Maude, Anthony Aylmer (1953– )

UK politician, member of Parliament for Horsham, and chairman of the Conservative Party from 2005. A barrister by training, he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1983 for North Warwickshire, serving as a whip and junior minister from 1985 until the 1992 general election when he lost his seat. After working in the City of London, he returned to politics in 1997 as member for Horsham, subsequently holding shadow cabinet positions until 2001. He was appointed party chairman in 2005.

While out of Parliament, he was a director of Salomon Brothers 1992–93 and managing director of Morgan Stanley 1993–97. Re-elected in 1997, he was appointed as shadow secretary of state for culture, media, and sport (1997–98), shadow chancellor of the Exchequer (1998–2000) and shadow foreign secretary (2000–01). After the 2001 election, he returned to the backbenches until 2005 when he rejoined the shadow front bench as party chairman.

Born in Oxford, he was the son of former Conservative minister Angus Maude. He studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and at the College of Law. He practised at the criminal bar 1977–85 and was a Westminster City councillor 1978–84. Having entered Parliament in a marginal seat in 1983, he was a whip and a parliamentary private secretary before becoming undersecretary of state at the Department of Trade and Industry (1985–87), minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1989–90), and financial secretary to the Treasury (1990–92). In 1992 he was made a Privy Counsellor in the Dissolution Honours List.