James Stephen Wharton, Baron Wharton of Yarm (born 16 February 1984) is a British
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 ...
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 of ...
(MP) for his home constituency of
Stockton South
Stockton South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since December 2019 by Matt Vickers, a Conservative MP.
Boundaries
1983–1997: The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees wards of Bishopsgarth, Egglescliffe, Fai ...
from the
2010 general election, until losing his seat in 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 ...
. Wharton was appointed Minister for the Northern Powerhouse after his re-election in 2015 and moved to a ministerial position in the Department for International Development by Theresa May in 2016. In September 2020, he took his seat as a member of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, taking the title Baron Wharton of Yarm.
Early life
James Wharton grew up in
Wolviston,
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly About North East E ...
. He was educated at two
independent schools:
Yarm School
Yarm School is a co-educational independent day school in Yarm, North Yorkshire in the North East of England. The school accepts pupils aged 3–18 years old and has a Nursery Pre-Prep, Preparatory School, Senior School and Sixth Form. The Sch ...
and
St Peter's School, York
St Peter's School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school (also referred to as a public school), in the English City of York, with extensive grounds on the banks of the River Ouse. Founded by St Paulinus of York in AD 627, ...
. He then studied law at
Durham University
, mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1)
, established = (university status)
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 1,830 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19)
, chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen
, vice_chan ...
, and was a member of the
Officers' Training Corps (OTC) (part of the Northumbrian UOTC).
He was Race Awareness Officer at the
Durham Students' Union
Durham Students' Union, operating as Durham SU, is the students' union of Durham University in Durham, England. It is an organisation, originally set up as the Durham Colleges Students’ Representative Council in 1899 and renamed in 1969, with ...
for the 2003/2004 academic year. He also became President of the Durham University Conservative Association during the same period. Following his graduation from Durham, he studied the
Legal Practice Course at
The College of Law in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and qualified as a solicitor with BHP Law, a firm in the north east.
Wharton joined the Conservative Party in his teens, and was made chairman of his local association at 18.
Parliamentary and political career
Wharton defeated the sitting
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP
Dari Taylor
Dari Jean Taylor (''née'' Jones; born 13 December 1944) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stockton South between the 1997 and 2010 general elections.
Biography
Taylor was born into a staunch Lab ...
to be elected as MP for Stockton South by 332 votes at the 2010 general election, making him his party's youngest MP at the age of 26, as well as one of its most precariously-placed.
From his election in May 2010 to November 2012, Wharton sat on the
Public Accounts Committee. Wharton was one of 53 Conservative MPs who voted against the Government in favour of an amendment calling for a cut in the
EU budget from 2014. Wharton claimed that his decision was "right for the British people and right for the nation's interests."
Ministerial career
Wharton was appointed
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Minister for Local Growth and the
Northern Powerhouse), the first minister dedicated to the government proposal. However, he rarely left London — a fact that was only released after a judge ruled the department had to comply with a freedom of information request — a process which took 26 months. After
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
's appointment as
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
in July 2016, Wharton was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Department for International Development
, type = Department
, logo = DfID.svg
, logo_width = 180px
, logo_caption =
, picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg
, picture_width = 180px
, picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...
.
EU Referendum Bill
On 16 May 2013, Wharton came top of a ballot of backbench MPs which entitled him to introduce a
Private Member's Bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
during the 2013–14 parliamentary session. He chose to address the issue of a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union by attempting to enshrine the Conservative Party Position into law, by introducing the
European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013-14
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational continental union, continental political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, loc ...
. He faced criticism from opposition MPs for taking on the EU Referendum Bill as his
Private Members Bill, and it was suggested by them that the move may have been more advantageous to his political career than of direct benefit to his constituents. Wharton himself had previously suggested that too much time was spent debating the issue of Europe, but has since argued that his Private Member's Bill was designed to put the issue to rest.
After the Bill did not pass the House of Lords, Wharton blamed Labour and
Liberal Democrat obstructionism.
MP for Stockton South - local issues
After being elected MP for Stockton South, Wharton made stated his opposition to a development occurring in
Preston Park. The plans, backed by Wharton's predecessor
Dari Taylor
Dari Jean Taylor (''née'' Jones; born 13 December 1944) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stockton South between the 1997 and 2010 general elections.
Biography
Taylor was born into a staunch Lab ...
, included relocating
Egglescliffe School
Egglescliffe School & Sixth Form College is a large Coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Egglescliffe, area also known as Eaglescliffe. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England.
History
Beginning as ...
to the park. Wharton accused
Stockton Borough Council of refusing to listen to the "democratic will of local people."
After a developer withdrew its £750,000 investment to regenerate
Thornaby Town Hall
Thornaby Town Hall is a municipal building in the Mandale Road in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The building, which is owned by Thornaby Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.
History
In anticipation of the proposed merger o ...
, Wharton called for the building to be given to the Town Council. Originally the building belonged to Thornaby-on-Tees Borough Council; however, due to local government reorganisations, it was taken on by Stockton Borough Council in 1974. In 2012 the Town Council purchased the building from the borough council with the hope of enabling the building and the surrounding area to be restored.
In 2014, Wharton denied allegations by a
UKIP councillor that a letter he wrote to constituents on the subject of the
conflict in Gaza had "been sent to those residents who may reasonably be expected to be Muslims, based only on their names".
International affairs
Wharton has made a number of visits to
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, including as a delegate of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, with the charity
International Alert and as a guest of the Sri Lankan Government, including four visits in nine months during 2012. Wharton denied allegations that he had become too close to
the Sri Lankan government, saying that he had made friends on both sides of the ethnic divide and that the lack of a Sri Lankan community in his constituency helped him be "objective"
Trocabart grant
In 2010, Wharton assisted Conservative Town Councillor Jason Hadlow's company Trocabart to secure £30,000 in aid from the former Regional Development Agency, One North East; the business failed and had been closed. He claimed that his only motivation was to promote the growth of jobs in the Teesside area. There has been no evidence of any financial connection between Wharton and the firm.
Parliamentary protocol
Wharton was accused of a breach of Parliamentary protocol, by attending a neighbouring constituency to take part in a photo call at the new Hitachi factory in
Phil Wilson's
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.
History Roman
A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
constituency, without advising Wilson in advance. Wharton acknowledged that he had driven minister
Brandon Lewis
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (born 20 June 1971) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from September to October 2022. He previously served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2018 to 2019 and ...
to the site and been photographed there, but said that he had not been there for the duration of the visit. Speaker
John Bercow said that MPs should observe the spirit of the rules.
Boris Johnson Leadership Campaign
In 2019, Wharton took on the role of Campaign Manager for
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 ...
in his successful bid to replace
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
as
leader of the Conservative Party.
Peerage
In Boris Johnson's 2020 Dissolution Honours List, James was selected for a peerage. He was created ''Baron Wharton of Yarm, of Yarm in the County of North Yorkshire'' in the morning of 2 September 2020.
Lord Wharton was introduced to the House of Lords on 10 September 2020, becoming the youngest male member of the House at the age of 36.
OfS appointment
In 2021, Wharton was appointed chair of the
Office for Students, an appointment endorsed by the
Education Select Committee.
Kate Green, the
Shadow Secretary of State for Education, criticised the appointed for alleged
cronyism.
After it emerged that Wharton was chosen over
Ivor Crewe, who was also interviewed, Wharton's perceived lack of experience in higher education was unfavourably compared with that of Crewe. On a potential conflict of interest, as the independent regulator while retaining the Conservative
whip
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 e ...
as a peer, Wharton said he spoke to party whips and said "they would give me more latitude and understand that I may need to vote against or speak against some of the things the party in government could bring forward".
Conservative Political Action Conference, 2022
In May 2022, Wharton addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) Hungary in Budapest. Wharton's attendance drew widespread criticism as the event was attended by a number of people who have previously expressed antisemitic and racist views. Wharton's video message was delivered on the same day as
Zsolt Bayer
Zsolt Bayer (born 26 February 1963) is a Hungarian far-right and ultra-conservative journalist, whose views have been widely described as racist and antisemitic. He was a co-founder of the ruling Fidesz party and close confidant of Prime Ministe ...
, a Hungarian television talkshow host who has been accused of racism, took to the stage. Bayer has previously called Jews “stinking excrement” and referred to Roma as “animals”.
Anneliese Dodds, the shadow women and equalities secretary and
chair of the Labour party
The Chair of the Labour Party is a position in the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. The Chair is responsible for administration of the party and overseeing general election campaigns, and is typically held concurrently with another position ...
, called on the Conservative Party to "condemn Lord Wharton for sharing a platform with racists, antisemites and rightwing extremists".
Following Wharton's attendance at Cpac, the
University and College Union called for Wharton’s resignation and the
Union of Jewish Students
The Union of Jewish Students of the United Kingdom and Ireland (UJS) represents Jewish students in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is a member of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) and the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) and a ...
voiced concern.
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, James
1984 births
Alumni of University College, Durham
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Living people
People educated at St Peter's School, York
People educated at Yarm School
People from Eaglescliffe
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
Life peers created by Elizabeth II