Monday, September 06, 2010
   
Text Size
Bill Cash MP
for Stone

Search Bill's website

About Bill

Brief biography

Bill Cash has been a Conservative Member of Parliament since 1984 and has represented the Stone constituency since 1997. 

Bill was born in London on 10 May 1940 and grew up in Sheffield. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and Lincoln College, Oxford where he read History. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1967, he practised constitutional and administrative law.

In May 1984, he was elected as MP for Stafford where he remained until he was elected to the newly created constituency of Stone in 1997, being re-elected in 2001 and 2005. He was Shadow Attorney General and Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs between 2001 to 2003. 

The leader of the Maastricht Rebellion during the 1990s, Bill was voted Parliamentary Campaigner of the Year for 1991. He is currently a member of the European Scrutiny Committee and Chairman and founder of the European Foundation think tank.

In addition to constitutional and European affairs, Bill takes a strong interest in the developing world. He is Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Sanitation and Water in the Third World, Malaysia,  Kenya and Uganda, and Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Committee for Tanzania. 

 Bill married Biddy Lee in 1965 and they have two sons, one daughter and three grandchildren. He is a keen cricketer and swimmer and enjoys listening to jazz.

 

Political biography

Elections:

  • 2010 re-elected MP for Stone
  • 2005 re-elected MP for Stone
  • 2001 re-elected MP for Stone
  • 1997 elected MP for Stone
  • 1992 re-elected MP for Stafford
  • 1987 re-elected MP for Stafford
  • 1984 elected MP for Stafford

Parliamentary Committees:

  • European Scrutiny Committee (formerly Select Committee on European Legislation) 1985 to present
  • All-Party Parliamentary Kenya Group (Chairman) 1987 to present
  • All-Party Parliamentary Uganda Group (Chairman) 1988 to present
  • All-Party Parliamentary Group for Malaysia (Chairman) 2006 to present
  • All-Party Parliamentary Group on Water and Sanitation in the Third World (Chairman) 2007 to present
  • All-Party Parliamentary Tanzania Group (Vice-Chairman) 1986 to present
  • All-Party Group for the Jubilee 2000 Coalition (reduction of Third World debt) (Chairman) 1997 to 2003
  • Conservative Backbench Committee of European Affairs (Chairman) 1988 to 1991
  • Conservative MPs’ European Affairs Committee (Chairman) 1989 to 1991
  • Conservative MPs’ Constitutional Affairs Committee (Secretary / Vice Chairman) 1987 to 1991
  • Select Committee on Statutory Instruments 1986 to 1991
  • All-Party Widows and Single Parent Family Group 1985 to 1991
  • Select Committee on Employment 1989 to 1990
  • Conservative Small Business Bureau (Vice President) 1986 to 1989

 Extra-Parliamentary Activities:

  • European Foundation (Founder and Chairman) 1993 to present
  • Parliamentary Friends of Bruges Group (Chairman) 1989 to 1999
  • Executive Council, Royal Commonwealth Society 1984 to 1986

 

   

Publications

The Challenge for the Conservative Party: The future for Britain and Europe (2004) Read online

The European Constitution - A Political Timebomb: Returning Power to Britain, Westminster and You (2003) Read online

Associated, Not Absorbed: The Associated European Area: a constructive alternative to a single European state (2000) Read online

Britain and Europe Challenging questions for Tony Blair, Kenneth Clarke and Michael Heseltine (1999) Read online

British and German National Interests (1998) Read online

A Response to Chancellor Kohl A European Germany or a German Europe? (1997)

Are we really winning on Europe? (1996)

The Blue Paper: a Response to the Government's White Paper (1995)

Visions of Europe (Duckworth, 1993)

Europe: The Crunch (Duckworth, 1992)

Against a Federal Europe: The Battle for Britain (Duckworth, 1991)

   

In Parliament