Nick Hillman
Nicholas Piers Huxley Hillman (known as Nick Hillman, born Banbury, Oxfordshire, 21 April 1972)[1][2] is an English higher education policy adviser, previously a school history teacher and special adviser for the Conservatives. He has been the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute since 2014.
Nick Hillman | |
---|---|
Special adviser for David Willetts | |
In office 2010–2013 | |
Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute | |
Assumed office 2014 | |
Personal details | |
Born | April 1972 (age 48) Banbury, England |
Political party | Conservatives |
Residence | Haddenham, England |
Alma mater | University of Manchester Christ's College, Cambridge Queen Mary University of London |
Career
Hillman studied as an undergraduate at the University of Manchester.[2] He taught English at the University of Bucharest in Romania in 1992, then gained a PGCE in history at Christ's College, Cambridge[3] before teaching history at St Paul's School, London from 1995–1998.[4] He received an MA in contemporary British history at Queen Mary University of London,[5] before going into politics. He worked on pensions for the Association of British Insurers from 2003–7, before returning to politics.[4]
Since January 2014 he has been the director of a think tank, the Higher Education Policy Institute in Oxford.[6][2]
Since 2016 he has been on the board of governors of his alma mater, the University of Manchester,[7] and he became a fellow of another alma mater, QMUL, in 2016.[8] From 2015-18 he was a school governor at Haddenham St Mary's.[9] He has been a trustee of the National Foundation for Educational Research since April 2018[4][10] and he is a member of the Higher Education Policy Development Group at the British Academy.[11] He was previously a research fellow with Policy Exchange.[12]
Politics
Hillman worked for Conservative MP David Willetts, first as a Senior Research Officer from 2000–3,[4] then from 2007 to 2010 as his chief of staff, and finally from 2010 to 2013 in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as a special adviser when Willets was Science Minister.[13][2] As a special adviser Hillman helped introduce higher university tuition fees.[6][14]
Hillman stood for the Conservatives in the 2002 local elections in Hammersmith Broadway Ward, coming sixth in a three-seat election with 528 votes.[15] He was the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Cambridge in 2010, selected from six candidates in an open primary in December 2009 after Richard Normington stepped down as candidate.[16][17][18] A fundraising dinner was supported by Clarissa Dickson-Wright.[19] He represented himself as a "liberal Tory", but The Independent reported he was "not getting much help from the party's big guns".[20] Hillman came second behind the Liberal Democrat Julian Huppert with 12,829 votes.[21]
Personal life
Hillman grew up in Banbury. He met his wife while they were undergraduates[12] and they married in Cambridge.[22] While a teacher in London he lived in Covent Garden.[12] They have children[2] and live in Haddenham, Buckingham.[23][24]
Works
- Adam Bogdanor, David Willetts MP, Nicholas Hillman, Left Out, Left Behind. Policy Exchange, 2003
- David Willetts and Nicholas Hillman, Tax Credits: Do They Add Up? Politeia, 2002
- Nicholas Hillman; Edited by Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich, Quelling the Pensions Storm: Lessons from the past, March 20, 2008
- The Guardian columnist
- Nicholas Hillman, "Public schools and the Fleming report of 1944: shunting the first-class carriage on to an immense siding?." History of Education 41#2 (2012): 235–255.
- Hillman, Nicholas (1 December 2010). "The Public Schools Commission: 'Impractical, Expensive and Harmful to Children'?". Contemporary British History. 24 (4): 511–531. doi:10.1080/13619462.2010.518413. ISSN 1361-9462.
- Hillman, Nicholas (February 2008). "A 'chorus of execration'? Enoch Powell's 'rivers of blood' forty years on". Patterns of Prejudice. 42 (1): 83–104. doi:10.1080/00313220701805927.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Hillman, Nicholas (2013). "From Grants for All to Loans for All: Undergraduate Finance from the Implementation of the Anderson Report (1962) to the Implementation of the Browne Report (2012)". Contemporary British History. 27 (3): 249-270. doi:10.1080/13619462.2013.783418.
- Hillman, Nicholas (2016). "The Coalition's higher education reforms in England". Oxford Review of Education. 42 (3): 330-345. doi:10.1080/03054985.2016.1184870.
- Hillman, Nicholas (2001). "'Tell me chum, in case I got it wrong. What was it we were fighting during the war?' The Re-emergence of British Fascism, 1945-58". Contemporary British History. 15 (4): 1-34. doi:10.1080/713999428.
References
- "Nicholas Piers Huxley HILLMAN". Companies House.
- Elmes, John (30 January 2014). "Q&A with Nick Hillman". Times Higher Education.
- Hillman, Nicholas (11 March 2005). "My other boss was in the Shadow Cabinet". TES.
- "Governance and structure". National Foundation for Educational Research.
- "Alumni news". QMUL Alumni e-newsletter. July 2016.
- Scheuber, Andrew (3 March 2015). "Interview: Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI". Imperial College London News.
- "Nick Hillman". University of Manchester.
- "Five awarded fellowships at QMUL graduation". 26 July 2016.
- https://haddenham-st-marys.bucks.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2018-19-HSM-Governors-Pecuniary-Interests.pdf
- "NFER Appoints New Trustees". National Foundation for Educational Research. 24 April 2018.
- "Higher Education Policy Development Group". British Academy.
- Hillman, Nicholas (5 January 2007). "Which side of the fence are you on?". TES.
- Aston, Sarah (3 June 2015). "Special advice: What's it really like being a spad?". Civil Service World.
- Marrs, Colin (16 December 2014). "Nick Hillman on weathering the tuition fee storm". Civil Service World.
- "Local Government in Hammersmith and Fulham. Results from the 2002 Local Elections". Hammersmith Today.
- Bateman, Elizabeth (12 February 2010). "Cambridge election candidates in University-sponsored debate". Varsity.
- Macdonald, Laura (26 April 2010). "Cambridge candidates fight for support". BBC News.
- Isaby, Jonathan (12 December 2009). "Nick Hillman selected for Cambridge". Conservative Home.
- Hillman, Nick (1 February 2010). "Nick Hillman continues to highlight the folly of voting Lib Dem in Cambridge and gets celebrity backing for his campaign". Conservative Home.
- Bland, Archie; Dejevsky, Mary; Prosser, David (5 May 2010). "Back to their roots to test the political mood". The Independent.
- "Cambridge remains Lib Democrat". BBC News. 7 May 2010.
- "Nick Hillman Selected as Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Cambridge". Richard Taylor. 12 December 2009.
- Hillman, Nick (4 June 2017). "Nick Hillman: Voters in Buckingham deserve a real say and a real MP". Conservative Home.
- "Crash! Boom! Bang!". Research Professional News. 15 December 2019.