Patrick Spencer (politician)

Last updated

Anna
​
(m. 2019)​
The Honourable
Patrick Spencer
MP
Patrick Spencer.jpg
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Children2
Parent
Alma mater University of Leeds (BA)
Georgetown University (MPP)

Patrick Spencer (born 8 May 1988 [2] ) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich since 2024. [1] Elected as a Conservative, he had the whip withdrawn in May 2025, and now sits as an independent.

Contents

He has worked at the Department for Education and was a senior fellow at the Centre for Social Justice. [3]

Early life and career

Patrick Spencer studied for a BA in politics at the University of Leeds and a master's in public policy at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He began his career in finance and sat on the board of his family's investment business IPGL for seven years. After a short period working in finance, Spencer joined the Centre for Social Justice in 2016.

In 2019, he was appointed Head of Work and Welfare policy. [4] He also published reports on Universal Basic Income. [5]

In 2020, he became a Senior Policy Adviser on Children and Family Policy at the Department for Education working for six weeks Secretaries of State for Education over the next three years, including Sir Gavin Williamson, [6] Nadhim Zahawi, [7] and Gillian Keegan. [8] He was briefly a Director at the Jobs Foundation. [8] He was heavily involved in the Government’s independent Review of Children’s Social Care which ran from 2021 to 2022. [9]

Volunteer work

He was a mentor with the Social Mobility Foundation [10]  and with the Living Wage Foundation. [11]

Political career

Patrick Spencer joined the Conservative Party while at university. In the 2017 general election, he was the Conservative candidate for West Ham. He won 16.2% of the vote. [12] In June 2024, he was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the seat of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich in the 2024 general election. He won with a majority of 4,290. [13]

In October 2024, he took a firm position on the Agricultural Property Relief issue warning its introduction could lead to farm closures. [14]

Spencer was a member of the Education Select Committee and was appointed personal private secretary to Shadow Education spokesperson Laura Trott. [15] He is also an officer for the APPG for Care-Experienced Children and Young People. [16] In June 2025, following sexual assault allegations, Spencer was removed from the Education Select Committee and replaced by James Cleverly. [17]

Personal life

Spencer is the son of businessman Michael Spencer, who is also a former treasurer of the Conservative Party. [18] Patrick married his wife Anna, a former primary school teacher who works for Twinkl and the Parenting Circle charity, in 2019. [19] He lives in Woodbridge with Anna and their two sons, Leo and Jasper. [20] [21]

On 13 May 2025, he was charged by the Metropolitan Police with two counts of sexual assault that allegedly took place at London's Groucho Club in August 2023. As a consequence, he had the Conservative Party whip withdrawn. [22] He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 16 June where he made a plea of not guilty. [23] [24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Central Suffolk and North Ipswich results". BBC News . 4 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  2. ↑ "DoB". CPS. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  3. ↑ Heywood, Harriet (7 July 2024). "Who are the newly elected MPs for Suffolk?". BBC News. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  4. ↑ "Raise UK Tier 2 visa salary to £36,700 right-wing think tank". Workpermit.com. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  5. ↑ Rawson, Mike (7 August 2018). "Weekly Roundup, 7th August 2018". 7 Circles. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  6. ↑ "One seat, two MP hopefuls who 'bought' their candidacies". openDemocracy. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  7. ↑ "Revealed: The advisers shaping DfE plans for schools | Tes Magazine". www.tes.com. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Third senior advisor announces DfE departure". 16 May 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  9. ↑ "Oral evidence: Children's Social Care, HC 430" (PDF). Education Committee, UK Parliament. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  10. ↑ "Trial date set for suspended Tory MP accused of Groucho club sex assaults". The Independent. 14 July 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  11. ↑ "Sunak's survivors? Our list of new Conservative candidates in winnable seats". Conservative Home. 18 June 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  12. ↑ "UK Parliament election results: Election for the constituency of West Ham on 8 June 2017". UK Parliament election results. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  13. ↑ "UK Parliament election results: Election for the constituency of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich on 4 July 2024". UK Parliament election results. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  14. ↑ "NFU warns of impact to farming families if changes are made to APR". www.nfuonline.com. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
  15. ↑ "Education Committee membership appointed - Committees - UK Parliament". committees.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  16. ↑ "Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups [as at 1 December 2025] - Care-Experienced Children and Young People". UK Parliament. 1 December 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
  17. ↑ "Business without Debate - Volume 770: debated on Monday 30 June 2025". Hansard. 30 June 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2026. That Patrick Spencer be discharged from the Education Committee and Sir James Cleverly be added.
  18. ↑ Wilson, Harry (17 May 2017). "Blue is the colour, politics is the game in . . . West Ham". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  19. ↑ "About The Parenting Circle". Parenting Circle. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  20. ↑ "About Me". Patrick Spencer.
  21. ↑ Geater, Paul (5 June 2024). "Final two Tories picked to contest Suffolk seats in election". East Anglian Daily Times . Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  22. ↑ "Tory MP Patrick Spencer charged with sexual assaults at Groucho Club". Sky News.
  23. ↑ Media, P. A. (13 May 2025). "Tory MP Patrick Spencer charged with two counts of sexual assault". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  24. ↑ "Suffolk MP Patrick Spencer MP charged with two sex attacks". BBC News. 13 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
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