Adam Holloway | |
|---|---|
| Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury | |
| In office 6 September 2022 – 25 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Liz Truss |
| Preceded by | Sir James Duddridge |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Double |
| Member of Parliament forGravesham | |
| In office 5 May 2005 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Chris Pond |
| Succeeded by | Lauren Sullivan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Adam James Harold Holloway (1965-07-29)29 July 1965 (age 60) |
| Party | Reform UK (since 2025) |
| Other political affiliations | Conservative (until 2025) |
| Education | Magdalene College, Cambridge (MA); Imperial College, London (MBA) |
| Alma mater | Cranleigh School |
| Website | adamholloway |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch/service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1987–1991 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Grenadier Guards |
| Battles/wars | Gulf War |
| Awards |  Gulf Medal |
Adam James Harold Holloway (born 29 July 1965) is a British politician and military veteran who was theMember of Parliament (MP) forGravesham from 2005 until 2024. He resigned from theConservative Party in 2025 to joinReform UK.
A staunch supporter of pro-Brexit lobby groupLeave Means Leave,[1] Holloway was elected to the ParliamentaryHome Affairs Select Committee andEuropean Scrutiny Committee.[2] Appointed as Assistant Government Whip in July 2022 byPrime MinisterBoris Johnson, he was promotedGovernment Whip from September to October 2022.[3]
A formerBritish Army Captain, Holloway was commissioned into theGrenadier Guards (1987–92) and served on attachment to theSAS during theFirst Gulf War.
Producer of theWorld in Action award-winning programmeNo Fixed Abode (1991) after just three months' experiencinghomelessness on the streets of London, Holloway established himself inundercover journalism becoming atelevision broadcaster withITN/ITV andSky News before entering parliament atthe 2005 general election by unseating Labour'sChris Pond.[4]
Scion of aWest Country family, includingcollateral ancestorAdmiral John Holloway, he was born in 1965 atFaversham inKent toRoger Holloway and Anne Matthewsnée Alsop.
After attendingCranleigh School inSurrey, Holloway spent hisgap year with theAfghan mujahideen during theSoviet–Afghan War.[5] He then went up toMagdalene College, Cambridge, where he read social andpolitical sciences, graduatingBA (proceedingMA). As an undergraduate Holloway spent his summer holidays revisitingAfghanistan then witnessing theNicaraguan Revolution before teaching atSoweto, South Africa.[6]
Holloway later pursued further studies atImperial College, London, being awardedMBA.[5]
After Cambridge, Holloway enteredRMA Sandhurst and in 1987 was commissioned into theGrenadier Guards. As asubaltern with the20th Armoured Infantry he served with theBritish Army on the Rhine.[6] PromotedCaptain, he saw action in theGulf War withUK Special Forces on attachment from1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards at theBattle of Norfolk as part of the1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division.[7]
Leaving the army in 1991, Holloway worked as aninvestigative journalist and TV reporter withITN andITV.He produced an award-winning documentary series for the ITV programmeWorld in Action, called "No Fixed Abode" (1991). In this series he locked access to his bank account and "slept rough" on the streets of London, for three months, in order to shed light on the difficulties experienced by thehomeless, particularly those suffering from mental illness.[8] In 2018, as an MP, Holloway slept rough again in London, for seven days, to see whether homelessness conditions had changed during the previous three decades.[9]
In the ITV seriesDisguises, Holloway received training from two clinical psychiatrists before posing as a schizrophrenic in various English cities.[10] He also went undercover as aBosnian Muslim fleeing ethnic cleansing inthe Balkans and witnessedpeople-smuggling firsthand.[11]
ITN Balkans correspondent during thesiege of Sarajevo,[12] then undercover as lead investigator for ITVNews at 10, Holloway successfully exposed aFilipinochild prostitution ring by posing as a paedophile.[13]
Noted for hisundercover journalism in theSangatterefugee camp at Calais posing as an economic migrant, Holloway was also awar reporter during theIraq War alongsideMarie Colvin ofThe Sunday Times.[14][15]
Holloway delivered hismaiden speech in theHouse of Commons on 28 June 2005, praising his constituency's multicultural community and raising issues about local crime.[16]
In a 2009 report written by Holloway, he described how some of the claims about Iraq havingweapons of mass destruction, used to support the UK Government's case forthe invasion in 2003, originated from an Iraqi taxi driver.[17] Particularly the claim about their ability to be "ready to launch in 45 minutes," which was one of the "central planks" of the government's case.[18][19] According to Holloway, the unreliability of some sources was not expressed by MI6 while preparing the case for war because of pressure from thePrime Minister's Office.[18]
As an MP, Holloway took a close interest in thewar in Afghanistan where he visited, at his own expense, about a dozen times. In 2009 he wrote a paper for theCentre for Policy Studies titled "In Blood Stepp'd in too Far" which outlined the policies that he thought should be implemented during the War in Afghanistan: establishing an "honest government," ensuring that "tribal structures are supported, and "maintaining low levels of allied troops."[20]
In the wake of theWestminster parliamentary expenses scandal in 2009, he was ordered bySir Thomas Legg, the head of a committee examining abuse of expenses by Members of Parliament, to repay £1,000 to the Exchequer which he had misguidedly claimed in 2007.[21][22]
Holloway was returned as MP for Gravesham at thegeneral election of 6 May 2010 with 22,956 votes (48.5% of the vote) and an increased majority of 9,312.
In October 2010 he was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) toDavid Lidington,Minister of State for Europe andNATO in theForeign and Commonwealth Office.[23] In 2011, Holloway undertook a fact-finding mission to Libya during theoverthrow of Colonel Muanmar Gaddafi.[24]In October 2011, he resigned from the government when he was whipped to vote against a non-binding Backbench Motion offering the British people a referendum on Europe.[25] When speaking about his decision he said: "I'm not now prepared to go back on my word to constituents and I'm really staggered that loyal people like me have actually been put in this position," considering that previously he had "never voted against the party line."[26] For this decision he received 'Backbencher of the Year' inThe Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards of 2011 as an MP who "in a choice between career and principle, chose principle."[27]
Holloway has also spent time in Iraq at the frontline with theIslamic State and, on his own, has visitedMosul.[28] In October 2014 he was one of just six Conservative MPs to vote against air strikes targetingDaesh in Iraq.[29] He argued the campaign hadn't "been thought through".[30] He deliberately abstained from the Commons vote oninternational military intervention against ISIL in Syria in November 2015.[31]
Holloway was again returned to Parliament at the2015 general election with a majority of 8,370.
In a September 2015 parliamentary speech Holloway described giving asylum to refugees from the Middle East as "bonkers", stating than many "asylum seekers" go on holiday in the countries they fled and used his barber as an example.[32] His barber, a Kurdish refugee, subsequently said that he was holidaying inGreat Yarmouth that week, not Iraq.[33]
Holloway publicly supportedUK withdrawal from the EU at the2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.[34] He stated his reasoning for Brexit ascontrol of immigration, preservation ofnational sovereignty and maintaining strong defence ties with the United States.[35] Holloway's constituency ofGravesham had the highest turnout of Leave voters in the United Kingdom, with 65.4% of constituents voting to exit the EU.[36]
He was criticised by political rivals in June 2017 after he was seen campaigning withJanice Atkinson, then anIndependent MEP for South East England and former UKIP member, who had been suspended from her former party after a fraud enquiry into her expenses, and who had subsequently become vice-president ofMarine Le Pen'sMovement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom European Parliament grouping.[37]
Holloway was again re-elected at the2017 general election with an increased majority of 9,347.
As Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on drones, Holloway provided an article to PoliticsHome and was interviewed aboutcombat drones byBBC Radio 5 Live on 17 July 2018.[38]
In April 2018, Holloway said in Parliament that sleeping rough is "a lot more comfortable" than military exercises and that the majority of rough sleepers were "foreign nationals", in a debate on tackling street homelessness. In response to criticism from opposition politicians, Holloway defended his position during the debate by pointing to his personal experience of being in the Army and having spent several months sleeping on the streets as part of the ITV documentaryNo Fixed Abode (1991).[39]
Holloway submitted a letter of no confidence in Prime MinisterTheresa May over herChequers plan forBrexit in November 2018.[40] He justified hisletter of no confidence by asserting "you cannot have someone leading a mission who does not believe in the mission".[40] He was one of the 28 so-called 'Brexit Spartans' who voted against May's "deal" when it was presented to Parliament for a third time in March 2019.[41]
At the2019 general election Holloway was re-elected with a majority 15,581, almost doubling his majority.
In 2020, Holloway was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary toSecretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentRobert Jenrick.[42]During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Holloway set up 'Gravesham Community Support' to encourage people to become 'Super Neighbours', in order to pool resources, and to support and help their neighbours.[43]
In July 2021, Holloway was one of five Conservative MPs found by theCommons Select Committee on Standards to have breached the code of conduct by writing toLord Chief Justice Burnett attempting to influence a judge not to release character statements they had written for former Conservative MPCharlie Elphicke, who was previously found guilty on three counts of sexual assault and sentenced to two years in prison.[44] On 22 July 2021, Holloway made a personal statement in the Commons to apologise.[45]
In February 2022, Holloway visitedUkraine immediately following theRussian invasion of the country. His trip was criticised by Downing Street who had advised against travel to the country; Holloway stated in reply that visiting Ukraine helped improve his ability to represent the electorate and understand the conflict better.[46]In March 2022, Holloway campaigned against theLower Thames Crossing. He pointed out increased congestion in his constituency and argued against the economic case of the project, calling it a "white elephant".[47]In April 2022, it was revealed that Holloway provided a character statement which was used as part of the defence case in the trial of former Conservative MPImran Ahmad Khan, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.[48]
Holloway publicly backedBoris Johnson duringPartygate andthe subsequent government crisis. He criticised the BBC for blowing the issue "out of proportion" and making Boris Johnson look like "some sort ofHannibal Lecter".[49]Holloway served as an Assistant Government Whip from July to September 2022 andGovernment Whip from September to October 2022 underBoris Johnson andLiz Truss.[3]
In June 2023, he was one of six Conservative MPs to vote against censuring Boris Johnson following theCommons Privileges Committee investigation.[50]
After representing Gravesham in the House of Commons for 5 consecutive parliamentary terms, Holloway lost his seat at the2024 general election being defeated by Labour'sLauren Sullivan.
During his 18 years in Parliament, Holloway served on variousAll-Party Parliamentary Groups andSelect Committees, last sitting on theHome Affairs Select Committee and theEuropean Scrutiny Committee.[51] He has previously served on theDefence Select Committee,Public Administration Committee,Foreign Affairs Select Committee andScience and Technology Select Committee.
Holloway was a member of All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) for Bahrain, Belize, Defence and Security Issues, Fit and Healthy Childhood, Foreign Affairs, Kazakhstan, Kurdistan in Turkey and Syria, Kyrgyzstan, London's Planning and Built Environment, Mongolia, Ukraine and Yoga in Society.[51]
Holloway served as an Assistant Government Whip from July to September 2022 in theSecond Johnson ministry, and then in theTruss ministry from September to October 2022 asGovernment Whip.[3]
Holloway was unseated at the 2024 Labour landslide, despite having been an increasingly popular constituency MP; he had increased his vote at each of the last three UK general elections.
Lauren Sullivan won Gravesham by a majority of 2,712 votes over Holloway, whose vote share slumped (as did the Conservative Party vote nationally) with Reform UK coming third with 8,910 votes,[52] sufficient to deny Holloway being returned to Parliament. Reform UK's parliamentary candidate, Matthew Fraser Moat, was subsequently elected aKent County Councillor in 2025.[53] A lifelong Conservative, after much deliberation Holloway concluded in 2025 that his and the present Conservative Party's policy outlook had diverged so much as to resign his party membership and joinReform UK.[54]
Holloway lives inMeopham and is a member of theBeefsteak andPratt's Clubs.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGravesham 2005–2024 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
