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25 years of championing the interests of South Devon in Parliament
Anthony Steen was born in 1939. He was educated at Westminster School, University College, London, and was called to the Bar in 1962 (Gray`s Inn). He practised as a Barrister in Landlord and Tenant and Common Law, 1962-74; he was appointed Defence Counsel, Ministry of Defence Court Martials, 1964-68, and lectured in Law for the Council of Legal Education, 1964-67.
Anthony spent five years as a youth club leader in an East London Settlement from 1959-64. In 1964 he founded Task Force and was its first Director, 1964-68, raising millions of pounds to tackle urban problems. A long time ago – in 1968 to be exact, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson founded his Young Volunteer Force with the object of recruiting young people to tackle community and social problems. There was a budget of over £1 million (a lot in those days) and a full time staff of over 100. Selwyn Lloyd, Jo Grimond and Douglas Houghton were trustees. But the Prime Minister wanted a director, a man who could set an example to the whole country as to how best to capitalise on, and develop, this adventure. He chose Anthony Steen. Mr Wilson simply wanted the best man for the job, and Mr Steen already had an impressive record in community work.
As a practising barrister, Mr Steen specialised in landlord and tenant and planning law. He also worked with the Ministry of Defence and the National Union of Headteachers. Dubbed the ‘poor man’s lawyer’ he was known to champion the underdog against big bureaucracy.
In 1973, Anthony Steen was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Liverpool Wavertree. He won the seat by some 2,500 votes and went on to increase his majority at every General Election that he served there. He believed, as he still does, that MPs should have some experience of the real world, and be equipped with some hard-earned practical skills before they enter the Commons. Mr Steen’s interests in urban problems continued in Parliament. He was also invited to visit 28 American cities on a Scholarship from the United States Government to study urban problems. On his return, he wrote `New Life for Old Cities` which made specific proposals to Government as to how urban regeneration could be activated and accelerated in Britain. Many of its recommendations and suggestions were implemented by the Thatcher administrations.
When the boundary changes did away with Wavertree, Mr Steen applied to one other constituency to continue with his political career – the South Hams – where he had a long-standing commitment to the environment, including protecting the precious landscape of Dartmoor, dating back to his teenage years.
In 1983 he won the South Hams for the Conservatives with a majority in excess of 12,000 votes over the Liberals. He increased his majority in every subsequent election there. In 1997, further boundary changes resulted in the new seat of Totnes being created. Mr Steen fought off seven other contenders to win the seat for the Conservatives. He held the seat in 2001 with a quadrupled majority.
Anthony Steen has won an enviable track record of representing South Devon in debates in Parliament. He is highly regarded on all sides of the House as an independent thinker. He has initiated a wide range of debates on issues ranging from calling for the UK’s exit from the Common Fisheries Policy, measures to help victims of domestic violence, tackling the NHS dentists crisis in South Devon, and calling on the Government to invest more money in homeopathic medicine, of particular concern to Totnesians and indeed residents throughout the Totnes constituency. The renowned Yesterday in Parliament programme on Radio 4 labelled Mr Steen “the champion of complementary medicine” (21 October 2004). He has led campaigns to improve the lot of elderly people in nursing homes; cut red tape for local businesses; and tackle the problems facing our farming and fishing sectors. He is a tireless fighter for the rights of individuals.
Mr Steen believes in less government and greater freedom for individuals. As a member of the European Scrutiny Select Committee, he is involved in scrutinising every directive and regulation emanating from Europe, many of which he has opposed, even against his own party line.
Mr Steen is also a member of the Select Committee on Regulatory Reform. He is currently Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary British-Caribbean Group, Treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group, and Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on South Africa, St Helena and the Maldives. He is also a member of several All-Party Groups, including fisheries, where he has worked with Alex Salmond and Austin Mitchell, and China, where he has worked with colleagues across the political spectrum to press China to improve its human rights record.
Mr Steen is Vice-Chairman and Founder Trustee of the Task Force Trust, an intergenerational charity that awards grants to charities that seek to encourage the young to help the elderly gain new skills, such as mastering computers and email. He was also recently invited to become a member of the parliamentary panel of the British Dental Association. He was Chairman of the now wound-down Outlandos Trust where he worked with Sting to help unemployed young people in deprived urban areas to make music. He is the former President of the South Hams Society and Vice-President of the Open Spaces Society, Council for Protection of Rural England (Devon Branch), the Dartmoor Preservation Association and the South Dartmoor Group of Young Farmers.
Anthony Steen is married to Carolyn, a practising child psychologist as well as a former South Hams District Councillor. They have two adult children, Jason and Xanthe, and two grandchildren, Jemima and Lucian.
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