Editing Gary Streeter (section)

== Early life ==
Streeter attended [[Tiverton Grammar School]], [[Tiverton, Devon]], where he was head boy from 1972 to 1973, then [[King's College London]], where he gained a first-class honours law degree. From 1984 to 1998, he was a solicitor and partner at Foot and Bowden (now called Foot Anstey) in Plymouth, where he specialised in [[companies law|company]] and [[employment law]]. In 1998 Streeter was fined £1,000 by the Law Society for conduct unbecoming a solicitor due to a conflict of interest when dealing with a business merger in 1991 while with Foot Bowden Limited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/133839.stm|title=UK Shadow cabinet member fined £1,000}}</ref> 

Streeter's initial political experience was as a councillor on [[Plymouth City Council]], where he represented Mount Gould ward from 1986 to 1992. Having been elected to serve as a member of the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]] (SDP), in January 1988 he defected to the Conservative Party.<ref name="Herald">'MP who followed God's call prays voters have faith in Tories', ''Evening Herald'', 24 November 2004. Retrieved 20 October 2022.</ref> Reflecting on his career in an interview with the Plymouth [[The Herald (Plymouth)|''Evening Herald'']] years later, Streeter attributed his initial party allegiance to the influence of [[David Owen]], then SDP leader and MP for [[Plymouth Devonport]], but explained that by 1988 he had come to "believe strongly in individual responsibility, in the family, the nation, enterprise. I thought to myself 'I am a natural Conservative, what am I doing in the SDP?' So I crossed over."<ref name="Herald"/>