not to stand for re-election at the 2015 NSW election. Early life and background The youngest of three children, Barry Robert O'Farrell was born to Kevin and Mae O'Farrell in the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, on 24 May 1959. He is descended from Irish immigrants who arrived in Victoria in the 1860s; and his paternal grandfather was an officer in the Victoria Police Force in Ballarat. The O'Farrells moved to Darwin during his adolescence and he finished his high school education at St John's College. In 1977 O'Farrell began studying at the Australian National University in Canberra, residing at Ursula College. During his second year of study, he was elected President of the Ursula College Student Association. In 1980 he received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Australian history, politics and Aboriginal studies and has cited Professor Manning Clark and Don Baker as major influences for his continuing interest in Australian history. After serving as a graduate trainee in the Department of Business and Consumer Affairs, in 1980 O'Farrell joined the Liberal Party and worked in the offices of two South Australian Senators, Tony Messner and Gordon Davidson. When John Howard became Leader of the Opposition in 1985, his chief of staff, Gerard Henderson, hired O'Farrell as a Sydney-based adviser. In May 1988, O'Farrell was employed as Chief of Staff for Bruce Baird, a cabinet minister in the New South Wales government. Four years later, O'Farrell and Tony Abbott sought appointment as the State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party. O'Farrell succeeded and he held this position until 1995. Member of Parliament In 1994, O'Farrell was preselected to replace former Transport Minister and Deputy Liberal Leader, Bruce Baird, in the safe Liberal seat of Northcott and won the seat on 25 March 1995 at the 1995 election with 60.05% of the primary vote, 68.63% after preferences against Andrew Leigh, the Labor candidate who was elected in 2010 as the federal Member for Fraser. O'Farrell gave his maiden speech in Parliament on 19 September 1995. On 14 December 1998, State Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski appointed O'Farrell Shadow Minister for Small Business and Information Technology. When his seat of Northcott was abolished in the 1998 redistribution, O'Farrell decided to contest the equally safe seat of Ku-ring-gai, which had been vacated by the sitting member, Stephen O'Doherty, who had moved to contest the seat of Hornsby following the redistribution. O'Farrell represented