Philip Hammond

The Right Honourable Philip Anthony Hammond PC MP (born 4 December 1955) is a British Conservative politician who has been the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs since 15 July 2014.

Hammond first entered Parliament following his election in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge.

He was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet by David Cameron in 2005 as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, remaining in this position until a 2007 reshuffle, when he became Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He was reshuffled to Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 15 July 2014.

After the formation of the Coalition Government in May 2010, he was appointed Secretary of State for Transport and was sworn of the Privy Council. Upon the resignation of Liam Fox over a scandal in October 2011, Hammond was promoted to Secretary of State for Defence and, in July 2014, he became Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Philip Hammond (composer)

Philip Hammond (1951) is an Irish composer. He has also been a teacher, writer and broadcaster.

He has written for The Brodsky String Quartet, the Ulster Orchestra and Lontano. He has also written for the flautist James Galway, pianist Barry Douglas, the British violinist Tasmin Little, the Russian pianist Nicolai Demidenko, and singers Anne Murray, Suzanne Murphy and Sarah Walker.

Early life and education

Hammond was born in Belfast. After studying at Cabin Hill Preparatory School and Campbell College, Belfast, Hammond graduated from Queen's University Belfast in l974 as a Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts. In 2003 he was awarded a Doctorate of Music from Queen’s.

Career as a composer

While teaching at Cabin Hill, Hammond regularly performed as a pianist and accompanist with the mezzo-soprano Daphne Arlow and in a piano duo with Michael McGuffin, performing and presenting for BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Three and RTE.

His first major commission, Thanatos, in 1977, was written for the choir of the Royal Victoria Hospital. It became controversial when what was to have been its first live performance was disrupted when some of the original singers objected to the piece on “moral grounds”. Following publicity on the BBC, Radio Three offered to record the first performance. That studio performance, with the Choir of St Anne’s Cathedral, was broadcast throughout the UK and subsequently performed live at the Ulster Museum by a different grouping of performers. The work is dedicated to the composer and academic Adrian Thomas.