Simon Murray, Baron Murray of Blidworth
The Lord Murray of Blidworth | |
---|---|
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Borders [a] | |
In office 7 October 2022 – 14 November 2023 | |
Prime Minister | Liz Truss Rishi Sunak |
Preceded by | The Baroness Williams of Trafford |
Succeeded by | The Lord Sharpe of Epsom |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 24 October 2022 Life Peerage | |
Personal details | |
Born | Simon Peregrine Gauvain Murray 2 August 1974 London, England |
Nationality | British and Irish |
Political party | Conservative |
Alma mater | University of St Andrews |
Simon Peregrine Gauvain Murray, Baron Murray of Blidworth (born 2 August 1974), is a British lawyer[1] and member of the House of Lords, sitting on the Conservative benches,[2] who served as a Minister for the Home Office (2022–23).[3]
Early life and education
[edit]The only son of Dr Nigel Ormiston Gauvain Murray (1944–2002) and his wife Shirley née Arbuthnot (born 1949), elder daughter and co-heiress of Commander Bernard Arbuthnot DSC,[4] scion of the Arbuthnot baronets, his matrilineal great-great-grandfather, Sir Henry Blake GCMG,[5] was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Hong Kong who hailed from the Anglo-Irish gentry being seated at Myrtle Grove, County Cork.[6] Of Scots patrilineal descent, his grandfather was Dr Ronald Murray MBE FRCPE,[7] a kinsman of the Duke of Atholl.
After graduating from the University of St Andrews as MA, Murray was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 2000.[8] Lord Murray practises public law at 39 Essex Chambers.[9]
In 2011 he appeared on the BBC show, Fake or Fortune? for his family who claim ownership of the painting; even though the family did not remember owning the painting and presumably because they had realised its worth, Children Under a Palm by Winslow Homer, which had been found by a skip over 23 years earlier;[10] although determined to be genuine, who owns this work of art is still a matter of dispute.
Political career
[edit]Elected to Gedling Borough Council at the 2019 local elections, Murray represented Newstead Abbey Ward as a Conservative Councillor until November 2022 after being appointed to HMG.[11]
Appointed Minister of State for the Home Office[12] by Prime Minister Liz Truss on 9 October 2022,[13] he was created a Life Peer on 21 October 2022, taking the title of Baron Murray of Blidworth, of Blidworth in the County of Nottinghamshire.[14]
Lord Murray made his maiden speech in the Upper House on 26 October 2022 during a debate on British Passports for those born the Republic of Ireland but living in Northern Ireland,[15] and served in the Home Office as Parliamentary Under-Secretary from 30 October 2022 until 14 November 2023.[16]
Family and personal life
[edit]Murray married Amelia May Beaumont (born 1983),[17] a granddaughter of the Revd Baron Beaumont of Whitley[18] and a great-granddaughter of Lady May Abel Smith,[19] at Temple Church London, on 4 October 2007. Lord and Lady Murray have two children.[20]
A Freeman of the City of London and a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scriveners,[21] Lord Murray is a member of MCC and serves on the ceremonial staff of the Order of St John.[22]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ www.39essex.com
- ^ www.parliament.uk
- ^ www.gov.uk
- ^ www.thegazette.co.uk
- ^ www.dib.ie
- ^ Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland (1958)
- ^ www.rcpe.ac.uk
- ^ www.innertemple.org.uk
- ^ www.39essex.com
- ^ English, Eoin (5 July 2011). "Row over €150k painting found in dump to be settled". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
- ^ Council, Gedling Borough (8 October 2022). "Councillor details - Councillor Simon Murray". democracy.gedling.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ "Minister of State - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ "Lord Murray of Blidworth". MPs and Lords. UK Parliament. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
- ^ Lord Murray of Blidworth, Minister of State, Home Office (26 October 2022). "Republic of Ireland: British Passports". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 824. United Kingdom: House of Lords. col. 1540–1544.
- ^ www.gov.uk
- ^ www.btatenniscoaching.com
- ^ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
- ^ www.debretts.com
- ^ www.burkespeerage.com
- ^ www.scriveners.org.uk
- ^ www.thegazette.co.uk
Notes
[edit]- ^ Minister of State for Home Affairs until 30 October 2022
- 1974 births
- Living people
- Clan Murray
- Alumni of the University of St Andrews
- English people of Scottish descent
- British people of Irish descent
- Politicians from London
- English barristers
- Members of the Inner Temple
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
- Conservative Party (UK) councillors
- Government ministers of the United Kingdom
- 21st-century British lawyers
- Esquires of the Order of St John
- Life peers created by Charles III