Philip Dunne (Ludlow MP)
Philip Martin Dunne (born August 14, 1958) is a British politician and the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Ludlow.
Philip Dunne, son of Sir Thomas Dunne, the Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, ( the son of Philip Russell Rendel Dunne ), was born in Ludlow and educated at Eton and then the University of Oxford (Keble), where he was awarded a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He has been a farmer since 1987, and was elected as a councillor on the South Shropshire District Council in 2001, he became the Conservative leader 2003–2005, and remains a member of the council. He was also elected as the secretary of the Ludlow Conservative Association for a year in 2001.
He was elected to the House of Commons at the 2005 General Election for Ludlow when he unseated the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP, Matthew Green. Dunne regained the seat for the Conservatives, the seat having been lost at the 2001 General Election, by 2,027 votes and remains the MP. He made his maiden speech on June 8, 2005. [1] Since his election he has been a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, and in 2006 he was appointed to the Public Accounts Committee.
He is married to Domenica and they have two sons and two daughters. As well as farming, Dunne has also worked in banking and has experience of working in New York and Hong Kong. He also helped start up Ottakar's bookshop. He was born and bred in and around Ludlow and has a keen interest in diabetes research
Conservative Leadership Election 2005
Just before the Conservative leadership election of 2005, he balloted his constituents about for whom he should vote in the contest. Following on from this ballot Dunne announced that he would be supporting David Cameron and was also Chairman of Cameron's campaign in Shropshire.