Michael James Ellwood Berry is a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

who was a Conservative Party politician while serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston and Surbiton from May 2015 to May 2017.Kingston & Surbiton Parliamentary constituency
BBC News In 2017 he returned to practising law at Serjeants' Inn Chambers.

Early life

James Berry was born and brought up in the city of Canterbury in Kent. From 1996 to 2001, he was educated at King's School, Canterbury, an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

in his home city, followed by University College London, from which he graduated, and finally at the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in the United States, where he received a degree in Law.Simmons, Richard
Meet the lawyers standing for Parliament
, ''Lawyer 2B'', 10 April 2015

Career

Returning to England, Berry worked as a

in London, specialising in healthcare, professional negligence, and police law. In May 2015, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Kingston and Surbiton. During his campaign, he had stressed education as a key interest.Edwin Newberry
Conservative candidate for Kingston and Surbiton James Berry believes education is key for aspiration.
, ''Kingston Courier'', 16 November 2014 Berry strongly supports implementation of

mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from ''sati'', a significant element of Hind ...

meditation practices and beliefs for children in schools, which he states will positively impact pupils' future workplace productivity. Berry was at odds with his party with regard to lowering the voting age, for he was an advocate of the franchise being extended to 16- and 17-year olds. He was opposed to Brexit at the time of the 2016 referendum, and his constituency voted in favour of remaining in the European Union. However, Berry subsequently voted with the government to pass the

Article 50 Withdrawal from the European Union is the legal and political process whereby an EU member state ceases to be a member of the Union. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union ( TEU) states that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from t ...

bill which became the

European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 (c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to empower the Prime Minister to give to the Council of the European Union the formal notice – required by Article 50 of the ...

. At the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

Berry lost his seat, despite gaining almost 600 votes more than his 2015 result. The previous constituency MP, Ed Davey, who had served from 1997 to 2015, beat him by a margin of 4,124 votes. In June 2017, Berry's chambers announced that he was returning to practising law full-time.Serjeants’ Inn welcomes James Berry back to Chambers
dated 22 June 2017

Personal life

Berry married a Harvard graduate in August 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, James 1983 births Alumni of University College London English barristers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Harvard Law School alumni Living people People educated at The King's School, Canterbury People from Canterbury Lawyers from Kent UK MPs 2015–2017