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Hugh O'Leary

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Hugh O'Leary
O'Leary in 2022
Born
Hugh Richard O'Leary

(1974-07-19) 19 July 1974 (age 50)
Allerton, Liverpool, Merseyside, England
EducationLondon School of Economics
OccupationAccountant
Known forSpouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom (2022)
Political partyConservative
Spouse
​
(m. 2000)​
Children2
FamilyO'Leary

Hugh Richard O'Leary (born 19 July 1974) is a British accountant. He is married to Liz Truss, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from September to October 2022.[1]

Early life and education

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O'Leary was born at Allerton, Liverpool, and raised in Heswall, on the Wirral, as the eldest of three siblings. His mother Susan (née Dunn) was a nurse, and his father John O'Leary was a college lecturer who trained as a solicitor and worked for the legal firm of the Liverpool lawyer Rex Makin.[2][3]

O'Leary attended Birkenhead School, where he studied Mathematics and Further Mathematics at A-level, applying unsuccessfully to the Oxford University to study PPE. He went on to read econometrics and mathematical economics at the London School of Economics before becoming an accountant.[3] Whilst at university, he was acquainted with Thérèse Coffey, who was later Liz Truss's deputy prime minister.[4]

Career

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O'Leary worked as a finance director at Affinity Global Real Estate.[5]

He has also worked at Arrakis Investments Limited, a company that, at the time, had no employees other than its one director.[6]

Politics

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O'Leary has stood unsuccessfully for the Conservative Party in local elections to Greenwich London Borough Council on several occasions. At the 1998 council election, he was a candidate for the Labour-held St Alfege ward.[7] At the subsequent council election in 2002, he stood in Greenwich West; all three seats were won by the Labour Party.[3][8][9]

His most recent candidacy to date was at the 2006 Greenwich election, this time in the Charlton ward, when O'Leary and the other opposition parties finished a considerable margin behind the winning Labour candidates.[10] At this election, his wife, Liz Truss, was elected to Eltham South ward, which she represented until 2010.[11] O'Leary has remained active in politics as a member of the Conservatives, canvassing with the party in Greenwich in 2022.[12][5]

Personal life

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O'Leary met Truss at the 1997 Conservative Party conference in Blackpool.[3][13] The couple's first date was spent ice-skating, during which O'Leary sprained his ankle.[3] O'Leary and Truss married in 2000; they live in Greenwich, south-east London, and the South West Norfolk constituency which Truss represented from 2010 to 2024.[5][14] He stayed with Truss following her 2004–2005 extramarital affair with the Conservative MP Mark Field. The couple have two daughters.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Hugh O'Leary: Who is Liz Truss's husband and the country's next first man?". MSN. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  2. ^ Coke, Hope (6 September 2022). "Who is Liz Truss's husband? Meet the new No 10 spouse, Hugh O'Leary". Tatler. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Charlotte Wace (26 July 2022). "Liz Truss's husband: the earnest accountant who has stood by her". The Times. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  4. ^ Riley-Smith, Ben (3 October 2022). "Therese Coffey opens the door to more foreign nurses to plug NHS staff shortage". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Silverman, Rosa; Chandler-Wilde, Helen (5 September 2022). "Liz Truss's 'stoic' husband doesn't want 'massive public role'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  6. ^ Lott-Lavigna, Ruby (18 October 2022). "Did Liz Truss mislead public over her husband's secretive work?". openDemocracy. Retrieved 19 October 2022. Truss, who in her ministerial career has formally declared almost no financial or familial interests, said in a submission to the List of Ministers' interests that her husband Hugh O'Leary worked at a company called Arrakis Investments Limited – yet documents filed with Companies House say the firm at the time had no employees other than its one director.
  7. ^ Minors, Michael; Grenham, Dennis (1998). London Borough Council elections 7 May 1998 : including the Greater London Authority referendum results (PDF). London: London Research Centre. Demographic and Statistical Studies. ISBN 1-85261-276-2. OCLC 40179592. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  8. ^ Teale, Andrew. "2002 – Greenwich". Local Elections Archive Project. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  9. ^ "AIM Asset Investment Ltd overview – Find and update company information – GOV.UK".
  10. ^ Teale, Andrew. "2006 – Greenwich". Local Elections Archive Project. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Eltham South Ward". Local Elections Archive Project. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  12. ^ Ferguson, Emily (5 September 2022). "How Liz Truss's husband tried to enter politics but took back seat in leadership race". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Liz Truss: Who is the next prime minister married to?". BBC News. 5 September 2022. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  14. ^ "South West Norfolk". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
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Unofficial roles
Preceded by Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
2022 		Succeeded by
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