Sir David Roy Lidington (born 30 June 1956) is a British former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2018 to 2019 and was frequently described as being Theresa May's de facto Deputy Prime Minister. He resigned from the government on 24 July 2019, in anticipation of the appointment of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. He did not seek reelection in the 2019 general election.
Early life and career
Born in Lambeth, Lidington was educated at Merchant Taylors' Prep School and later at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School. He studied Modern History at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. His PhD was entitled The Enforcement of the Penal Statutes at the Court of the Exchequer c. 1558 - c. 1576.
While at Cambridge, he was chairman of Cambridge University Conservative Association and Deputy President of the Cambridge University Students' Union. He was the Captain of the Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge team that won the 1979 series of University Challenge. The team also won the 2002 University Challenge – Reunited "champion of champions" series for the show's 40th anniversary.
Lidington's early employment included posts with BP and the Rio Tinto Group before being appointed in 1987 as special adviser to the then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd. He moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1989 when Hurd was appointed Foreign Secretary.
At Westminster, Lidington previously participated in the Education Select Committee and Conservative Backbench Home Affairs Committee. In 1994, he successfully promoted a Private Members Bill which became the Chiropractors Act 1994.
Lidington first joined the Conservative front bench team in August 1994, when he became Parliamentary private secretary to Home Secretary Michael Howard. In June 1997, with the Conservatives in opposition, he became Parliamentary private secretary to Leader of the Opposition William Hague. Two years later, in June 1999, he was promoted to become Shadow Home Affairs Minister (deputy to Ann Widdecombe). In September 2001, Lidington was promoted to become Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
Shadow Cabinet
Lidington became a member of the Shadow Cabinet in May 2002, replacing Ann Winterton as Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (later Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) after she resigned. When Michael Howard was elected Conservative Party leader in November 2003, Lidington became Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, but was not included as a member of the Shadow Cabinet. Lidington repaid the claims.
Since the 2010 general election
Following the 2010 general election, Lidington was appointed Minister for Europe.
On 7 December 2016, when he was serving as Leader of the House of Commons, Lidington deputised for Prime Minister Theresa May at PMQs questioned first-hand by the Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry who also deputised, as per custom, for Jeremy Corbyn on the day.
Under Prime Minister Theresa May, Lidington was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. This was a position he held till 11 June 2017, when he was promoted to Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor. During the debate on the legalisation of same-sex marriage he argued that "marriage was for the procreation of children" and that the "definition of marriage should not be changed without an extremely compelling case for doing so". He later said that he regretted voting against civil partnerships.
On 8 January 2018, during a cabinet reshuffle, Lidington became the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office. Several media outlets subsequently referred to Lidington as Theresa May's de facto Deputy Prime Minister and a candidate for her succession. Despite this, Lidington said that he had 'no wish' to become Prime minister, stating that Theresa May was 'doing a fantastic job'. On 24 July 2019, Lidington resigned as Cabinet Office Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and on 10 September, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in Theresa May's resignation honours "for political and public service".
During the 2019 Conservative leadership election, Lidington backed Matt Hancock and Rory Stewart. At the final stage of the leadership election, he supported Jeremy Hunt over Boris Johnson.
Writing in his local newspaper, The Bucks Herald, on 30 October 2019, Lidington said he was not planning to seek re-election at the next general election. have four sons.