Luke Graham | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Ochil and South Perthshire | |
In office 8 June 2017 –6 November 2019 | |
Preceded by | Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh |
Succeeded by | John Nicolson |
Personal details | |
Born | Luke Patrick Graham [1] June 1985 (age 38) [2] Swindon,Wiltshire,England |
Political party | Conservative |
Alma mater | University of Sheffield |
Profession | Accountant |
Luke Patrick Graham (born June 1985) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Ochil and South Perthshire from 2017 to 2019. [3] From September 2018,Graham served in the role of Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Cabinet Office. [4] He was later made PPS to the Ministry of Housing,Communities and Local Government. He held both positions concurrently until the end of the Second May Ministry.
Graham was born in Eldene,Swindon,Wiltshire in June 1985 and was educated at the Dorcan Academy,the local comprehensive. He graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BA in Economics and Social Policy in 2006. [5] Graham graduated with 2.1 Dual Honours,before serving as the Finance Officer of Sheffield University Union from 2006-07. [6]
Prior to entering the Commons,he worked for Tesco plc for five and a half years whilst gaining his Chartered Institute for Management Accounting qualification. During his tenure,he worked in the UK,Thailand and China. After Tesco,Graham joined Tough Mudder, [7] a British firm launched in the US. He later accepted a job as a senior manager at Marks and Spencer plc [8] and returned to the UK.
Graham started his own accountancy business,Tech &The Beancounters,in 2016. [7]
Graham first entered Scottish politics in 2014,when he actively campaigned for Better Together,the successful unionist campaign during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Graham was subsequently selected to contest the constituency of Ochil and South Perthshire at the 2015 general election,and finished in third place. [9]
Graham was the Director of Finance of Britain Stronger in Europe,the official Remain campaign in the 2016 EU Membership Referendum.
Graham was reselected to contest the Ochil and South Perthshire seat during the 2017 United Kingdom general election. He defeated the sitting Scottish National Party MP,Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh. [10] Graham successfully overturned Ahmed-Sheikh's 10,168 majority to win by 3,359 votes. [11]
In November 2018 he was the recipient of a £25,000 donation from Lord Sainsbury of Turville,which was donated to the Scottish Conservative Party for Graham's association. [12]
He voted in favour of former Prime Minister Theresa May's deal to leave the European Union. [13]
Graham backed Michael Gove during the Conservative leadership contest. [14]
He was a member of the Public Accounts Committee from September 2017 until October 2018 and subsequently served as a member of the Finance Committee for the House of Commons. [15] [3]
Causes that Graham worked extensively on included renewable energy (particularly geothermal), [16] domestic abuse, [17] and farming. [18]
In March 2019,a staff member working in Graham's constituency office was threatened by two men who allegedly said that "in an independent Scotland all of you will be hanging",banging on windows and shouting at the staffer. [19] Police Scotland stated they would be making inquiries. [19] Later that month,the police issued descriptions of individuals they would like to speak to relating to the incident. [20]
Seeking re-election at the 2019 United Kingdom general election on 12 December 2019,Graham lost his seat to the Scottish National Party's John Nicolson,who was previously the MP for East Dunbartonshire from 2015-17. [21]
Although Graham lost his seat,the Conservative Party won the general election in a landslide. Following his personal defeat,he was appointed to head a "Union unit" in 10 Downing Street,which gave him responsibility for supporting unionism and opposing Scottish independence. [22] Graham was replaced in February 2021 by Oliver Lewis. [22]
Clackmannanshire,or the County of Clackmannan,is a historic county,council area,registration county and lieutenancy area in Scotland,bordering the council areas of Stirling,Fife,and Perth and Kinross. In terms of historic counties it borders Perthshire,Stirlingshire and Fife.
Perth and Kinross is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a lieutenancy area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire,Angus,Argyll and Bute,Clackmannanshire,Dundee,Fife,Highland and Stirling council areas. Perth is the administrative centre. With the exception of a large area of south-western Perthshire,the council area mostly corresponds to the historic counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
Sir Graham Stuart Brady is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Altrincham and Sale West since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party,he has been Chairman of the 1922 Committee since 2010,except for a brief period in 2019.
Annabelle Janet Ewing is a Scottish politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament,alongside Liam McArthur,since May 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Cowdenbeath constituency since 2016,having previously been an MSP for the Mid Scotland and Fife region from 2011 to 2016.
Nigel Martin Evans is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ribble Valley constituency in Lancashire since 1992. A member of the Conservative Party,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.
Stirling is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Ochil and South Perthshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
Perth and North Perthshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency was created in 2005.
Gordon Raymond Banks is a British Labour politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ochil and South Perthshire from 2005 to 2015.
Perth was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. Also,however,it was one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region,which still elects seven additional members,in addition to nine constituency MSPs,to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Robin Caspar Walker is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Worcester since 2010. He has chaired the House of Commons Education Select Committee since November 2022. He served as the Minister of State for School Standards from 2021 to 2022 and as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at both the Scotland Office and Northern Ireland Office under Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Conservative Party,he identifies as a one-nation Conservative.
John MacKenzie Nicolson is a Scottish journalist,broadcaster and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician.
Andrew Hanson Jones is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency in North Yorkshire since 2010. He has twice served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport and as well as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. He returned to the backbenches in July 2019.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh OBE WS NP is a Scottish politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ochil and South Perthshire from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Conservative party,Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP),Ahmed-Sheikh served as the SNP's Trade and Investment spokesperson,Deputy Shadow Leader of the House in the House of Commons,and the SNP's National Women's and Equalities Convener. A solicitor and businessperson,and a former actress,Ahmed-Sheikh founded and formerly chaired the Scottish Asian Women's Association.
Christopher Patrick James Green is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West since 2015. He was elected again in 2017 and 2019,increasing his majority and vote share at both general elections.
Kevin John Foster is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Torbay since 2015. He served as Minister of State for Transport from September 2022 until October 2022. Foster served under Home Secretary Priti Patel as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safe and Legal Migration from 2019 until September 2022.
Abimbola "Bim" Afolami is a British Conservative Party politician. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hitchin and Harpenden since the 2017 general election.
Kirstene Janette Hair is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Angus between 2017 and 2019.
Alister William Jack is a Scottish politician serving as Secretary of State for Scotland since 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservatives,he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dumfries and Galloway since 2017.
Mark Peter Fletcher is a British politician serving as the member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover since 2019. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
{{cite news}}
: |last=
has generic name (help){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)