Edward John Comport Argar (born 9 December 1977) is a British politician serving as
Minister of State for Victims and Sentencing since October 2022. He briefly served as
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...
in October 2022. A member of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, he previously served as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice is a junior position in the Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
N ...
from 2018 to 2019,
Minister of State for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate Minister of Mental Health, ministers ...
from 2019 to 2022, and as
Paymaster General
His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP.
History
The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posit ...
from September to October 2022. Argar has been 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 of ...
(MP) for
Charnwood since the
2015 general election.
Early life
Argar was born in
Ashford and educated at the
Harvey Grammar School
The Harvey Grammar School is located in Folkestone, Kent, England. It is a grammar school with academy status founded by the family of William Harvey in 1674.
Admissions
A selective school for boys only, the school has around 900 on its roll. ...
, before earning a
2:1 in modern history at
Oriel College, Oxford
Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...
.
Early career and Westminster council career
After leaving university, he spent four years working as Press Secretary for Shadow Foreign Secretary
Lord Ancram, who at the time shared an office with then Shadow Cabinet Minister Sir
Alan Duncan
Sir Alan James Carter Duncan (born 31 March 1957) is a British former Conservative Party politician who served as Minister of State for International Development from 2010 to 2014 and as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 201 ...
.
After working for Lord Ancram, he worked for Hedra, a management consultancy which was taken over by
Mouchel
Mouchel Group was an infrastructure and business services company headquartered in Woking, United Kingdom. It provided advisory, design, project delivery and managed services associated with infrastructure and business services across the high ...
. In February 2013, he was elected onto the South East Regional Council of the
CBI, describing himself as 'Head of Public Affairs,
Serco UK & Europe'.
He became a Conservative member of
Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...
in 2006 and a cabinet member in 2008.
He contested the council leadership in 2012, but lost to
Philippa Roe
Philippa Marion Roe, Baroness Couttie (25 September 1962 – 12 December 2022) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, who served as Executive arrangements#Leader and cabinet, Leader of Westminster City Council from 2012 t ...
.
Parliament
He stood in
Oxford East
Oxford East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Anneliese Dodds of the Labour Party, who also serves as party chair.
Created in 1983, the constituency covers the eastern and southern parts of Oxfor ...
in the
2010 general election, with his election leaflet promising a Conservative government would deliver a fairer society with improved public services and more NHS investment. However, he was defeated by
Andrew Smith, the former
Work and Pensions minister. Argar subsequently attended selections in the constituencies of
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
,
Tonbridge and Malling
Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Tonbridge is the largest settlement but the authority is based in the modern development of Kings Hill.
Geography
Tonbridge and Malling Borough covers ...
,
Wealden and
Mid Worcestershire
Mid Worcestershire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Nigel Huddleston, a Conservative.
Members of Parliament
Constituency profile
Income levels are on average considerably higher than th ...
, before being selected to contest the safe seat of Charnwood previously held by
Stephen Dorrell
Stephen James Dorrell (born 25 March 1952) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough between 1979 and 1997 and then for Charnwood from 1997 to 2015.
Dorrell most recentl ...
; a ''Daily Telegraph'' article praising
open primaries
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
referred to him as a "serial candidate."
The ''
Leicester Mercury
The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its pre ...
'', noting his selection had attracted criticism, asked whether Parliamentary candidates should have a link to the constituency.
Argar gave his maiden speech on 4 June 2015. He praised his predecessor, Stephen Dorrell and described the constituency as a post 2010 success story but said he would be "continuing to campaign for fairer funding ..for its schools." On other issues, he said that although the Government had made significant progress in dementia care and mental health provision, more was needed and he promised to vocally support those committed to further improvement. However he was there to represent the whole community in Charnwood, including those on the fringes and he passionately believed in
one-nationism.
Argar was opposed to Brexit prior to the
2016 referendum.
Dementia awareness campaign
Argar opened a debate on dementia in September 2015. He praised the work done by the previous Labour government in formulating a dementia strategy and described a visit to a
Syston community centre. He said some 21m people have a close friend or family member with the disease, and stated that the government has committed £66m to research. He also paid tribute to the
Alzheimer’s Society
Alzheimer's Society is a United Kingdom care and research charity for people with dementia and their carers. It operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while its sister charitieAlzheimer Scotlandand Alzheimer's Society of Ireland cover ...
,
Alzheimer's Research UK
Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK) is a dementia research charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1992 as the Alzheimer's Research Trust.
ARUK funds scientific studies to find ways to treat, cure or prevent all forms of dementia, including Alzhei ...
and
Age UK
Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009, and launched on 1 April 2009, which combined the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern England and Help the Aged to form the UK's largest ch ...
for their work.
Writing in the ''
Tribune
Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...
'' in October 2015, Argar put the annual cost of the disease, which affects 850,000 people, at £23 billion, and argued for government departments, including hospitals, to become dementia-friendly places. He hoped
Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a to ...
, which had amongst the lowest Government funding, would get a better deal to help provide care support for rural areas. According to Argar, dementia patients stay 20% longer than average in hospitals, and he expressed concern that 41% of hospitals do not include awareness training during staff induction.
Ministerial career
Argar was appointed
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 H ...
to the
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
in the January 2019 reshuffle. He was later appointed Under-Secretary of State for Justice in June 2018 replacing
Philip Lee. Argar was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care on 10 September 2019. Argar was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice between 14 June 2018 and 10 September 2019. The website ''Conservative Home'' noted that by appointing someone who always followed the party line, Theresa May had missed an opportunity to silence a potential critic. The Law Gazette described him as 'a little-known backbencher' and said that like Lee his role would include responsibility for treatment of women and child offenders.
Argar's appointment as
Minister of State for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate Minister of Mental Health, ministers ...
preceded the start of the
COVID-19 virus
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a p ...
arrival in January 2020. In June 2020, Argar was interviewed by
Nick Robinson Nicholas, Nicky or Nick Robinson may refer to:
* Nick Robinson (journalist) (born 1963), British political journalist
* Nick Robinson (paperfolder) (born 1957), British origami artist
* Nicky Robinson (rugby union) (born 1982), Welsh rugby player ...
on the BBC ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'' programme. His new quarantine policy was designed to stop travellers from high risk countries from importing the disease. However, asked three times to name European countries with a higher infection rate, Argar repeatedly described the policy leading Robinson to interrupt him saying he was either unable or unwilling to answer the question.
On 6 July 2022, Argar resigned from government in the wake of widespread criticism of
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
's handling of the
Chris Pincher scandal
The Chris Pincher scandal is a political controversy in the United Kingdom related to allegations of sexual misconduct by the former Conservative Party Deputy Chief Whip, Chris Pincher. In early July 2022, allegations of Pincher's misconduct ...
, following a large number of other
ministerial resignations.
On 7 September 2022, he was appointed Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office in Liz Truss’s first cabinet. He was sworn-in as a member of 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 mon ...
on 13 September 2022 following his appointment.
On 14 October 2022, following the dismissal of
Kwasi Kwarteng
Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng (born 26 May 1975) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne in northern Surrey since May 2010. He was Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industria ...
as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Argar was appointed as
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...
replacing
Chris Philp
Christopher Ian Brian Mynott Philp (born 6 July 1976) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire since October 2022. He served as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General in October 2022. A me ...
.
Upon the appointment of
Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...
as Prime Minister, Argar left the Cabinet and was appointed Minister of State for Victims and Sentencing in the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
.
Personal life
According to his 2015 election leaflets, he owned a house in
Syston, though Westminster City Council documents showed he was a tenant in a flat in Winchester Street,
Pimlico
Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...
, in March 2015.
[Source Westminster city council "Declaration file for Councillor Edward Argar.pdf" downloaded 23 March 2015]
Argar married Laetitia Glossop on 3 September 2022, at the parish church in Hindon, Wiltshire.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argar, Edward
Living people
1977 births
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
Conservative Party (UK) councillors
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Councillors in the City of Westminster
People educated at The Harvey Grammar School
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present
People from Ashford, Kent
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom Paymasters General
Chief Secretaries to the Treasury