Andrew Tyrie

For the former Ulster Defence Association leader, see Andy Tyrie.

The Right Honourable Andrew Tyrie MP
Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 June 2010
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	John McFall
Shadow Paymaster General
In office 15 March 2004 – 6 May 2005
Leader	Michael Howard
Preceded by	Mark Prisk
Succeeded by	Mark Francois
Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office 11 November 2003 – 15 March 2004
Leader	Michael Howard
Preceded by	Mark Prisk
Succeeded by	Mark Hoban
Member of Parliament for Chichester
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 May 1997
Preceded by	Anthony Nelson
Majority	24,413 (42.72%)
Personal details
Born	(1957-01-15) 15 January 1957 Rochford, Essex, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	Trinity College, Oxford College of Europe Wolfson College, Cambridge
Profession	Journalist
Religion	Anglican
Website	www.andrewtyrie.com

Andrew Guy Tyrie (born 15 January 1957) is a British politician for the Conservative Party. He is the Member of Parliament for Chichester, and was first elected in the 1997 general election. He had previously been a Special Adviser at HM Treasury and is the current Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, having taken up the role on 10 June 2010. He has been described by The Independent as "the most powerful backbencher in the House of Commons".

Early life

Tyrie was born at Rochford, Essex, on 15 January 1957. He was educated at Felsted School and Trinity College, Oxford, where he read PPE, graduating in 1979. He then went to the College of Europe at Bruges, earning a postgraduate Certificate of Advanced European Studies, followed by Wolfson College, Cambridge, where he obtained the degree of MPhil.

Tyrie worked at the group head office of British Petroleum (now BP) from 1981 to 1983. From 1990 to 1991, he was a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, then a senior economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1992 to 2007.

Parliamentary career

Tyrie contested Houghton and Washington in 1992. As Member of Parliament for Chichester from 1997, Tyrie has been involved locally, namely in supporting campaigns including the movement to prevent the Accident and Emergency Department at St Richard's Hospital from being downgraded.

Following the 2001 general election, in which Labour were elected to a second term in government, William Hague announced that he would stand down from the leadership role; Tyrie became Ken Clarke's campaign manager in the resultant leadership election. Clarke was successful in the final MP's ballot, but was defeated by Iain Duncan Smith in the full membership vote. Tyrie refused to join Duncan Smith's shadow cabinet due to ideological differences.

He served in Michael Howard's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury between November 2003 and March 2004 and then as Shadow Paymaster General between March 2004 and May 2005.

In 2005, he became Founding Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, a group of politicians in the British Parliament which examines the issue of extraordinary rendition and related issues. He has been a member of the Public Accounts Commission since 1997 and served on the 1922 Committee Executive between 2005 and 2006.

The Conservatives' third consecutive defeat following the 2005 election led Michael Howard to announce his resignation as party leader, triggering a leadership contest. Tyrie managed Ken Clarke's campaign, but was again unsuccessful – Clarke was eliminated in the first ballot. David Cameron went on to be elected leader. Tyrie did not join the shadow cabinet.

Tyrie is also a Council Member of the Centre for Policy Studies. He is a shareholder of the Veritas Asian Fund and Falcon Land Limited, and he sits on the Board of Directors of Rugby Estates.

Relationship with David Cameron

The Financial Times has speculated: "One possible reason why Mr Tyrie is still on the backbenches is that he irritated David Cameron by challenging his climate change policies. Mr Cameron did not ask him to become a Minister after the 2010 election and his nickname in senior Tory circles is 'Andrew Tiresome.'"

In December 2015, Tyrie rebelled against the government by opposing its motion to join the US-coalition in carrying out airstrikes against ISIS. In the following month, at a meeting of the Liaison Committee, which he chairs, Tyrie clashed with Cameron over the Prime Minister's refusal to release details regarding the UK's involvement in the Syrian Civil War. At one point, Cameron exclaimed to Tyrie: "You don't know what you're talking about." Tyrie's questioning during the January 2016 session of the Committee was described in The Guardian as a "one-man opposition".

Tyrie (like Cameron) is a member of the prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club.

Select committees

He has been a member of House of Commons Select Committees, including:

• 1997–2001 Joint Committee on Consolidation, &c., Bills
• 1997–2001 Public Administration Select Committee
• 2001–03 Treasury Select Committee
• 2001–04 Treasury Sub-Committee
• 2005–10 Constitutional Affairs Committee

• 2006 Joint Committee on Conventions
• 2009–10 Reform of the House of Commons Committee
• 2009– Joint Committee on Tax Law Rewrite Bills
• 2009– Treasury Select Committee
• 2010– Liaison Committee
• 2012– Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards

On 10 June 2010, Tyrie was elected to chair the Treasury Select Committee, beating original favourite Michael Fallon to succeed John McFall. He was returned unopposed to the Treasury Select Committee chairmanship after the 2015 general election. Tyrie also represents the United Kingdom in the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Bibliography

• Subsidiarity: As History and Policy (with Andrew Adonis, 1990)
• Cautionary Tale of EMU: Some Mistakes, Some Remedies (1991)
• The Prospects For Public Spending (1996)
• Reforming the Lords: A Conservative Approach (1998)
• Leviathan at Large: The New Regulator for the Financial Markets (with Martin McElwee, 2000)
• Never Say Never: Common Sense on the Euro (2002)
• Mr Blair's Poodle: An Agenda for Reviving the House of Commons (CPS, 2003)
• Mr Blair's Poodle Goes to War: The House of Commons, Congress, Iraq (CPS, 2004)
• Pruning The Politicians: The case for a smaller House of Commons (2005)
• Greater Transparency for UK Retail Banking: A Proposal (2007)
• Account Rendered (with Roger Gough and Stuart McCracken, 2011)

External links

• Contributor page at The Guardian
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Andrew Tyrie MP
• The Public Whip – Andrew Tyrie MP voting record
• Parliament.uk – Andrew Tyrie MP profile
• Index of articles he's written at Journalisted
• Debrett's People of Today

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Anthony Nelson	Member of Parliament for Chichester 1997–present	Incumbent