Studies at Magdalen College, University of Oxford; studies at INSEAD Business School, France. Formerly, President: Oxford Union and the University Conservative Association. Formerly with: Shell UK; McKinsey and Co. Since 1989, MP for Richmond, Yorkshire; 1990-93, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Norman Lamont, Chancellor of the Exchequer; 1993-94, Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the DSS; 1994-95, Minister of State for Social Security and Disabled People; 1995-97, Secretary of State for Wales; 1997-2001, Leader of the Conservative Party; since 2001, current position. Author: a biography of William Pitt the Younger (2004), which won History Book of the Year at the National Book Awards; biography of William Wilberforce (2007). Interests: reading, walking in the Yorkshire Dales, cross-country skiing, judo, piano.