Simon Wright (politician)

Simon James Wright[2] (born 15 September 1979) is a former British Liberal Democrat politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Norwich South who served from 2010 to 2015. Wright defeated frontbench incumbent Charles Clarke (Labour), winning 29.7% of the votes and a narrow majority of 310 votes.[3] He is now CEO of a Norfolk-based charity, Nelson's Journey.[4]

For other people named Simon Wright, see Simon Wright (disambiguation).

Simon Wright
Member of Parliament
for Norwich South
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded byCharles Clarke
Succeeded byClive Lewis
Personal details
Born (1979-09-15) 15 September 1979[1]
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Democrats
Alma materImperial College London
King's College London
Websitehttp://simonwright.org.uk

Early life

Wright was educated at Imperial College London (BSc) and King's College London (PGCE). He has worked as a maths teacher at Alderman Peel High School in Wells-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk.

Political career

Wright was elected as a councillor for the Lancaster North ward (Fakenham) on North Norfolk District Council in 2003.[5] Wright achieved the second-highest percentage of the vote of two seats available in the poll behind Cllr Nich Starling (LD).[6]

Later that year, Wright quit his job as a teacher to become campaigns officer for Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk. In 2005, Wright oversaw Norman Lamb's successful re-election campaign in North Norfolk, which increased his majority from 483 votes to 10,606.

Wright stepped down as campaigns officer in 2007 to devote himself full-time to being the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Norwich South.

Wright's first parliamentary appointment saw him appointed to the Environmental Audit Select Committee in July 2010.[7]

He lost his seat at the 2015 general election, when he finished in fourth place behind the Green, Conservative and Labour Party candidates.

Personal life

Simon Wright worked as Campaigns Officer for Norman Lamb MP . The member of staff whom Wright replaced in that role became his wife in 2006.[8]

After losing his parliamentary seat in 2015, Simon became CEO of a children's bereavement charity called Nelson's Journey in Norfolk in June 2016.[9]

In 2019 Simon got re-married to fellow runner Anna Thorpe, making headlines for taking part in the weekly parkrun with other guests before the ceremony.[10]

References
  1. "Simon Wright MP". Democracy Live. BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 August 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. "List of Members Returned to Serve in Parliament at the General Election 2010". The Gazette. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  3. "Norwich South". Election 2010:. BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2020.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  4. "About Us | Nelson's Journey | Child Bereavement Help for Norfolk". Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  5. "Overall District Wards Summary" (PDF). North Norfolk Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  6. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2003 - North Norfolk". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  7. "Norwich MP to sit on Environmental Audit Committee". Simon Wright for Norwich South. Simon Wright. 13 July 2010. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  8. "Simon Wright chosen to contest Norwich South". Norwich Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  9. McMahon, Rosa. "Former Norwich South MP Simon Wright is Nelson's Journey's new CEO". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  10. Cope, Lauren. "Newlyweds kick off wedding day celebrations with 5km Parkrun - in a veil and top hat". Norwich Evening News. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Charles Clarke		 Member of Parliament for Norwich South
2010–2015		 Succeeded by
Clive Lewis
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