Tom Pursglove

Thomas Christopher John Pursglove (born 5 November 1988)[1] is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Corby since May 2015,[2] at the time of his election he was the youngest Conservative MP.

Tom Pursglove

MP
Pursglove in 2020
Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Youth
In office
27 July 2018 – 15 January 2019
ChairmanBrandon Lewis
Preceded byBen Bradley
Succeeded byNigel Huddleston
Member of Parliament
for Corby
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byAndy Sawford
Majority10,268 (16.9%)
Personal details
Born (1988-11-05) 5 November 1988
Kettering, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materQueen Mary, University of London

In August 2019, Pursglove was appointed as an assistant government whip by Boris Johnson.[3]

Early life and career

Pursglove was born in Kettering on 5 November 1988. He was educated at Sir Christopher Hatton School, a state comprehensive school in the market town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, where he grew up, and graduated from Queen Mary, University of London in 2009 with a politics degree.[4]

In 2007, at the age of 18, Pursglove became the youngest councillor in the country when he was elected for Croyland Ward on Wellingborough Borough Council. The election saw the Conservative Party extend their dominance in Wellingborough, winning 30 of the 36 posts available and notably seeing three teenagers elected. Pursglove was re-elected in 2011, but did not stand again in 2015.[5]

In addition to his role as a councillor, he worked as a parliamentary assistant to the Conservative MP for Daventry Chris Heaton-Harris and worked with the Conservative MP for Wellingborough Peter Bone. Prior to being elected as an MP, Pursglove was deputy chairman of the Wellingborough Conservative Association.[6]

Parliamentary career

Pursglove was elected as a Member of Parliament for Corby in the 2015 general election with a majority of 2,412 (4.3%). He won back for the Conservatives a seat that had been lost to Labour in a 2012 by-election after the former Conservative MP Louise Mensch stood down.[7]

In July 2016, following Theresa May becoming Prime Minister, Pursglove was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Robert Goodwill, the Minister of State for Immigration at the Home Office.

Pursglove was re-elected at the 2017 general election with a slightly increased majority of 2,960 votes.

In February 2018, following the announcement that Northamptonshire County Council had brought in a "section 114" notice, putting it in special measures following a crisis in its finances, Pursglove 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.[8]

After the publication of the Chequers Brexit white paper and Ben Bradley's resignation over his perception that the Government was not delivering the right kind of Brexit, Pursglove took up the role of Conservative Party vice chairman for youth on 27 July 2018.[9] In February 2019, fellow Conservative MP Nigel Huddleston replaced Pursglove in the role following his resignation over the approach of the party towards Brexit.[10]

Political views

Criticism of the European Union

Pursglove was one of the founders of Grassroots Out, an organisation which advocated United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union. The organisation was led by politicians from a range of political parties, including fellow Conservative MP Peter Bone and Labour MP Kate Hoey. In February 2016 it was announced that Pursglove and fellow Conservative MP Peter Bone would be speakers at the UKIP Spring Conference. Although rare for representatives of rival political parties to appear at such events, they argued any role they had there would be as representatives of the Grassroots Out group.[11]

In April 2016, he was criticised for taking payments of £20,000 from the Grassroots Out campaign, of which he was chief executive, which some fellow campaigners argued should have been donated to further campaigning. However, he argued his work had "keep costs to a minimum, allowing us to spend the maximum amount on campaigning", rather than hiring outside expertise.[12] In May 2016, he stated that, given the choice, he would ultimately prefer to see Britain leave the EU than his party secure another majority at the 2020 election, but also said that he was a 'loyal Conservative' and had no desire to defect to UKIP.[13]

The environment

Pursglove has advocated abolishing the Department of Energy and Climate Change and expressed scepticism about human influence on climate change.[14] In Parliament, he voted to reduce regulation on fracking and, in light of this, was criticised by environmental campaigners for his constituency party having taken donations from energy firms.[15] He has questioned public spending on reducing carbon emissions in the UK on the grounds that countries like China produce more emissions and therefore needed to take more action.[16] Between 2013 and 2016, Pursglove was director, alongside Chris Heaton-Harris, of Together Against Wind, a lobbying company that helped move Government policy against favouring the installation of onshore wind power.[17]

References
  1. "Tom Pursglove, Conservative Party candidate to be MP for Corby – YourNextMP.com". Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  2. "Corby parliamentary constituency - Election 2015 - BBC News". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  3. https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/people/new-government-role-for-corby-mp-will-stop-him-taking-part-in-parliamentary-debate-1-9022871
  4. "Tom Pursglove". www.votepursglove.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  5. "Wellingborough Council Election Results 1973-2011" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  6. Sophie Mcintyre (9 May 2015). "General election 2015: Seven new MPs that you should know about". The Independent. London. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  7. "GENERAL ELECTION 2015: Conservative candidate pays tribute to former Labour MP after winning his Corby seat". Northamptonshire Telegraph. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  8. "Northamptonshire MPs call for county council takeover". BBC News. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  9. "Guido Fawkes on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  10. Cowburn, Ashley (12 February 2019). "Conservatives appoint 48-year-old MP as youth spokesman". The Independent. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  11. Mason, Rowena; Ward, Megan (17 February 2016). "Two Conservative MPs scheduled to speak at Ukip spring conference". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  12. "Arron Banks anger at Peter Bone and Tom Pursglove payments". BBC News. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  13. "Tom Pursglove interview: I woke up aged 13 and knew I wanted to be a politician". Total Politics. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  14. "Tom Pursglove: Tory's Youngest MP On Louise Mensch, Loving Margaret Thatcher and Why Roger Moore Was The Best Bond". Huffington Post. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  15. "FRACKING UNDER NATIONAL PARKS 'RUBBER STAMPED' BY COMMITTEE". Process Industry Match. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  16. "Tory MP Tom Pursglove On Winning Back Trust After Louise Mensch And Why Roger Moore Was The Best Bond". HuffPost UK. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  17. "TOGETHER AGAINST WIND LTD". Companies House. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Andy Sawford		 Member of Parliament
for Corby
2015–current		 Succeeded by
imcumbent
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