About Patrick Mercer MP

Born in 1956, Patrick is the son of a clergyman whose last job in the Church was as Bishop of Exeter. However, Patrick's connections with Newark spring from his father who trained at Kelham Theological College near Newark and his mother who comes from Lincolnshire. Unusually, Patrick's parents' romance started in the grounds of Kelham - but enough of that!

Patrick now lives slightly outside the town of Newark with his wife Cait and his son Rupert. A recent addition to the family has been the puppy, Hector.

Unlike many politicians, Patrick only came into Parliament after he had done a number of other things. Having read History at Oxford University, he followed his father who had been a wartime officer in Nottinghamshire's local regiment, The Sherwood Foresters. During his time in the Army, Patrick completed nine tours in Northern Ireland and latterly commanded his battalion in Bosnia, Canada and Tidworth. Other tours included time in Uganda and Germany and he served as an instructor at both the Staff College Camberley and at the Army's University at Cranfield. Mentioned in despatches in Northern Ireland in 1983, this was followed by a gallantry commendation in 1990 and the MBE in 1992. In 1997 he received the OBE for services in Bosnia.

In 1999, Patrick left the Army and accepted a post as the Defence Reporter for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme. Whilst with the Today programme he reported from a number of trouble spots, most notably Kosovo. Upon being selected as the Tory's candidate in Newark, Patrick left the Today Programme and became a freelance journalist writing for the Daily Telegraph and also having a fascinating stint in East Timor. In Timor he was part of the King's College London Team that had been sent to the 21st Century's first, new nation to design defence policy for the East Timorese.

In the 2001 Election, Patrick was lucky enough to be able to capture Newark from Labour, overturning a majority of 3,000 and converting it to a majority in his favour of just over 4,000. On 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. In June 2003, he was appointed to a newly created front bench position - Shadow Minister for Homeland Security - a position he held until March 2007. He is now a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee and maintains a keen interest in defence and security issues.

An Historian by training, his interests include British 18th and 19th Century History, watercolour painting and country sports. With two books published to date, Patrick is currently working on a television documentary and another historical volume.