Benjamin John Howlett (born 21 August 1986) is an English Conservative Party politician. He was the

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 ofte ...

(MP) for

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

between the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

and 2017 general elections.

Early life and career

Ben Howlett was born on 21 August 1986. He was educated at Manningtree High School in Essex, then studied History and Politics at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

, and a Masters in Economic History at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He served as President of the Durham University Conservative Association in 2007. He lived in Little Oakley, which is on the outskirts of

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton- ...

. Howlett worked as a recruitment consultant from 2008 to 2015, latterly specialising in non-medical positions in the healthcare sector.

Political career

Howlett joined the Conservative Party in 2004, working for MP

Douglas Carswell John Douglas Wilson Carswell (born 3 May 1971) is a British former politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2005 to 2017, co-founded Vote Leave and currently serves as president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. ...

, and from 2007 to 2010 for London MEP

Syed Kamall Syed Salah Kamall, Baron Kamall (born 15 February 1967) is a British politician and academic, who from September to October 2022 served in HM Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and ...

. He has been leader of the Conservative group on

Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...

. He was chair of

Conservative Future Conservative Future (CF) was the youth movement of the Conservative Party in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The organisation was made up of all members of the Conservative Party who were 30 years old or younger. Conservative Future was fo ...

from 2010 to 2013. In November 2015, following the suicide of a young Conservative activist, Elliott Johnson, Howlett told the BBC's ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also avail ...

'' programme that "institutionalised bullying" in the youth team had been "swept under the carpet" because the party did not want to lose the 2015 general election. Howlett moved to

after spending two weeks in the city campaigning to be selected as the Conservative candidate in November 2013. In January 2015, he said his party "wouldn't have a hope in hell here if it weren't for Don Foster standing down". He subsequently gained the seat at the 2015 general election, succeeding the retiring Liberal Democrat MP. Howlett sat on the Women and Equalities Select Committee and the Petitions Select Committee from July 2015 to May 2017. Howlett was opposed to

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

. In the wake of the referendum result, he argued that Britain should stay in the European Single Market. In October 2016, he asked the Minister of State for Universities and Science

Jo Johnson Joseph Edmund Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylebone, (born 23 December 1971) is a British politician who was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from July to September 2019, as well as previously from 2015 to 2 ...

to leave international students out of immigration figures in order to ensure British universities remain attractive on the global stage. Howlett later said, in support of allegations made in the 2022

Partygate Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about parties and other gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gath ...

political scandal, that Conservative

whips A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

had threatened that funding to investigate a new link road for Bath would be withheld if he did not support key Brexit votes. He lost Bath to the Liberal Democrat

Wera Hobhouse Wera Benedicta Hobhouse ( von Reden; born 8 February 1960) is a German-British politician. A member of the Liberal Democrats, Hobhouse has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath since 2017 and serves as the Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of th ...

in the 2017 general election.

Later career

In July 2017 Howlett became joint director, later managing director, of consultancy Public Policy Projects, working in the areas of health, care and other public policy, and also works on the ''Hospital Times '' publication.

Personal life

Howlett is gay and is a proponent of same sex marriage. He is a Christian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howlett, Ben 1986 births Alumni of St John's College, Durham Alumni of the University of Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) councillors Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Essex Gay politicians LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom English LGBT politicians Living people People from Tendring (district) Politics of Bath, Somerset UK MPs 2015–2017 21st-century LGBT people LGBT Christians