Patrick McLoughlin is the MP for West Derbyshire and has been for twenty-three years. He was David Cameron’s first Shadow Cabinet appointment as Opposition Chief Whip. There is no doubt that Patrick is a rare Conservative, he left school at the age of just sixteen and after serving a variety of jobs he eventually became a miner. He bravely broke against Arthur Scargill’s strikes in the 1980s.

He was elected in a by-election replacing Matthew Parris in 1986 winning by just a hundred votes, and as he claimed on the BBC straight after the result, ‘it was ninety-nine more than I needed’. He went on to serve as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Transport, he also served this position at the Department of Employment as well as at the Department of Trade and Industry.

In 1996, he was appointed a Government Whip by John Major, he went on to become Deputy Chief Whip under William Hague, Iain Duncan-Smith and Michael Howard before his promotion to the Shadow Cabinet in 2005. It was in June 2005 that he was appointed to the Privy Council.

Patrick had this to say on his appointment:

“I am delighted to accept Birmingham University’s Conservative Future invitation of becoming their Honorary President. I have strong links in the West Midlands, being born and brought up in Staffordshire and where I started my political career, with the Young Conservatives. I even fought my first parliamentary seat in 1983 in Wolverhampton South East., I was also a county and district councillor in Staffordshire and Cannock at the age of 22. There is no doubt that the area laid a crucial foundation in my political career.

CFs up and down the country are key to our future success and helping us in our preparation for Government. With your help and support in organising exciting and engaging events it helps to attract young people into the party and helps us win more votes. Birmingham University CF embodies this spirit and determination which is crucial as we gear up for a general election.”