Crispin Blunt is the Conservative MP for Reigate. He replaced rebel Eurosceptic George Gardiner.

Born in 1960, married with two children. Educated at Wellington College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he won the Queen’s Medal, gaining a Regular Commission, before reading Politics at the University of Durham between 1981 and 1984, where he was elected President of the Union Society in 1983 and graduated with a 2/1. In 1991 he gained an MBA at Cranfield University School of Management.

Commissioned as an Army Officer into the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary’s Own) and served until 1990. During the 1980’s he was stationed in Cyprus, Germany and the UK, serving as a Troop Leader, Regimental Operations Officer and Armoured Reconnaissance Squadron Commander, resigning his commission as a Captain in 1990.

Contested his first Parliamentary seat in West Bromwich East for the Conservative Party. Between 1991-1992 Crispin was a representative of the "Forum of Private Business". In 1993 Crispin was appointed as Special Adviser to Malcolm Rifkind the Secretary of State for Defence, and worked in the same capacity when Malcolm Rifkind became Foreign Secretary between 1995 and 1997.

In May 1997 Crispin Blunt was elected to Parliament as Member for Reigate in Surrey and was subsequently appointed to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. In July 1997 he was elected as Secretary of the Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Committee and the Conservative Middle East Council. In May 2000 Crispin joined the House of Commons Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee.

The new leader Iain Duncan Smith appointed him to the Opposition front bench as Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland in September 2001. In July 2002 he was appointed as deputy to Tim Yeo, Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. On 1st May 2003 he resigned his position on the front bench saying that Iain Duncan Smith was a "handicap". His decision to resign at this time, on these grounds, was seen by many commentators as having been taken in the expectation that the Conservative Party would perform badly in the local elections held on the same day. When the party exceeded virtually all forecasts by gaining over 500 local government seats, though without a substantial increase in its share of the popular vote, Blunt accepted that no challenge for the party leadership would be forthcoming and retired to the back benches.

External links

• Personal Web Page
• Resignation Statement