Nick Herbert

Nick Herbert MP

Nicholas Le Quesne Herbert (born 7 April 1963), known as Nick Herbert, is the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Arundel and South Downs. In May 2010 he was appointed a minister of state at the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. He left the Government in September 2012.

In the 2015 general election, Herbert was re-elected with a majority of 26,177.

Background

Herbert went to Haileybury boarding schools in Hertfordshire. He graduated from Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1985 with a BA in law and land economy. From 1990 he worked at the British Field Sports Society where he was director 1992-96. At the Society he played a leading role in setting up the Countryside Movement, which became the Countryside Alliance. In 1997 he stood as Conservative candidate in Berwick-upon-Tweed but was not elected.

Between 1998 and 2000 he was chief executive of Business for Sterling where he founded the No Campaign. In 2001 he worked on David Davis’s leadership bid with Andrew Haldenby with whom he set up the neo-liberal think-tank Reform in 2002.

Condemns fracking firm wanting to 'industrialise' West Sussex countryside

This article is part of the Spinwatch Fracking Portal and project

‬In July 2013, Herbert said in an interview with The Telegraph:

'[Fracking] is seen as a threat to the countryside. People don’t know – people are worried about the implications and they don’t have enough information to judge how damaging it will be. It is the fear of the unknown that is exacerbating local concerns. People understand the national arguments about the need for secure and cheap energy but they just don’t know how much this is going to damage the local environment. What you are talking about here is very beautiful and tranquil countryside that people are keen to preserve. At the moment it is the unknown – we just don’t know what the potential impact and scale of this is. There does need to be more information.'

In July 2014 Herbert criticised Celtique Energy over its plans to drill in Wisborough Green/Kirdford, saying 'rural West Sussex cannot become a carelessly industrialised landscape'. He warned fracking plans would cause 'huge disruption' to local communities, while the claims that shale exploration would cut energy bills had been 'oversold'. His stance was welcomed by local constituents, who strongly opposed Celtique's plans.

‬Herbert's constituency includes one oil and gas licence blocks, awarded to IGas by the Oil and Gas Authority under the 14th licensing round in 2015. There are plans for 2D seismic surveying; no plans or applications for shale wells were underway in 2016.

Herbert was a member of the now defunct All Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas.

Voting record

Herbert has generally voted against increased regulations on fracking.

• 26 January 2015: voted against making fracking companies apply for an environmental permit before conducting exploratory drilling. He also voted against an amendment to the Infrastructure Bill to include an 18-month moratorium on fracking.
• 11 February 2015: voted in favour for requiring more pre-conditions for where fracking can take place.
• 16 December 2015: voted in favour of weakening regulations on fracking in protected areas and national parks.

Staff

• Olympia Hetherington
• Georgia Hill
• Thomas Pryor - Chief of staff, the Project for Modern Democracy

APPGs

• All Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas member

Sponsorships

• Sir Michael Bishop - in March 2010 gave Herbert £25,000 towards 'financial support towards my office costs'.

Name of donor: Michael D Bishop

Address of donor: private

Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: £25,000

Date of receipt: 11 March 2010 Date of acceptance: 12 March 2010

Donor status: individual (Registered 16 March 2010)

Contact

• Email: nick@nickherbert.com