Timothy Stephen Kenneth Yeo (born 20 March 1945) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he is currently the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of South Suffolk and the Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee.

Yeo served as the Minister for the Environment and Countryside from 1992 to 1993 in the government of Prime Minister John Major. He also served in the Shadow Cabinet from 2001 to 2005 under Conservative Party leaders Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard.

Early life [edit]

Yeo was educated at Charterhouse School, before going on to Emmanuel College at Cambridge University where he read History and graduated in 1968.

From 1970-73, Yeo was Assistant Treasurer of Bankers Trust Company. Then, from 1975–86, he was a Director of Worcester Engineering Company. From 1980-83, he was Chief Executive of the Spastics Society (now known as Scope).

Parliamentary career [edit]

Yeo contested Bedwellty in the February 1974 General Election before being elected as MP for South Suffolk in 1983.

In 1988, Yeo became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd.

In 1992, Yeo was appointed Minister for the Environment and Countryside in John Major's government, but was forced to resign after a scandal involving his so-called "love child" with a Conservative councillor, Julia Stent,^[1] who was born on 8 July 1993. Three years earlier, Yeo had said to the branch of Relate in his constituency, "It is in everyone's interests to reduce broken families and the number of single parents. I have seen from my own constituency the consequences of marital breakdown."^[2] The story broke on Boxing Day during a quiet news period and intense coverage was given to the scandal. Yeo resigned on 5 January 1994.

In Opposition [edit]

After the Conservative Party's defeat in the 1997 General Election, the party's new leader William Hague appointed Yeo as a spokesman on the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Yeo was a member of Iain Duncan Smith's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. In 2003, Yeo was made Shadow Secretary for Education and Health^[3]by the party's new leader, Michael Howard, with responsibility for the party's policy on both schools and hospitals. In 2004, Howard made Yeo the Shadow Secretary for the Environment and Transport. During this period, his Chief of Staff was Douglas Hurd's son, Nick Hurd (who became the MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner at the 2005 general election).

Yeo resigned from the shadow cabinet shortly after the 2005 election, saying he wished to be free to play a role in rethinking the Conservative Party's future. On 27 August, he ruled himself out of the ensuing party leadership election following Howard's resignation, announcing his backing for former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke. The contest was won by the then-Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills, David Cameron.

Committee Chair [edit]

As Chair of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, Yeo has been an influential voice on energy policy. Despite his committee releasing a report sceptical of hydraulic fracturing in the United Kingdom, Yeo has revised his personal opinion and supports the use of the technique in the UK.

In 2012, he made a dramatic U-turn over the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport.^[4]

In 2013, he stated that the government reaching an agreement over nuclear power expansion was a "matter of great urgency", and warned that Britain could run out of energy if negotiations were not concluded quickly.^[5]

Business Interests [edit]

Yeo is chairman of Univent plc, Chairman of TMO Renewables and non-executive chairman of Eco City Vehicles plc and AFC Energy plc.

Yeo and his wife Diane are sole directors of Locana Corporation (London) Ltd., Anacol Holdings Ltd. and General Securities Register Ltd.

Yeo is also a director of ITI Energy Ltd.

He writes articles for Golf Weekly and Country Life magazines and, occasionally, the Financial Times.

He occupies a seat on the board of Eurotunnel.[2]

Personal life [edit]

He married Diane Helen Pickard on 30 March 1970 in Greenwich. They have a son, the portrait painter Jonathan Yeo, and a daughter.

Yeo also has two more daughters from outside his marriage. He fathered his first daughter in 1967 when he was still a student at Cambridge University and put her up for adoption.^[6] Another daughter, Claudia, was born in 1993 through his extra-marital affair with Julia Stent.^[7]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Tim Yeo MP official constituency website
• Profile at the Conservative Party
• Suffolk Conservatives
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted

Offices held [edit]