Stephen Dorrell

Stephen James Dorrell (born 25 March 1952) is a former British Conservative politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough between 1979 to 1997 and then for Charnwood from 1997 to 2015.

Dorrell most recently served for four years as Chairman of the House of Commons Health Select Committee from 2010 to 2014. In the 1990s he was a full member of Prime Minister John Major's Cabinet for almost three years, whilst serving as both Secretary of State for National Heritage and then Secretary of State for Health until the 1997 general election. He was also a Patron of the Tory Reform Group.

Since 2014 he has been a consultant with the health and public service practice of KPMG.

Early life and education

Dorrell was born in Worcester and educated at Uppingham School, Rutland and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was a member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve for two years from 1971.

Political career

During the February 1974 general election, Dorrell acted as a personal assistant to Conservative minister Peter Walker. Aged only 22, he contested the safe Labour seat of Hull East at the October 1974 general election, but was heavily defeated by the sitting MP (and later Deputy Prime Minister), John Prescott, who was returned with a majority of 25,793 votes.

Stephen

Stephen or Steven /ˈstiːvən/ is a masculine first name, derived from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stéfanos), in turn from the Greek word "στέφανος", meaning "wreath, crown, honour, reward", literally "that which surrounds or encompasses". In ancient Greece, a wreath was given to the winner of a contest (from which the crown, symbol of rulers derived). The use of the noun was first recorded in Homer's Iliad. The name is significant to Christians: according to the Book of Acts in the New Testament, Saint Stephen was a deacon who was stoned to death and is regarded as the first Christian martyr. The name has many variants, which include Stephan, Stevan, Stefan and Stevon.

In Middle English, the name Stephen or Stephan was pronounced as a bi-syllabic word — Step-hen or Step-han — much like a Scandinavian surname. Steve was pronounced as it is in Modern English. This etymological usage began a decline in the mid-19th century.

Steve is the common short form, while various diminutives such as Stevie and Ste are also used. Many family names are derived from Stephen: the most common are Stephens/Stevens and Stephenson/Stevenson (others include Stephen, Stephan, Staphan, Stefan, Stevin and Stever).

The Right Honourable

The Right Honourable (The Rt Hon. or Rt Hon.) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and to certain collective bodies in the post colonial empire of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, some other Commonwealth realms, the Anglophone Caribbean, Mauritius and occasionally elsewhere.

Collective entities

"The Right Honourable" is added as a prefix to the name of various collective entities such as:

NHS Confederation

The NHS Confederation, formerly the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts, is a membership body for organisations that commission and provide National Health Service services founded in 1990. The predecessor organisation was called The National Association of Health Authorities in England & Wales.

It has offices in England, Wales (The Welsh NHS Confederation) and Northern Ireland (the Northern Ireland Confederation for Health and Social Care).

Funding

NHS Confederation income is generated via number of different activities. 48% is generated through membership subscriptions; 24% is generated through conferences and events, including sponsorship and exhibitions; and 26% is generated through the reward of grants and contracts. Income is re-invested in the delivery of the NHS Confederation’s charitable objectives and in the development and delivery of its member products and services. The NHS Confederation trustees annual report and accounts are published on the Charity Commission's website.

Select committee

A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Select committees exist in the British Parliament, as well as in other parliaments based on the Westminster model, such as those in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand.

It is a special subcommittee of a legislature or assembly governed under a committee system, like Robert's Rules of Order. They are often investigative in nature, collecting data or evidence for a law or problem, and will dissolve immediately after they report their findings to their superiors.

These are very common in government legislatures, and are used to solve special problems, hence their name.

New Zealand

United Kingdom

United States

In the United States, notable select committees include the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (for investigating Nixon's role in Watergate), Select Committee on Benghazi, and the 9/11 Commission (for uncovering further details on the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centers).