The Lord Barwell | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Downing Street Chief of Staff | |
| In office 10 June 2017 – 24 July 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Fiona Hill Nick Timothy |
| Succeeded by | Edward Lister |
| Minister of State for Housing and Planning | |
| In office 17 July 2016 – 9 June 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Brandon Lewis |
| Succeeded by | Alok Sharma |
| Minister for London | |
| In office 17 July 2016 – 9 June 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Tessa Jowell(2010) |
| Succeeded by | Greg Hands |
| Comptroller of the Household | |
| In office 11 May 2015 – 17 July 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Don Foster |
| Succeeded by | Mel Stride |
| Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |
| In office 15 July 2014 – 11 May 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Anne Milton |
| Succeeded by | George Hollingbery |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 7 October 2019 Life Peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forCroydon Central | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 3 May 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Andrew Pelling |
| Succeeded by | Sarah Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1972-01-23)23 January 1972 (age 53) Cuckfield, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Karen McKenzie |
| Children | 3 sons |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Gavin Laurence Barwell, Baron BarwellPC (born 23 January 1972) is a British politician and formerDowning Street Chief of Staff to Prime MinisterTheresa May. A member of theConservative Party, he wasMember of Parliament forCroydon Central from2010 until2017.
Barwell worked for theConservative Party headquarters from 1993 until his election in 2010 and was – between 2003 and 2006 – the party'schief operating officer, sitting on the party board and working closely with the party leadersMichael Howard andDavid Cameron. He was acouncillor in theLondon Borough of Croydon between 1998 and 2010.
He served asMinister of State for Housing and Planning in theFirst May ministry.
Barwell was sworn into thePrivy Council on 14 June 2017, alongside fellow Conservative ministerMel Stride. Shortly after losing his Parliamentary seat, he was appointedDowning Street Chief of Staff byTheresa May, following the resignations ofFiona Hill andNick Timothy on 10 June 2017. He was awarded a life peerage in 2019.
Gavin Laurence Barwell was born in January 1972 inCuckfield,West Sussex, and subsequently moved toCroydon, South London, where he was educated at theTrinity School of John Whitgift.[1][2] He read for a degree inNatural Sciences atTrinity College, Cambridge, where he wasPresident of theCambridge Union, and graduated from theUniversity of Cambridge in 1993.[2][3]
After graduating, Barwell was employed by theConservative Central Office in a number of roles between 1993 and 2010.[2]
He worked at theConservative Research Department from 1993 to 1995 as a desk officer in the home affairs section responsible for housing, local government, the environment and inner cities. He replacedJames Gray asSpecial Adviser to theSecretary of State for the EnvironmentJohn Gummer from 1995 to 1997, and was the Head of Local Government from 1998 to 2003. He served as the Chief Operating Officer in theCampaigns Headquarters between 2003 and 2006 before being employed as a "consultant" until 2010.[2]
He worked with Deputy Party ChairmanMichael Ashcroft's target seat scheme, and significantly contributed to the Conservatives' 2010 general election plan.[4]
In May 1998, Barwell was elected toCroydon Council representing the Woodcote andCoulsdon West ward. In May 2006, when the Conservatives took control of the Council, he was appointed Chief Whip of the Conservative Group and he subsequently served as the Cabinet member for resources and customer services and the Cabinet member for community safety and cohesion before standing down from the Council in May 2010.[2]
Barwell was chosen as theparliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party inCroydon Central. At the 2010 general election he defeated the sitting Independent MP,Andrew Pelling, who had previously been elected as a Conservative. Barwell gained 39.5% of the vote; his majority was 2,969 votes, theLabour candidate came second.[5] His main subject interests areeducation,urban policy,policing, thecriminal justice system,immigration andasylum rights. He was a member of the House of CommonsScience and Technology Select Committee (2010–2012) and the DraftLords Reform Bill Joint Committee (2011–2012) and, until October 2013, Barwell was Secretary of theAll-Party Parliamentary Group forTamils.
On 14 June 2012, Barwell announced that, having come fourth in thePrivate Members Bill ballot,[6] he would introduce the Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill.[7][8][9] The legislation is designed to remove automatic bans from people who have received treatment for mental illness from undertaking jury service, being removed as directors of companies and as MPs.[8][9]
The Bill was introduced in June 2012 and passed itsSecond Reading on 14 September 2012,[10] supported by all political parties[9] before passing itscommittee stage in October 2012[10] with the full support of all committee members.[11] TheReport stage andThird Reading of the Bill passed the Commons on 30 November 2012[10] before the Bill moved to theHouse of Lords where it was sponsored byLord Stevenson of Coddenham.[7] The bill passed its first reading in the Lords on 3 December 2012 and its third reading on 11 February 2013. The Bill became anAct of Parliament after receivingRoyal Assent on 28 February 2013.[12]
Lillian's Law is a law-reform campaign named after Lillian Groves, a 14-year-old constituent of Barwell's who was killed outside her home inNew Addington by a driver under the influence of drugs.[13] He was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment, reduced to four months by entering a plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity.[14]
Barwell successfully lobbied the Prime Minister,David Cameron to introduce legislation to make driving under the influence of drugs a similar offence to driving under the influence of alcohol.[13][15][16] Cameron met the Groves family and legislation was included in the 2012 Queen's Speech. The legislation created a new offence under theCrime and Courts Act 2013.[17]
Barwell was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary toGreg Clark, Minister for Cities and Decentralisation. In September 2012, he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary toMichael Gove, theSecretary of State for Education.[18] On 7 October 2013 thePrime MinisterDavid Cameron appointed Barwell to the position ofAssistant Government Whip.[16] On 15 July 2014, Cameron promoted Barwell to the position of Government Whip, Lord Commissioner.[19]
At the 2015 election, Barwell retained his seat with a majority of just 165.[20] Barwell's book,How to Win a Marginal Seat: My Year Fighting for my Political Life, was published in March 2016.[21][22] At the 2017 general election held just 15 months later, Barwell lost his marginal seat.
He wasMinister of State for Housing and Planning andMinister for London from July 2016 to June 2017.[23][20]
In December 2014, the local paperThe Croydon Advertiser called on Barwell to "stop launching campaigns" and "persistent attempts at headline-grabbing" saying "Gavin, we get it, there's an election on."[24]
The page on Wikipedia was one of a number edited ahead of the2015 general election by computers inside parliament; an act whichThe Daily Telegraph said "appears to be a deliberate attempt to hide embarrassing information from the electorate".[25]
In May 2016, a member of the public complained to theMetropolitan Police Service over possible electoral fraud in Barwell's 2015 election campaign.[26] The claims relate to the number of leaflets Barwell delivered in his constituency, as undelivered election material does not fall under the election spending limit.[27]
Barwell denied the claims, saying he followed 'proper process' when filing the election expenses.[26] Barwell was found in a separate investigation to be in breach of the Code of Conduct byKathryn Hudson, theParliamentary Commissioner for Standards.[28] However, the Police investigation concluded in October 2016 that there was no case to answer.[citation needed]
In the run up to theGrenfell disaster, Barwell was contacted seven times by the Fire Safety and Rescue All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), chaired byDavid Amess MP.[29] Their warnings of the potentially deadly consequences of Class 0 fire rated materials had gone largely unanswered, with the last letter being sent 26 days ahead of the tower fire.[30] At a similar time, a letter of concern about the use of these materials in residential buildings, particularly blocks of flats, was issued by the London Fire Brigade Commissioner, which had also gone unanswered.[31] In June 2021, Barwell was invited to give evidence at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry along with 4 other MPs.[32]
In thesnap general election of 2017, Barwell lost his seat to Labour'sSarah Jones[20] by 5,652 votes.[33] When he lost his seat he was awarded a "loss of office" (redundancy) grant of £8,802 in line with his age and length of parliamentary service. He returned the full amount to IPSA upon his appointment as Downing Street chief of staff.[34] In December 2018 it was announced that he would not be the Conservative candidate in the next election in Croydon Central.[35]
On 10 June 2017, Theresa May appointed BarwellDowning Street Chief of Staff. Following theGrenfell Tower fire of 14 June 2017, he was criticised byThe Independent for adding to delays in publishing a report into fire safety which followed the 2009Lakanal House fire.[36] The day following the fire, he walked past journalists but refused to answer any questions.[37]
Following the departure of Theresa May as Prime Minister in July 2019, Barwell stepped down as Chief of Staff and was replaced byDominic Cummings andSir Eddie Lister.[38]
In November 2020Atlantic Books acquired the rights to Barwell's book,Chief of Staff: My Time as the Prime Minister's Right-Hand Man, that was published in September 2021.[39]
Barwell was nominated for alife peerage inTheresa May's Resignation Honours List in September 2019.[40][41] He was createdBaron Barwell,ofCroydon in theLondon Borough of Croydon, on 7 October 2019.[42]
Barwell married Karen McKenzie in 2001. His wife, a speech and language therapist, previously worked at Applegarth School inNew Addington. The couple have three sons.[2] He had cancer as a child.[43]
£8,802 (Returned full amount to IPSA)
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCroydon Central 2010–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Comptroller of the Household 2015–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Housing and Planning 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for London 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Downing Street Chief of Staff 2017–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Barwell | Followed by |
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| International | |
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| People | |
