Ellis stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the Park ward of Northampton Borough Council in 1995.[7] However,he was elected in 1997 as a Conservative councillor on Northamptonshire County Council,representing the Northampton Park (now Parklands) Ward,winning the seat from his Labour Party rival by 44 votes. He served until the next election in May 2001,when he did not stand again.[8] At the time of his election he was the youngest county councillor in Northamptonshire,at the age of 29.[9]
Ellis became the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Northampton North in December 2006. This followed a public vote in an open primary,which was a relatively unusual selection mechanism at the time.[10][11][12][13] Ellis was elected to Parliament in the 6 May 2010 general election gaining the seat with a majority of 1,936 and 34.1% of the vote,defeating the sitting Labour MP.[14]
In November 2010,Ellis established an All Party Group on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee,which he chaired for the following three years.[15] In this role,Ellis was responsible for organising a gift of a stained glass window of the Queen's coat of arms for the Queen from both Houses of Parliament.[16]
In July 2010,he was first elected onto the Statutory Instruments (Joint Committee) and worked on the Draft Communications Data Bill during the 2012–13 Parliamentary session.[17] Ellis was interviewed about this Bill with Jimmy Wales,co-founder of Wikipedia,on the Daily Politics programme on 11 December 2012.[18] In February 2011,Ellis was first elected onto the House of CommonsHome Affairs Select Committee.[19][20]
On 11 September 2013,Ellis introduced the Medical Innovation (No.2) Bill,a private members bill to the House of Commons.[21][22] The bill was designed to allow doctors more scope to innovate when treating cancer patients,but was criticised by a range of medical and legal bodies,patient groups and charities.[23][24] The bill was withdrawn after its first reading,[25] following an indication from the government that they would support it.[26] Although the Conservative MP Dan Poulter MP,who was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health,suggested in July 2014 that the Government was keen to support it,it failed to progress through the House of Commons after the Liberal Democrats declined to support it.[27]
In March 2014,the chancellor of the exchequer,George Osborne announced in the House of Commons during the Budget Speech that a campaign Ellis had been conducting to secure extra funds to reduce potholes had succeeded and that a £200million fund was being created to be distributed nationwide.[28] In June 2014,it was announced that £3.3million of this fund would be allocated to Northamptonshire by the Department for Transport,with various repairs in Northampton.[29][30]
In July 2014,Ellis was successful in calling for the Parliamentary authorities to officially mark the assassination of a former member of Parliament for Northampton,Spencer Perceval,who had become Prime Minister,and who was shot and killed in the House of Commons in 1812. The Parliamentary authorities agreed to install a brass plaque in St Stephen's Hall commemorating the notable assassination and Ellis called this a "fitting tribute" to the former prime minister and historic Northampton figure.[31]
In May 2016,it emerged that Ellis was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police in the 2015 general election party spending investigation,for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses.[34] However,in May 2017,the Crown Prosecution Service said that while there was evidence of inaccurate spending returns,it did not "meet the test" for further action.[35]
In July 2016,Ellis was made an Assistant Whip (HM Treasury) and became Deputy Leader of the House of Commons.[36]
In February 2018,following the announcement that Northamptonshire County Council had brought in a "section 114" notice,putting it in special measures following a crises in its finances,Ellis was one of seven local MPs who released a statement arguing that the problems with the authority were down to mismanagement from the Conservative councillors who led it rather than funding cuts from the Conservative Government. They further argued that government commissioners should take over the running of the council.[41]
As Arts Minister in April 2019,Ellis placed an export bar on a 500-year-old drawing by Lucas van Leyden worth £11.4 million in a bid to keep the work of art in the United Kingdom.[42] He also placed an export bar on a 17th-century baroque cabinet by Roman maker Giacomo Herman[43] and a unique 18th-century harpsichord by Joseph Mahoon.[44]
In the House of Commons he has sat on the Statutory Instruments (Select and Joint Committees) and the Home Affairs Committee.[36] He is a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel group,and has participated in delegations to raise concerns about an agreement relating to Iran's nuclear capabilities.[45]
The secretary of state for the Home Department,more commonly known as the home secretary,is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State,making the home secretary one of the most senior and influential ministers in the government. The incumbent is a statutory member of the British Cabinet and National Security Council.
Sir Oliver Letwin is a British politician,Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dorset from 1997 to 2019. Letwin was elected as a member of the Conservative Party,but sat as an independent after having the whip removed in September 2019. He was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Michael Howard and Shadow Home Secretary under Iain Duncan Smith. He was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 2014 to 2016.
Yvette Cooper is a British politician who has served as Home Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party,Cooper has been member of parliament (MP) for Pontefract,Castleford and Knottingley,previously Normanton,Pontefract and Castleford,since 1997.
Nigel Martin Evans is a former British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ribble Valley in Lancashire from 1992 until 2024. He was Joint Executive Secretary of the 1922 Committee from 2017 to 2019. He served as First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means,one of the Speaker's three deputies,from 2010 to 2013. He was elected as Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means in 2020.
Sir Charles Geoffrey Cox is a British Conservative Party politician and barrister who has been the member of parliament (MP) for Torridge and Tavistock,previously Torridge and West Devon,since 2005. Cox worked as a barrister from 1982 onwards and was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2003,two years before his election to Parliament. He served as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland under Theresa May and Boris Johnson from 2018 to 2020.
Grant Shapps is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from August 2023 to July 2024. Shapps previously served in various cabinet posts,including Conservative Party Co-Chairman,Transport Secretary,Home Secretary,Business Secretary,and Energy Secretary under Prime Ministers David Cameron,Boris Johnson,Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. A member of the Conservative Party,he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Welwyn Hatfield from 2005 to 2024. He failed to be re-elected as his constituency's MP in the 2024 general election.
Shailesh Lakhman Vara is a Ugandan-British Conservative former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Cambridgeshire from 2005 until 2024. He also served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July to September 2022.
Henry Edward Millar Smith is an English Conservative Party politician. He was Leader of West Sussex County Council from 2003 to 2010. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Crawley until 2024,having been first elected in the 2010 general election.
Steven John Baker is a British former politician who served as Minister of State for Northern Ireland from 2022 to 2024 and as Minister of State in the Cabinet Office from February to July 2024,having previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Conservative Party,he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wycombe in Buckinghamshire from 2010 to 2024. Baker was chair of the European Research Group (ERG) from 2016 to 2017 and from 2019 to 2020.
Andrew Iain Lewer is a British Conservative Party politician,who served as the Member of Parliament for Northampton South from 2017 to 2024,and as Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands from 2014 to 2017.
Gregory David Clark is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Business,Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2016 to 2019. He also was Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2015 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Levelling Up,Housing and Communities from July to September 2022. Later,he was the Chair of the Science,Innovation and Technology Select Committee. A member of the Conservative Party,he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tunbridge Wells from 2005 until 2024.
Huw William Merriman is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexhill and Battle in East Sussex from 2015 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,he served as Minister of State for Rail and HS2 from October 2022 until July 2024. He previously chaired the Transport Select Committee between January 2020 and October 2022. Prior to his parliamentary career,Merriman was a barrister and a local councillor.
Lucy Claire Frazer is a British politician and barrister who served as Secretary of State for Culture,Media and Sport from February 2023 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,she served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South East Cambridgeshire from 2015 to 2024.
Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman is a British politician and barrister who served as Home Secretary from 6 September 2022 to 19 October 2022,and again from 25 October 2022 to 13 November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party,she was chair of the European Research Group from 2017 to 2018 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2020 to March 2021,and again from September 2021 to 2022. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fareham and Waterlooville,previously Fareham,since 2015.
Felicia Jane "Flick" Beatrix Drummond is a British Conservative Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Meon Valley from 2019 until 2024,having previously represented Portsmouth South from 2015 to 2017.
David James Mackintosh is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Northampton South from the May 2015 general election to the 2017 general election. Prior to his election to Parliament,he worked as a political consultant in the European Parliament and the Conservatives before being elected to the County and Borough councils,rising to become Leader of Northampton Borough Council in 2011.
Thomas Christopher John Pursglove is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Minister of State for Legal Migration and the Border from December 2023 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Corby from May 2015 until 2024 when he was defeated.
Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch is a British politician who has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing,Communities and Local Government since 2024 and was Secretary of State for Business and Trade from 2023 to 2024. She was also President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2022 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,she has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Essex,previously Saffron Walden,since 2017.
The European Research Group (ERG) is a research support group and caucus of Eurosceptic Conservative Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom. In a Financial Times article in 2020,the journalist Sebastian Payne described the ERG as "the most influential [research group] in recent political history".
The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019,three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new government following the 2019 general election. The Conservative Party was returned to power with a majority of 80 seats in the House of Commons. Initially the ministers were largely identical to those at the end of the first Johnson ministry,but changed significantly in cabinet reshuffles in February 2020 and September 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
