Alec Shelbrooke
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Alec Edward Shelbrooke (born 10 January 1976) is a British
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
politician who has been
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Elmet and Rothwell Elmet and Rothwell is a constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its creation in 2010 by Alec Shelbrooke, a Conservative. In the 2017 general election, Elmet and Rothwell recorded the l ...
since
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. He served as
Minister of State for Defence Procurement The Minister of State for Defence Procurement is, as a Minister of State, a mid-level defence minister in the Ministry of Defence of the British Government. The current incumbent of the post, Conservative MP Alex Chalk, was appointed in October 2 ...
in the
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
from September 2022 to October 2022.


Early life

Born in 1976 in
Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...
, South London, Shelbrooke was educated at Saint George's Church of England Comprehensive School, Gravesend, and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from
Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In Jun ...
in 1998. After leaving university, Shelbrooke worked as a kitchen and bathroom fitter, and later as a project administrator at the
University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...
.


Political career

He has fought four local government elections (being elected to
Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of ...
in
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
and re-elected in
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...
as Councillor for Harewood Ward) and unsuccessfully stood in
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
at the 2005 General Election. He was Deputy Chairman of Elmet Conservative Association from 2001 to 2004. After entering parliament, in November 2010 Shelbrooke was confirmed as
Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the ...
(PPS) to Minister of State for Transport
Theresa Villiers Theresa Anne Villiers (born 5 March 1968) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005. A member of the ...
. In September 2012, Shelbrooke was made PPS to
Minister of State for Northern Ireland The Minister of State for Northern Ireland is a mid-level position in the Northern Ireland Office in the British government. It is currently held by Steve Baker, who took the office on 7 September 2022. Responsibilities The minister has the ...
,
Mike Penning Sir Michael Alan Penning (born 28 September 1957) is a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hemel Hempstead since 2005. Penning was the Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2016 to 20 ...
. He announced his delight at taking over the responsibility for "Northern Island" icon Twitter and later blamed the spelling mistake on autocorrect. In December 2012, Shelbrooke introduced a
Ten Minute Rule The Ten Minute Rule, also known as Standing Order No. 23, is a procedure in the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the introduction of Private Member's Bills in addition to the 20 per session normally permissible. It is one of the ways in whic ...
bill under which UK welfare claimants would be issued with a cash card instead of receiving their benefits in cash. The card would only permit claimants to make purchases such as food, clothing, energy, travel and housing, and prevent them purchasing items considered non-essential, such as cigarettes, alcohol, satellite television, and gambling. He became PPS to the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...
in 2014. Shelbrooke was opposed to the UK leaving the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum. In 2016, Shelbrooke commissioned a report written by Mark McBride-Wright quantifying the impact of homophobia within the engineering industry. In 2017, he became Vice Chairman (International) of the Conservative Party, a soft-power role designed to promote the UK's interests overseas as well as supporting centre-right political parties in the developing world through the
Westminster Foundation for Democracy The Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) is a United Kingdom non-departmental public body set up to support democratic institutions overseas. It was established on 26 February 1992 and registered as a company limited by guarantee in the UK ...
. Shelbrooke remains an officer of the
International Democrat Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, ...
. Shelbrooke was an Executive Member of the 1922 Committee during a period of turbulence within the Conservative Party leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019. He was appointed to the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
in Theresa May's retirement honours list. Shelbrooke backed Jeremy Hunt in the
2019 Conservative Party leadership election The 2019 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered when Theresa May announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June and as prime minister of the United Kingdom once a successor had been el ...
that followed. In 2020, Shelbrooke was appointed Leader of the UK Delegation to the
NATO Parliamentary Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...
. In July 2022, Shelbrooke rebelled from the government for the first time in his parliamentary career by voting against the approval of the
Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022 The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022 is a statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The regulations removed Regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employmen ...
. On 7 September 2022, he was appointed
Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...
in the
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
as part of the Truss administration because of his overt support for Liz Truss in her leadership campaign. Shelbrooke was then immediately sacked on 26 October 2022 by the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and returned to the back benches.


References


External links

*
Conservative Part Website – Official ProfileAlec Shelbrooke's Twitter Account
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelbrooke, Alec 1976 births Living people Alumni of Brunel University London Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present Councillors in Leeds People from Gravesend, Kent Deaf politicians Deaf people from England Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom