Patrick Mercer

Patrick Mercer
Born	Patrick John Mercer 26 June 1956 (1956-06-26) Stockport, Cheshire, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	The King's School (Chester) Exeter College, University of Oxford Cranfield University
Occupation	Member of Parliament (UK)
Predecessor	Fiona Jones
Political party	Independent
Religion	Church of England
Spouse	Cait Mercer

Patrick John Mercer, OBE (born 26 June 1956) is a British politician, representing the constituency of Newark in Parliament as an Independent MP. He was elected as a Conservative in the 2001 general election, until resigning the party's parliamentary whip in May 2013. He is a frequent commentator on defence and security issues having served as infantry officer in the British Army and held the position of Shadow Minister for Homeland Security. He is a former journalist for the BBC and has to date written four military novels. He is a patron of the Victoria Cross Trust.

Early life

Born in Stockport in Cheshire in 1956, Mercer is the son of Eric Mercer, who became Bishop of Exeter. His mother was born in Lincolnshire and his father was trained for the priesthood at Kelham Theological College near Newark.

Education

Mercer was educated at The King's School, Chester, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he read History. He was later commissioned after training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Whilst there he was one of a number of cadets interviewed for an edition of the BBC's Panorama programme.

Career

British Army

Mercer followed his father, who saw wartime service in the Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment), into the British Army. He was commissioned into the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment on 8 March 1975 as a Second Lieutenant. </ref> On 8 March 1977, he was promoted to lieutenant. He was promoted to captain on 8 September 1981, and to major on 30 September 1988. On 30 June 1994, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. then to colonel on 30 June 1998. He retired from the military on 1 September 1999.

During his time in the Army, Mercer completed nine tours in Northern Ireland and latterly commanded his battalion in Bosnia, Canada and Tidworth. Mercer served at both the Staff College, Camberley and the Army's University at Cranfield.

Mercer was Mentioned in Despatches in 1983 for "gallant and distinguished service in Northern Ireland during the period 1 November 1982 to 31 January 1983". He earned a gallantry commendation in 1990. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire on 12 October 1993 "in recognition of distinguished service in Northern Ireland". He was made an Officer of the same Order on 13 May 1997 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the former Yugoslavia during the period 21 June to 20 December 1996". He left the Army in 1999 as a Colonel, having been head of communications and strategy at the Army Training & Recruiting Agency.

Journalist

Having left the Army, Mercer accepted a post as the defence reporter for BBC Radio 4's Today Programme. Mercer reported from a number of trouble spots, most notably Kosovo.

Upon being selected as the Conservative candidate in Newark, Mercer left the BBC and became a freelance journalist writing for the Daily Telegraph. He contributes frequently to radio, TV and print media, principally covering security and defence issues.

Parliamentary career

Mercer was first elected to Parliament at the 2001 general election, defeating the Labour incumbent, Fiona Jones, overturning a majority of 3,000 and creating a majority of just over 4,000. Upon entering Parliament he initially served as a back-bencher on the Defence Select Committee before becoming Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. Mercer backed Iain Duncan Smith over Kenneth Clarke in the 2001 Conservative leadership election.

He was appointed to a newly created post of Shadow Minister for Homeland Security in June 2003 by the then Leader of the Conservative Party, Iain Duncan Smith.

In 2004 he introduced a Private Member's Bill in response to the publicity surrounding the case of Tony Martin that proposed to give householders greater powers when protecting their property from burglary.

Mercer increased his majority in Newark to 6,464 at the 2005 general election. During the subsequent Conservative leadership contest, he publicly backed David Davis over David Cameron, Kenneth Clarke and Liam Fox.

Since 2005, he has repeatedly warned against the imposition of control orders as being 'counter productive'. Citing his experience of internment in Northern Ireland, as a serving soldier, he highlighted the danger of alienating populations needed for intelligence gathering.

Mercer was forced to resign as Shadow Minister for Homeland Security in March 2007 by David Cameron after talking about "idle and useless" ethnic minority soldiers, although initially the Conservative Party stated the comments were a 'private matter'. Mercer apologised and said, 'I had the privilege to command soldiers from across the east Midlands of whom many came from racial minorities. It was a matter of great pride to me that racial minorities prospered inside the unit. What I have said is clearly misjudged and I can only apologise if I have embarrassed in any way those fine men whom I commanded. I have no hesitation in resigning my front-bench appointment.'

In December 2008 he was appointed as Chairman of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Counter-Terrorism, to further his work as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Mercer took the unusual step of spending time with the charity, Save the Family, in March 2009, learning and helping displaced families as part of a programme devised by Iain Duncan Smith.

At the 2010 general election, Mercer more than doubled his majority to 16,152 to make Newark one of the safest Conservative seats in the country. In August 2010, Mercer warned that dissident Irish terror groups may be planning to attack the party conferences including the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham based on intelligence from serving army officers.

In May 2011, he was appointed with Lord Ashcroft to review the future of the military bases in Cyprus.

In August 2011, Mercer with his knowledge of Northern Ireland, led the calls for considering the use of water cannon and other robust police tactics to deal with the rioters during the 2011 England riots. The next day David Cameron approved the use of water cannon after chairing a session of the Cabinet Office Briefing Room, Cobra.

In October 2011, Mercer supported a failed bid by the Everyday Champions Church to open a free school in his constituency. The bid was rejected because of concerns over the church's explicitly creationist stance.

In November 2011, the press reported that Mercer had been taped making disparaging remarks about David Cameron, calling him "despicable" and describing him as an "arse" and "the worst politician in British history since William Gladstone". The same articles claimed he had predicted that Cameron would be ousted by Conservative MPs in early 2012. Mercer later denied making the comments.

Controversy and resignation

Mercer resigned the Conservative Party whip on 31 May 2013 after an investigation by the BBC's Panorama programme regarding allegations of paid lobbying without registering, and stated he will not stand in the 2015 general election.

In 2007 he was caught saying he had met “a lot” of “idle and useless” ethnic minority soldiers who used racism as a “cover”.
Talking to an undercover reporter, Mercer also described a meeting with a young Israeli who said she was a soldier. Mercer told the reporter he thought “You don’t look like a soldier to me. You look like a bloody Jew,” a remark which the reporters thought appeared racist.

Literary career

Mercer has published non-fiction accounts of the Battle of Inkerman during the Crimean War. In May 2009, Harper Collins published Mercer's first novel, To Do and Die, a historical fiction story set during the Crimean War.

Publications

• Mercer, Patrick (1998). Inkerman, 1854: The Soldier's Battle. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-85532-618-7. 
• Mercer, Patrick (1998). Give Them A Volley And Charge!: Battle of Inkerman. Spellmount Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1-86227-025-1. 
• Mercer, Patrick (2009). To Do And Die. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-730278-9. 
• Mercer, Patrick (2010). Dust and Steel. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-730272-7. 
• Mercer, Patrick (2011). Red Runs the Helmand. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-730275-8. 

External links

• ePolitix.com - Patrick Mercer MP
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Patrick Mercer MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Patrick Mercer MP
• The Public Whip - Patrick Mercer MP voting record
• BBC News - Patrick Mercer profile 10 February 2005
• Debrett's biography Patrick Mercer Esq., O.B.E., M.P. profile
• British MP will shoot the movie about Crimean War