David Ruffley | |
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Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds |
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In office 1 May 1997 – 30 March 2015 |
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Preceded by | Richard Spring |
Succeeded by | Jo Churchill |
Personal details | |
Born |
Bolton, Lancashire, England |
18 April 1962
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Alma mater | Queens' College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Solicitor (1985–91) Special adviser (1991–96) |
Committees | Treasury Select Committee |
Website | davidruffleymp |
David Laurie Ruffley (born 18 April 1962, Bolton) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, which encompasses Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, having first taken his seat at the 1997 general election.
A solicitor by profession, Ruffley served as special adviser to Ken Clarke (1991–96). He sat on the Treasury Select Committee from 1999 to 2004, on which he was an arch-critic of Gordon Brown, before becoming a whip in 2004. Ruffley served as Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform from 2005 to 2007 and Shadow Minister for Police Reform from 2007 to 2010. In 2010, he was unanimously re-elected to the Treasury Select Committee.
Ruffley was born in Bolton, Lancashire. He went to the Bolton School (Boys' Division), an independent school in the town. He studied at Queens' College, Cambridge, receiving a BA in law in 1985. From 1985 to 1991, he worked for solicitors Clifford Chance in London. He was then a special adviser to Ken Clarke, first as Secretary of State for Education and Science (1991–92), then as Home Secretary (1992–93), and finally as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1993–96). From 1996 to 1997, he was an economic consultant to the Conservative Party and Vice President of the Small Business Bureau.