrewmurrison.co.uk biography". Archived from the original on 24 September 2008.
MURRISON, Dr Andrew William Archived 8 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine at ukwhoswho.com (subscription site)
Robert Waller & Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics, Routledge, 2002, p. 852 Archived 8 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine at books.google.com
"Politics | The Guardian". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
"Andrew Murrison: Electoral history and profile". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
"andrewmurrison.co.uk events". Archived from the original on 15 October 2008.
"c-r-y.org.uk Andrew Murrison MP". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007.
"Afternoon press briefing from 2 November 2011: Special representative for WWI commemorations". number10.gov.uk. 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
"Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy - GOV.UK". Archived from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
"Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office". www.gov.uk. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
"Trade Envoys". www.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
"Twitter - Rt Hon Andrew Murrison MP". Twitter. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
Tilbrook, Richard (22 May 2019). "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 22ND MAY 2019" (PDF). The Privy Council Office. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

External links

Dr Andrew Murrison MP official site

Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom

Contributions in Parliament at Hansard

Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005

Voting record at Public Whip

Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
Profile at the Conservative Party website
Biography at ePolitix.com for Andrew Murrison MP
Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Andrew Murrison MP
Appearances on C-SPAN

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[1] "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 October 2022.

[2] "Northern Ireland Affairs Committee – Dr Andrew Murrison elected as Chair". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2017.

[Biography-3] "andrewmurrison.co.uk biography". Archived from the original on 24 September 2008.

[Ukwhoswho-4] MURRISON, Dr Andrew William Archived 8 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine at ukwhoswho.com (subscription site)

[Almanac-5] Robert Waller & Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics, Routledge, 2002, p. 852 Archived 8 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine at books.google.com

[howtheyvoted-6] "Politics | The Guardian". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2008.

[Guardian-7] "Andrew Murrison: Electoral history and profile". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.

[andrewmurrison.co.uk_events-8] "andrewmurrison.co.uk events". Archived from the original on 15 October 2008.

[9] "c-r-y.org.uk Andrew Murrison MP". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007.

[10] "Afternoon press briefing from 2 November 2011: Special representative for WWI commemorations". number10.gov.uk. 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

[11] "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy - GOV.UK". Archived from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.

[12] "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office". www.gov.uk. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

[13] "Trade Envoys". www.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2017.

[14] "Twitter - Rt Hon Andrew Murrison MP". Twitter. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.

[15] Tilbrook, Richard (22 May 2019). "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 22ND MAY 2019" (PDF). The Privy Council Office. Retrieved 23 October 2022.