Liam Fox

Liam Fox

Liam Fox was the British Conservative Party Secretary of State for International Trade until he was sacked by the incoming prime minister Boris Johnson in June 2019. He was first appointed to the role in July 2016 by Prime Minister Theresa May.

He was previously UK Defence Secretary from 2010-2011 but was forced to resign in October 2011 amid the controversy over his friend and unofficial adviser businessman Adam Werritty accompanying him on several trips to key UK arms markets. Werrity did not work for the government and had no security clearance to be involved in ministerial business.

Fox has been the Conservative Party MP for North Somerset since 2010. In the 2015 election, Fox retained his seat with a majority of 23,099.

Pushing post-Brexit arms trade

Part of the Powerbase Brexit Portal.

As international trade secretary, Liam Fox has said he will “personally lead on helping the defence and security industries to export and will be involved in the most significant global deals across all sectors”. Half of his new secondees in the Department of International Trade have been transferred from the private arms industry.

Register of Members Financial Interests entries

See page: Liam Fox Register of Members Financial Interests

Staff

Special advisers

• David Goss - Overseas visits: 6-8 June 2015 to conference in Macedonia, funded by Macedonian Ministry of Defence; 6-14 November 2015 to Australia with Liam Fox, funded by National Australia Bank. Re-appointed as chief of staff in Fox's transition to the Department for International Trade.

Former

• Thomas Heathcote - Overseas visits: 3-4 November 2015 to Tallinn in Estonia, paid for by Estonia-Atlantic Treaty Organisation; 26 February-5 March 2016 to Bulgaria, Give Us Time charity event, accommodation from Balkan Jewel Hotel Resort, flights from Give Us Time
• Oliver Hibberd - Overseas visits: 8-10 September 2015 to Poland for security conference, paid for by Foundation Institute for Eastern Studies; 26 February-5 March 2016 to Bulgaria for Give Us Time charity event, accommodation from Balkan Jewel Hotel Resort, flights from Give Us Time

Affiliations

• Atlantic Bridge - Executive Board
• Conservative Friends of Israel - Parliamentary Group
• Young Britons' Foundation - Parliamentary Council

Donations

In September 2005 Fox received £10,000.00 from the chairman of the The Utility Warehouse and son of Basil Wigoder - the former chairman of the Liberal Party, Charles Wigoder.

In November 2005 he received £3,000.000 from businessman and Tory and UKIP donor, Stuart Wheeler.

He has also received £40,000.00 from hedge fund manager and Conservative peer Stanley Fink between 2005 and 2007, in four sums of £10,000.00

Between 2006 and 2008, Fox received £100,500 from private equity firm manager and Tory donor Jon Moulton in three separate donations.

In January 2007 he received £10,000 from Australian businessman Sir Michael Hintze.

Resources

• SHADOW DEFENSE MINISTER FOX PLEDGES CLOSE U.S.-UK COOPERATION IF TORIES GAIN POWER, US Embassy London, 10 December 2009, released by Wikileaks, 30 August 2011.
• Full list of meetings between Liam Fox and Adam Werritty, Guardian Datablog, 10 October 2011.
• Gus O'Donnell, Allegations against Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, Cabinet Office, 18 October 2011
• Powerbase - Liam Fox Register of Members Financial Interests

Articles

• Liam Fox's "homophobic past" revealed, By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • March 9, 2008 - 3:00
• Paul Hutcheon, Revealed: Tory MP's "homophobic" Scot quit student council over gays "flaunting it", Sunday Herald 8 Mar 2008
• Owen Boycott and Nicholas Watt, Liam Fox's Sri Lanka trip makes Foreign Office furious, The Guardian, 15 December 2010.
• Liam Fox, Adam Werritty & the Atlantic Bridge mystery, The First Post, 6 October 2011
• Guardian, Liam Fox and Adam Werritty links, accessed 13 October 2011.
• Rupert Neate, Liam Fox took five MPs to Washington with donor's money, guardian.co.uk, 13 October 2011.
• Polly Curtis, Jason Burke and Rupert Neate, Liam Fox faces fresh questions on Sri Lanka links, Guardian, 13 October 2011.
• Tim Shipman, Christian Gysin and Ian Drury, Tycoons who funded Fox's friend: Right-wing donors paid the bills for pair's globetrotting, dailymail.co.uk, 13 October 2011.
• Jon Swaine, Robert Winnett and James Kirkup, Liam Fox, Adam Werritty, and the $500 bash that went undeclared, Telegraph, 13 October 2011.
• Sam Jones, James Blitz and Elizabeth Rigby, Tory donor’s links add pressure on Fox, FT.com, 13 October 2011.
• James Blitz, Elizabeth Rigby and Kiran Stacey, Doubts grow over how Fox pursues his goals, FT.com, 13 October 2011.
• Deborah Haynes, David Taylor, Fox's friend was funded by private intelligence group, The Times, 14 October 2011.
• Harvey Newton, Fox resignation leaves many questions unanswered, LabourList, 14 October 2011.
• Patrick Wintour, Rupert Neate and Richard Norton-Taylor, Rightwing Tories rally to Liam Fox's side, guardian.co.uk, 14 October 2011.
• Liam Doward, Liam Fox's Atlantic Bridge linked top Tories and Tea Party activists, guardian.co.uk, 15 October.
• Jerry Hayes, Fox: It's All Very Spooky, Dale & Co, 16 October 2011.
• Rupert Neate, Liam Fox report – the unanswered questions, guardian.co.uk, 18 October 2011.
• Kevin O'Sullivan, British Scandal Linked to Pro-Israel Groups, Forward, 28 October 2011, issue of 4 November 2011.
• Peter Foster, US election: Liam Fox 'feeding ideas' to Mitt Romney's Republicans, telegraph.co.uk, 26 August 2012.
• Phil Miller, Liam Fox’s business interests in Sri Lanka drove his parallel immigration policy, Stop Deportations Blog, 29 July 2012.
• Owen Bowcott, Liam Fox settles libel case over Adam Werritty claims, theguardian.com, 29 January 2014.