Chris Skidmore

Chris Skidmore
FRHistS FSA MP
Parliamentary Secretary
at the Cabinet Office
Assumed office
17 July 2016
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by John Penrose
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
29 May 2015 – 17 July 2016
Prime Minister David Cameron
Chancellor George Osborne
Preceded by Robert Halfon
Succeeded by TBC
Member of Parliament
for Kingswood
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Roger Berry
Majority 9,006 (18.7%)
Personal details
Born (1981-05-17) 17 May 1981[1]
Longwell Green, Avon, UK
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Alma mater Christ Church, Oxford
Occupation Politician
Profession Author and historian
Religion Anglican
Website www.chrisskidmore.com

Christopher James Skidmore FRHistS FSA (born 17 May 1981) is a British politician, author, and historian. He has served since 2010 as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, and since 2015 as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.[2]

Early life

Skidmore was born on 17 May 1981 at Longwell Green in South Gloucestershire (then in the county of Avon), in the West of England. He became an active member of the Conservative Party in 1996.[3]

Education

Skidmore was educated at Bristol Grammar School, a mixed independent school in the City of Bristol, Avon, south west England, before going up to Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 2002 with a first-class degree in Modern History (BA), and later as MSt.[4]

Career

Skidmore worked for David Willetts and Michael Gove as an advisor, and served as Chairman of the Bow Group for 2007–08,[5] before being appointed by another right-leaning think tank, Policy Exchange, as a Research Fellow.[6]

After being selected to contest the marginal seat of Kingswood for the Conservatives in 2009, he was elected as its Member of Parliament in 2010, winning the seat from the Labour Party.[7]

Skidmore served as a member of the Commons Select Committee on Health, leaving that committee on 17 June 2013 (being replaced by Charlotte Leslie),[8] to sit on the Commons Select Committee on Education.[9] He is also a member of the Free Enterprise Group of MPs, and along with colleagues co-authored After the Coalition (2011) and Britannia Unchained (2012). The authors of Britannia Unchained claimed that "Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world".[10] The Daily Mirror reported that Skidmore controversially defended the Government's austerity programme by claiming it hadn't left people "dying in the streets".[11] He is a regular guest on BBC political programmes, such as The Daily Politics.

Skidmore was named by Conservative Home in 2012 as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.[12]

Skidmore was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.[13]

Fellowships

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Chris Skidmore MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ www.conservatives.com
  4. ↑ "Chris Skidmore – Official Website".
  5. ↑ Bow Group
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Kingswood". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  8. ↑ www.parliament.uk
  9. ↑ www.parliament.uk
  10. ↑ Tackle 'lazy' Britain, fellow Tories tell David Cameron | London Evening Standard
  11. ↑ Chris Skidmore MP defends cuts saying people aren't 'lying dead in the streets' - Mirror Online
  12. ↑ Barrett, Matthew. "The 24 Conservative MPs who are still on the backbenches and have never rebelled". Conservative Home. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  14. ↑ www.sal.org.uk
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