Nicholas Boles

Nick Boles

Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (born 2 November 1965), known as Nick Boles, is a Conservative Party MP for Grantham and Stamford.

Boles is a former director of Policy Exchange. He is a signatory of the statement of principles of the Henry Jackson Society Project for Democratic Geopolitics, a British neoconservative organisation. He is a former flatmate of Michael Gove.

Since July 2014, Boles has been Minister of State for Skills, jointly for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education, responsible for among other things apprenticeships and further education; and 'international education'.

Biography

Boles's biography on the Policy Exchange website in 2001 stated:

Nicholas Boles is the director of Policy Exchange. He was born in 1965. He read PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford and won a Kennedy Scholarship to study for a master's in public policy at the Kennedy School, Harvard University. In 1995, Nicholas founded Longwall Holdings, a small group of manufacturing businesses supplying the DIY industry; he remains non-executive chairman of Longwall. In 1998, he was elected to Westminster City Council as a representative of the West End ward. He served as chairman of Westminster's Housing Committee from 1999 to 2001. In early 2002, Nicholas acted as associate producer of the West End production of The Mysteries.

Boles states on his official website that before setting up his DIY business he 'worked for a few years in Germany, Russia and Eastern Europe, helping state-owned industries prepare for private ownership.'

Boles left Policy Exchange in February 2007 to concentrate on his bid to be Mayor of London and was replaced by the Chief Political Correspondent of The Times Anthony Browne. On his time at Policy Exchange Boles has stated:

My biggest achievement in politics so far has been to set up and run Policy Exchange, which is now the largest and most influential policy research institute on the centre right. While I was its director, Policy Exchange devised policies to make police forces more accountable to local people, to expand the number of places in good schools and to give local communities incentives to build more houses. We also exposed the activities of Islamic extremists in some mosques in the UK and their effect on the attitudes of young British Muslims. Many of our ideas have been adopted by the Conservative Party under David Cameron.

Boles later withdrew from the London Mayoral race after revealing that he was suffering from Hodgkin's lymphoma. After Boris Johnson was elected Mayor he appointed Boles as his Interim Chief of Staff. Other Policy Exchange appointees included his cultural advisor Munira Mirza and Dan Ritterband.

Boles was subsequently appointed head of David Cameron's Implementation Unit, where he was responsible for drawing up the Tories' plans for government with Policy Exchange founder Francis Maude.

Political career

• 1998:elected to Westminster Council and appointed chairman of housing.
• 2007: appointed as Head of David Cameron’s Implementation Team, which drew up the Conservative Party’s detailed plans for government.
• 2010 General Election: Boles was elected Conservative MP for Grantham and Stamford, the home town of Margaret Thatcher.
• November 2010: appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nick Gibb MP, the Minister of State for Schools.
• September 2012: appointed minister of planning in the Department of Communities and Local Government.
• July 2014: appointed minister of state for skills jointly for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education. His Parliamentary Private Secretary is Mike Freer MP and Boles' Private Secretary is Lucy Yates.

Dinner with lobbyists

A seating plan of the Conservative Party's Black and White Ball, in February 2014, was leaked to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in October 2014. The party, which guests pay between £450 and £1000 for a ticket, seats diners with the minister most relevant to them. Whilst planning minister, Boles was listed as sitting at the same table as Mike Slade, "a property developer who is a major donor and has been the subject of cash for access concerns in the past after acknowledging there is “20% truth” in accusations that political donations are made to buy influence" and "two directors of a property firm that specialises in retail development sat at the same table."

Staff

Elliott Chang | Kelham Cooke - Constituency Agent, Grantham and Stamford Conservatives, Councillor and Cabinet member, South Kesteven District Council | Jane Gordon-Cumming

Affiliations

• Policy Exchange, former director
• Henry Jackson Society Project for Democratic Geopolitics, signatory of statement of principles
• Localis, director
• Tackling Terrorism All-Party Parliamentary Group, member

Connections

• Dennis Boles, Conservative MP for Wells 1939-51 - Nick Boles' great-uncle.

Contact

Constituency

• Address: G&S Constituency Office, Grantham Museum, St Peters Hill, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 6PY
• Telephone: 01476 978121
• Email: nick.boles.mp@parliament.uk

Parliamentary

• Address: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
• Telephone: 020 7219 7079
• Email: nick.boles.mp@parliament.uk

Web and Social media

• Website: http://www.nickboles.co.uk
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NickBolesMP