Gareth Johnson

Last updated

Wendy Morris
​
(m. 1997)​
Gareth Johnson
Official portrait of Gareth Johnson MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts
In office
20 September 2022 –27 October 2022
Children2
Residence Hartley, Kent
Alma mater The College of Law [1]
ProfessionSolicitor
Website www.garethjohnsonmp.co.uk

Gareth Alan Johnson (born 12 October 1969) [2] [3] is a British politician and former lawyer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dartford from 2010 to 2024. A member of the Conservative party, he served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts from September to October 2022 in the Truss ministry. [4] [5] Johnson previously served as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from February to September 2022 and Assistant Government Whip from 2018 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022. [6]

Contents

Early life and career

Gareth Johnson was born in Bromley on 12 October 1969, the son of a milkman. He attended Dartford Grammar School. [7] Before entering politics, Johnson worked in the Magistrates Court Service and as a solicitor in Dartford. He served for a time on the Board of Governors of Dartford Grammar School for Girls.

In local elections Johnson stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the Danson ward of the London Borough of Bexley in 1994, before being elected in the Christchurch ward in 1998. He served one term of four years and did not stand for re-election in 2002. [8] He served as Constituency chairman for the Conservative Party in Bexley. [9]

Parliamentary career

At the 2001 general election, Johnson stood as the Conservative candidate in Lewisham West, coming second with 22.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Jim Dowd. [10]

Johnson stood in Dartford at the 2005 general election, coming second with 41.1% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Howard Stoate. [11]

At the 2010 general election, Johnson was elected to Parliament as MP for Dartford with 48.8% of the vote and a majority of 10,628. [12]

In the 2014 reshuffle he became PPS to David Gauke, newly promoted Financial Secretary to the Treasury. [13]

Johnson was re-elected as MP for Dartford at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 49% and an increased majority of 12,345. [14] [15] [16] Following the election, he was made PPS to Matt Hancock, Paymaster General of the Cabinet Office. [17]

Johnson is listed as being the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Dominican Republic in December 2015. [18] He previously served as the vice-chairman of both the Retail APPG [19] and the British Sikhs APPG. [20] Johnson has also previously been a member of both the Child and Youth Crime APPG [21] and the BBC APPG. [22] In January 2016, Johnson led a Westminster Hall debate on congestion at the Dartford Crossing. [23] [24]

Johnson has previously served on the Justice Select Committee, the Human Rights (Joint Committee) and the Science and Technology Select Committee. [25] [17]

At the snap 2017 general election, Johnson was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.6% and an increased majority of 13,186. [26]

He was appointed Assistant Government Whip in November 2018, resigning on 14 January 2019 in disagreement with Prime Minister Theresa May's policy for Britain leaving the European Union. [27]

Johnson was again re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 62.9% and an increased majority of 19,160. [28] [29]

He was appointed Assistant Government Whip in the September 2021 cabinet reshuffle. On 9 February 2022, he was appointed Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, succeeding Craig Whittaker. [30] [31]

He endorsed Liz Truss in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. [32]

On 20 September 2022, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice in the Ministry of Justice by Prime Minister Liz Truss. [4] On 27 October, he was dismissed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. [6]

He endorsed Boris Johnson in the October 2022 Conservative Party Leadership Election, but he did not end up standing. [33]

In March 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed Gareth Johnson as his Trade Envoy to the United Arab Emirates. This is the first time the UK has appointed a Trade Envoy for this country. [34]

In the 2024 general election, Johnson lost his seat to Labour Party candidate Jim Dickson by 1,192 votes, [35]

Personal life

Johnson lives in the village of Hartley with his wife Wendy [36] and their two children.

Johnson employs his wife as a part-time Parliamentary Assistant on a salary up to £25,000. [37] He was listed in a 2015 article in The Daily Telegraph criticising the practice of MPs employing family members, on the lines that it promotes nepotism. [38] Although MPs who were first elected in 2017 have been banned from employing family members, the restriction is not retrospective – meaning that Johnson's employment of his wife is lawful. [39]

Notes

  1. ↑ As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice.
  2. ↑ As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Services.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Johnson, Gareth Alan, (born 12 Oct.1969), MP (C) Dartford, since 2010". Who's Who . 2018. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.251404.
  2. ↑ "No. 59418". The London Gazette . 13 May 2010. p. 8736.
  3. ↑ "Gareth Johnson MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Gareth Johnson MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Diary of a PPC: Gareth Johnson (Dartford)". conservativehome.blogs.com. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  8. ↑ "Bexley Council Election Results 1964-2010" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Former Association Chairman returns as Dartford MP | Bexleyheath and Crayford Conservatives". Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Reshuffle (continued): The full list of every PPS". Conservativehome.com. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "Dartford parliamentary constituency – Election 2015". BBC News. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "DARTFORD 2015". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  17. 1 2 "About Gareth - Gareth Johnson - Member of Parliament". www.garethjohnsondartford.co.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  18. ↑ The Committee Office, House of Commons (23 December 2015). "Register Of All-Party Groups" (PDF). UK Parliament.
  19. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/all-party-groups/app-register-30-march-2015.pdf p.509
  20. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/all-party-groups/app-register-30-march-2015.pdf p.535
  21. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/documents/pcfs/all-party-groups/app-register-30-march-2015.pdf p.215
  22. ↑ https://meagenda.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/appg-register-at-july-2010.pdf p.120
  23. ↑ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 13 Jan 2016 (pt 0002)". www.publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ "Parliamentlive.tv". parliamentlive.tv. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  25. ↑ "Gareth Johnson MP appointed to Science and Technology Select Committee - Gareth Johnson - Member of Parliament". www.garethjohnsondartford.co.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  26. ↑ "Election results for Dartford". Dartford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  27. ↑ Sparrow, Andrew; Sabbagh, Dan (14 January 2019). "Brexit: Tory whip Gareth Johnson resigns because he can't support May's deal – Politics live". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  28. ↑ "Election results for Dartford". Dartford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  29. ↑ "Dartford parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  30. ↑ "Latest civil service & public affairs moves – February 14". Civil Service World. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  31. ↑ "Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  32. ↑ "Liz Truss backed as next Tory leader by 11 government whips in latest blow for rival Rishi Sunak". Sky News. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  33. ↑ "Tory leadership live: Rishi Sunak passes threshold of 100 supporters as Kemi Badenoch gives her backing – as it happened | Politics | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  34. ↑ "Prime Minister's Trade Envoys". Gov.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  35. ↑ "Dartford | General Election 2024 | Sky News". election.news.sky.com. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  36. ↑ "House of Commons – The Register of Members' Financial Interests – Part 2: Part 2". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  37. ↑ "IPSA". GOV.UK. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  38. ↑ "One in five MPs employs a family member: the full list revealed". The Daily Telegraph. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  39. ↑ "MPs banned from employing spouses after election in expenses crackdown". London Evening Standard. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
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