Sir Bill Cash MP |
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Chair of the European Scrutiny Committee | |
Assumed office 8 September 2010 |
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Preceded by | Michael Connarty |
Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs | |
In office 1 July 2003 – 13 November 2003 |
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Leader | Iain Duncan Smith |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Alan Duncan |
Shadow Attorney General | |
In office 14 September 2001 – 13 November 2003 |
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Leader | Iain Duncan Smith |
Preceded by | Edward Garnier |
Succeeded by | Dominic Grieve |
Member of Parliament for Stone |
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Assumed office 1 May 1997 |
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Preceded by | Constituency established |
Majority | 17,495 (35.0%) |
Member of Parliament for Stafford |
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In office 3 May 1984 – 1 May 1997 |
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Preceded by | Hugh Fraser |
Succeeded by | David Kidney |
Personal details | |
Born |
Finsbury, London, England |
10 May 1940
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Bridget Lee |
Children | 3 |
Alma mater | Lincoln College, Oxford |
Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940), known as Sir Bill Cash, is a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament for Stone. Cash is a prominent Eurosceptic in the House of Commons.
Cash was the founder of the Maastricht Referendum Campaign in the early 1990s, and is now the elected Chair of the House of Commons' European Scrutiny Committee, as well as serving as a vice president of the eurosceptic pressure group Conservatives for Britain.
He was knighted in the 2014 Birthday Honours for political services.
Cash was born in Finsbury, London to a political family, which included seven Liberal Members of Parliament, including John Bright.
He grew up in Sheffield and was educated at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire before attending Lincoln College, Oxford where he took an MA in History. He qualified as a solicitor in 1967, and since 1979 has practised as a solicitor in his own account (i.e. he is not employed by a law firm or a member of a partnership).
Cash's father, Paul Trevor Cash, fought in World War II and was killed in Normandy during Operation Jupiter: he was awarded the Military Cross for his actions during the campaign.
Cash married Bridget Mary (née Lee) at Wardour Castle Chapel in Wiltshire on 16 October 1965, and they have two sons and a daughter. One of his sons is the controversial journalist William Cash, who lives at Upton Cressett Hall, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire. Along with his wife, Bill Cash restored the now Grade I Upton Cressett Hall in the 1970s. The Hall was subsequently voted the 'Best Hidden Gem' heritage destination in the UK at the 2011 Hudson's Heritage awards.