Robert Wilson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Civil Society | |
| In office 27 September 2014 – 9 June 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Brooks Newmark |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Ashton of Hyde |
| Member of Parliament forReading East | |
| In office 5 May 2005 – 3 May 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Jane Griffiths |
| Succeeded by | Matt Rodda |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1965-01-04)4 January 1965 (age 60) |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party(Before 1988) Conservative(1988–present) |
| Alma mater | University of Reading |
| Website | Official website |
Robert Owen Biggs Wilson[1] (born 4 January 1965) is an English politician and political author. He was electedConservative Member of Parliament for theReading East parliamentary constituency in the2005 general election, being re-elected in the elections of2010 and2015, before being defeated in2017.[2] He becameMinister for Civil Society in theCabinet Office on 27 September 2014.
Wilson was born and brought up in southOxfordshire. He attendedWallingford School and then, between 1984 and 1988, theUniversity of Reading, where he studiedhistory. He spent his final year at university as the President of theReading University Students' Union. Wilson was a member of theSocial Democratic Party.[3][4][5]
Wilson joined the Conservatives, and was elected as one of three councillors for theThames ward ofReading Borough Council in 1992, serving one term (until 1996).[6] In 1997, he unsuccessfully contestedBolton North East atthat year's general election.[6]
In 2003 he was elected for theCaversham ward of Reading Borough Council, in a by-election for a one-year term. The following year, he was again elected a councillor for Thames ward. Following his election as Member of Parliament, he stood down from the Council in May 2006.[6]
Wilson was selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate forReading East using a pioneering primary system, which opened the selection to non-party members for the first time. At the2005 General Election he faced the Labour candidate and councillor,Tony Page.[7] Page had replaced sitting MP, Labour'sJane Griffiths, who had been de-selected by her party.[7] Wilson won 15,557 votes (35.4%) against Page's 15,082 votes (34.3%).[8] The Conservative share of the vote increased by 3.4%.[3][8]
After his election, Wilson made hismaiden speech on 23 May 2005.[1] He served on theEducation and Skills Select Committee, selected by the committee chair. Here he played a role in thecommittee stage of the Education and Inspections Bill, on issues such asSpecial Educational Needs.[6] In July 2007 Wilson was promoted to theConservative frontbench as Shadow Higher Education Minister replacingBoris Johnson.[6]
The MP, during his terms of office, promoted a major anti knife-crime campaign of Reading's papers; to do so meeting with crime victims' families andThames Valley Police. Wilson successfully lobbied theDfT,Network Rail andlocal council to secure funding for the expansion and increase in facilities atReading railway station – associated with investment into high rise and mid rise offices, retail and hotels in Reading. He jointly with former Labour MPMartin Salter successfully lobbied for the extension ofCrossrail services to and from Reading, providing direct trains to much of Central London, and western parts of Essex and Kent.[9]
On 6 May 2010, Wilson was re-elected by the people of Reading East with a majority of 15.2% of those who voted and 42.6% of the vote. In the resultingConservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government from May 2010, the Liberal Democrats shared in ministerial positions. Wilson was among Shadow Ministers in the previous Parliament that were not offered a position as a Minister in coalition. In 2010 he was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,Jeremy Hunt MP.[6]
In July 2014 the MP stated that he would have accepted an undisclosed ministerial position but wished to use his spare time to publish a book on the scandals involving former MPChris Huhne (who perverted the course of justice by lying about driving too fast to keep hisdriving licence) and the Chief Whip'splebgate incident each of which meant they lost their ministerial positions.[10] He had earlier been offered a position as a junior government whip but refused this as still writing the same book.[10] Critics, unnamed in aBBC interview with Wilson, attributed his decision to decline a promotion to their perception that the Conservative Party was likely to lose both of itsReading seats and said that in writing this sort ofpolemic, the government may prefer not to promote Wilson.[10]
The Prime Minister's office appointed Wilson to the government as a minister on 27 September 2014, following the resignation ofBrooks Newmark following allegations inDaily Mirror that Newmark had sent sexually explicit images to an undercover reporter[11][12] He became theMinister for Civil Society which entails charities,volunteering andsocial enterprise, which he accepted a month after finishing the book, which he assessed as incompatible with being in a senior government or opposition role.
On 8 May 2015, Wilson was again re-elected by the people of Reading East, with 23,217 votes and a majority of 6,520, compared to 7,605 in 2010.[13] Shortly after retaining his seat in the 2015 general election, Wilson sparked controversy with a remark on Twitter in which he seemed to show a lack of interest in solving his constituency's rising homelessness problem. When asked about how his party's cuts would help solve it, he responded with "Don't be a bad loser." This sparked considerable outrage online, including a petition on 38 Degrees for him to be removed from office.[14]
In July 2015, he was forced to defend his claims for travel expenses, which included 9p for a 352-yard car journey to a constituency event and 60p for a journey on his bicycle between his constituency office, the railway station and home. He said that putting such small costs on expenses might seem "odd", but said that over a year mileage "does add up". He pointed out he had not claimed any accommodation expenses in London since becoming an MP in 2005, saving taxpayers "hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, as I do commute most days it does mean I incur parking and mileage expenses instead".[15]
In the run-up to theEU referendum of 2016, Wilson publicly indicated that he believed the UK should remain a member of theEuropean Union whilst not actively campaigning for it since he believed that he should stay neutral. In 2017 he voted to triggerarticle 50.[16]
On 8 June 2017, Wilson was defeated in thegeneral election called byTheresa May in an unsuccessful attempt to increase her majority prior to the negotiations over the exit from the European Union. He received 23,344 votes, but came second toMatt Rodda, standing for theLabour Party, with 27,093 votes, a majority of 3,759.[17]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forReading East 2005–2017 | Succeeded by |
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