Ben Gummer | |
|---|---|
 Gummer in 2016 | |
| Minister for the Cabinet Office | |
| In office 14 July 2016 – 11 June 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Matt Hancock |
| Succeeded by | Damian Green |
| Paymaster General | |
| In office 14 July 2016 – 11 June 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Matt Hancock |
| Succeeded by | Mel Stride |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Services | |
| In office 12 May 2015 – 14 July 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Dan Poulter |
| Succeeded by | Nicola Blackwood |
| Member of Parliament forIpswich | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 3 May 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Chris Mole |
| Succeeded by | Sandy Martin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1978-02-19)19 February 1978 (age 47) London, England |
| Party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Peterhouse, Cambridge |
Benedict Michael Gummer (born 19 February 1978) is a British businessman and former politician. He is a partner of Gummer Leathes, a property developer.[1][2] He is a senior adviser toMcKinsey & Company, the management consultancy, and a visiting fellow at theBlavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.[3]
Gummer served as theMember of Parliament (MP) forIpswich from 2010 to 2017.[4] A member of theConservative Party, he becameMinister for the Cabinet Office andPaymaster General in theFirst May ministry in 2016, entering the cabinet as its youngest member. Helost his seat in the House of Commons in the2017 general election.
Gummer is the eldest child of former Conservative Cabinet MinisterJohn Gummer, and Penelope Jane (née Gardner). John Gummer was MP forSuffolk Coastal until the 2010 general election, when he moved to the House of Lords. Gummer attended St Saviour's Church of England Primary School inEaling,West London.
He was then privately educated. Firstly, between 1987 and 1991, he was a chorister atSt John's College School,Cambridge, where he sang underGeorge Guest andChristopher Robinson. And then atTonbridge School inKent, where Gummer was a music scholar.
Having won the Vellacott Historical Essay Prize, he graduated with astarred double first inHistory atPeterhouse, Cambridge, where he was an "exhibitioner" and "scholar".[5]
After graduating, Gummer ran a small engineering firm. Between 2005 and 2010, he was managing director of the family-owned Sancroft International, a corporate responsibility consultancy.[5]
Gummer published a history of theBlack Death,The Scourging Angel, in 2009.[6][7] The book received favourable reviews. InThe Times Literary Supplement,Jonathan Sumption commented that Gummer "establishes the facts more thoroughly than any of his predecessors".[5]Andrew Roberts described it as a "moving and incisive history" and named it one of his 'Books of the Year' inThe Daily Telegraph.[8]
Gummer was selected byopen primary as the Conservative candidate in August 2007 for theIpswich constituency.[9][10] His main three pledges were the retention of services atIpswich Hospital, a crackdown on binge drinking, and no new housing without provision of infrastructure.[11] Gummer defeated incumbent Labour MPChris Mole and became MP for the Ipswich constituency in thegeneral election of 2010, enjoying the largest majority of any Conservative in Ipswich since 1935.[12] In the2015 election, Gummer was re-elected with an increased majority. In April 2017 Theresa May made him responsible for co-ordination of the Conservative manifesto alongside her former advisorNick Timothy.[13] He lost his seat in the2017 election by a margin of 831 votes to theLabour candidateSandy Martin.[14]
Before becoming a minister, Gummer sat on two separate finance bill committees, as well as those on childcare payments,defamation,legal aid, and terrorism prevention.[15] He was a member of the UK parliamentary delegation to theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and a patron of theLongford Trust.[16][non-primary source needed]
Gummer used his maiden speech to argue for rapid deficit and debt reduction andpenal reform.[17] He has spoken stronglyagainst votes for prisoners,[18] but in favour of more constructive prison and probation sentences.[19]He has described himself as "alibertarian" and has said that he has "absolutely no problem" withgay marriage,[20] subsequently voting for it in Parliament.[21] He also added his name to an amendment to clause one of theProtection of Freedoms Bill, which calls for the word 'insulting' to be dropped from section 5 of thePublic Order Act.[22] Gummer was strongly in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union and described himself as "devastated" by the result.[23]
In 2012, Gummer proposed annualtax statements intended to show itemised spending per department in proportion to the amount the taxpayer paid in the year to date.[24] Gummer's proposal was favourably received by the press in the UK and in the US by the Wall Street Journal[25] It was included in the 2012 Budget and due for introduction in 2014 withGeorge Osborne calling it "an excellent idea".[26] TheTaxPayers' Alliance subsequently honoured Gummer as their 'Pin-Up of the Month'.[27]
It was also supported by theprime minister. Gummer's breakdown showed that someone with a salary of £25,500 in 2012 would be paying for the following through their income tax and national insurance contributions:
Gummer emphasised that this would help refute suggestions that most taxation goes to the EU, Africa or Trident.[28]
In the financial dailiesCity AM[29] and theFinancial Times[30] Gummer has called for Swedish style fiscal rules. While other MPs argued for a 'deficit ceiling',[31] Gummer argued instead that the government should change the way it sets budgets, ensuring a budget surplus over the medium term. To this end, in the 2012–13 session of Parliament he introduced aPrivate Members' Bill titled the 'Public Debt Management Bill', the aim of which was to introduce rule whereby theChancellor of the Exchequer must ensure that the budget is in surplus by at least 1% of over the course of each business cycle.[32] The bill was not taken forward, although in 2015 rules along similar lines, with theOffice for Budget Responsibility involved in the way Gummer's bill suggested, were adopted by the government.[33]
In February 2014, Gummer brought in aten minute rule bill to renameNational Insurance contributions as an Earnings Tax.[34] Although back-benchers were reported to be enthusiastic, the Treasury, which had launched a consultation exercise on it in 2011, is believed to have considered it too expensive.[35]
In May 2012, Gummer was appointed Parliamentary Adviser toAndrew, Lord Feldman, the Conservative Party co-chairman, helping him to develop the relationship between Conservative Campaign Headquarters and Conservative MPs.[36] In September 2012, Gummer was promoted to Parliamentary Private Secretary toAlan Duncan,Minister of State for International Development, in the government reshuffle.[37] Duncan was responsible forAsia, theMiddle East,Caribbean andOverseas Territories, International Finance, International Relations (except theEU), Trade, and Corporate Performance Divisions.[citation needed]
In October 2013, he became PPS to the Education Secretary,Michael Gove.[38] Following the 2014 reshuffle, Gummer became PPS toNicky Morgan. In May 2015 he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health.[39]
Following the 2015 general election, Gummer became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Care Quality in the Department of Health, one of the broadest junior ministerial briefs. Gummer's ministerial responsibilities included NHS hospitals, the NHS workforce, maternity care, patient safety and end of life care. Gummer's achievements include a new strategy to deal with high levels of stillbirths,[40] the government commitment to ensure high quality, compassionate end of life care across the health system by 2020[41] and the introduction of reforms to nursing training and bursaries, which aim to create 10,000 more nursing, midwifery and allied health degree places and launching a consultation on a new nursing associate role.[42] His ministerial role also involved him in theJunior Doctors' contract dispute and negotiations with the chair of theBMA junior doctors' committee Dr Johann Malawana. Gummer claimed that the new contract was "fair to all, including protected groups, whilst recognising the importance of the contract continuing to be built on equal pay principles".[43] After a series of strikes the BMA returned to the negotiating table and agreed a deal with the government, although its membership rejected the deal, leading to Dr Malawana's resignation.[44]
In July 2016, Gummer was promoted by new prime ministerTheresa May to the position ofMinister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General. His ministerial responsibilities included the development, co-ordination and implementation of government policy, management of the functions of government (people, digital, property,procurement and security), oversight of the civil service, constitutional issues, the resilience of the UK's infrastructure and cyber security. A profile of Gummer byAndrew Gimson for Conservative Home described him as "the most important minister whose role you've never heard of…Gummer enjoys the confidence of May and her advisers, who describe him as 'first class'".[45]
In October 2014, Gummer launched the campaign for a new Wet Dock Crossing, as the project was called at the time.[46][47] The project consists of three proposed new crossings to theRiver Orwell close to Ipswich town centre. The purpose of the crossings is to facilitate regeneration and reduce congestion in the town.[48] £2 million were awarded by the Government in the 2015 budget to allow detailed plans for the project to be drawn up.[49][50] The business case for the crossings, which noted that for every £1 invested, the scheme would yield £5.73 of direct benefits[51] was submitted to the governmental administration in January 2016. Gummer lobbied Chancellor of the ExchequerGeorge Osborne for the money needed[citation needed] and in the budget 2016, Osborne announced that the government would be funding the crossings.[52]
The project was subsequently renamed the Upper Orwell Crossings.[53] Some of the project's supporters include: The New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, Ipswich Borough Council, TheUniversity of Suffolk, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce,Associated British Ports (the landowner), and Suffolk County Council who are responsible for delivering the project.[54]
Gummer lobbied theChancellor of the Exchequer for £500 million of investment into East Anglia's railways, along withNorwich North MPChloe Smith andWitham MPPriti Patel,[55] and has called for caps on rail fare increases.[56]
In January 2018, Gummer joinedMcKinsey & Company, and theBlavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. As of June 2018, he had not spoken in public since the 2017 election.[57]
Gummer is married to Sarah Langford, a barrister in criminal and family law. They have two sons.[58]
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{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)[permanent dead link]| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forIpswich 2010–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for the Cabinet Office 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Paymaster General 2016–2017 | Succeeded by | |
| Cabinet members | _(St_Edwards_Crown).svg) | |
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| Also attended meetings | ||
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