Philp worked for McKinsey & Company before co-founding distribution business Blueheath Holdings, in 2000. It was floated on the AIM before being absorbed in a reverse takeover by the Booker Group in 2007, a deal that valued Booker at £375m.[13][14][15]
In 2003 Philp received London's Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award from Ernst & Young and The Times.[16]
With fellow future Conservative Party MP Sam Gyimah, he founded Clearstone Training and Recruitment Limited, an HGV training provider.[17] Philp also founded property development lender Pluto Finance and Moreof Silverstone.[18] He founded the charity The Next Big Thing, which was solvently wound up in 2017.[19]
Philp's book, Conservative Revival: Blueprint for a Better Britain, was published in conjunction with the Bow Group and was co-authored by 10 Conservative MPs, or recent candidates in their 30s, and had a foreword written by David Cameron, the then Leader of the Opposition. Philp was also the author of Work for the Dole: A proposal to fix welfare dependency, published by The Taxpayers' Alliance in September 2013. His report called for mandatory participation in community work and training in return for the continued payment of benefits payments.[22]
In November 2013, Philp was selected to be the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Croydon South. At the 2015 general election, Philp was elected as MP for Croydon South with 54.5% of the vote and a majority of 17,140.[25]
Shortly after being elected to Parliament, Philp became the first of the 2015 Conservative intake to be elected by other MPs to the influential Treasury Select Committee.[26]
In May 2016, when debating the Government's Starter Homes Initiative, Philp was accused by housing charities of failing to understand how a couple buying a house for the first time cannot afford a £10,000 deposit. Responding to criticism, he stated "No one says it is easy, the average age of a first time buyer these days is about 30 so people have 10 years to save £5,000."[28]
Philp has been an outspoken critic of Govia Thameslink Railway's ownership of Southern Rail; in 2017, Philp called for the government to take control of the Southern Rail franchise and for cross-party support in ending disputes between Southern Rail and the RMT Union.[30] He also proposed a Private Member's Bill to ban "unreasonable" and "damaging" strikes on essential services, including trains.[31]
May government
At the snap 2017 general election, Philp was re-elected as MP for Croydon South with a decreased vote share of 54.4% and a decreased majority of 11,406.[32][33][34] Following the general election, Philp was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to HM Treasury Ministers.[35]
Philp was made PPS to Sajid Javid then Secretary of State for the Ministry Housing, Communities and Local Government on 22 January 2018.[36] Between December 2018 to May 2019 he was the Conservative Party Vice Chairman for Policy.[37]
Shortly after Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced the government's 'mini-budget' on 23 September, Chris Philp as his Treasury deputy, posted a tweet that prematurely celebrated the rise in the pound against the dollar, which read: "Great to see sterling strengthening on the back of the new UK Growth Plan." However, the pound's strength was short-lived, and it subsequently fell to a 37-year low against the dollar. This led to ridicule of Philp's tweet and he later deleted it saying, "It was an interesting move which I responded to".[45][46][47][48] Speaking at the Conservative party conference in early October, Philp defended the mini-budget giving it "9.5 out of 10" and rejected analyses which showed it disproportionally benefited high earners, despite him acknowledging that it did to the media only days before.[49]
On 14 October, Truss dismissed Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and Philp from the Treasury after 38 days in their positions.[50] Philp was demoted to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the two positions that his successor Edward Argar had previously held.[51]
In September 2023, it was revealed that Philp is a member of a social media group in which criminal acts, damage and vandalism to public property are celebrated on a near-daily basis, especially vandalism of ULEZ cameras.[52][53]
In 2024, Philp opposed the construction of a small block of flats on the plot of one family home in Purley, siding with a local residents association.[54][55] The proposed building was in a residential area dominated by large single-family housing. Philp argued, "New homes are needed but the right place for new flats is Croydon town centre, central London and brownfield sites." However, commentators noted that the lot in question was a brownfield site.[56]
On an episode of Question Time, broadcast on 25 April 2024, Philp discussed the government's new policy on sending migrants to Rwanda. When questioned by an audience member, Philp appeared to confuse Rwanda with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and seemed unsure as to whether they were separate countries.[57] Philp later said that the question was rhetorical as he had had difficulty hearing the original question. [58]
After Reform UK suspended MP Rupert Lowe, Philp defended Lowe and said “Rupert Lowe has been treated appallingly by Reform and by Nigel Farage in particular [and that he has been] subject to all kinds of vicious and vitriolic attacks" and proceeded to request Lowe to defect. [60][61]
Personal life
Philp married his wife Elizabeth in 2009.[62] Their twin son and daughter were born prematurely in April 2013, and spent an extended period in intensive care.[63] Philp's father Brian stood as a UKIP candidate for Orpington in the 2017 general election.[64]
In June 2024, it was announced that Philp's wife, Elizabeth, is being sued over allegations of corporate espionage. She was accused of illegally using confidential information from her former employer to set up a rival business.[65] When questioned about the case in a local hustings, Philp acknowledged the ongoing case, but refused to confirm or deny whether he was a stakeholder in the business.[66]
Notes
↑ Jointly with the Home Office from February 2020.
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