Louie Thomas French (born 14 February 1988) is a British politician who has served as 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 Old Bexley and Sidcup since the

2021 by-election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

. 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 was a councillor on

Bexley London Borough Council Bexley London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Bexley in the ceremonial county of Greater London, England. It is one of 32 London borough councils in the county. The council comprises 45 councillors. History Ther ...

from 2014 until 2022. Prior to his parliamentary career, he worked as a lead portfolio manager for the financial planning and investment firm Tilney.

Early life and career

French was born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, London, and grew up in

Welling Welling is an area of South East London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley, west of Bexleyheath, southeast of Woolwich and of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. ...

and

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...

. He attended

Blackfen School for Girls Blackfen School for Girls is a girls' secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Blackfen in the London Borough of Bexley, England. Although it is a girls school, the sixth form In the education systems of England, Nor ...

, which has a mixed sixth form. He was elected as a Conservative councillor for the Falconwood and Welling ward in the 2014 Bexley Borough Council election, and was re-elected in 2018. Alongside his role as councillor, he was also a senior research analyst and later lead portfolio manager for sustainable portfolios and services for the financial planning and investment firm Tilney.

Parliamentary career

French was selected as the Conservative candidate for the

2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election A by-election was held in the UK Parliament constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup on 2 December 2021, following the death of the sitting member of parliament, James Brokenshire, who had been the MP for the constituency since 2010. The by-electi ...

on 30 October 2021. The by-election was called after the death of the incumbent Conservative MP

James Brokenshire James Peter Brokenshire (8 January 1968 – 7 October 2021) was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in Theresa May's cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2018, and then as Secretary of ...

from lung cancer on 7 October 2021. The constituency is considered a

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

Conservative seat and has been represented by a member of the party since its creation in 1983. French was elected with a majority of 4,478 (20.6%), reduced from 18,952 (41.0%) at the 2019 election. The turnout was low, at 33.5%. French had previously contested the

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

seat at the 2019 general election, in which he finished second to the incumbent

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 ...

Clive Efford Clive Stanley Efford (born 10 July 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Eltham since 1997. Early life Efford was born in London and educated at Walworth School and Southwark College. He w ...

. French pledged to focus on increasing the number of police officers, investment in schools and hospitals, and protecting green spaces in the constituency. French had also pledged to quit his job as a lead portfolio manager for Tilney if he was elected as MP which he reported doing so in his first week. During the campaign, he had initially said that he would continue at Tilney as MP but later ruled it out. He was one of 99 Conservative MPs to vote against Covid passes in England in December 2021. French made his maiden speech on 18 January 2022, in which he paid tribute to Brokenshire. French has been a member of the Public Accounts Committee since March 2022. French endorsed

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 ...

in the

July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election The July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Boris Johnson's announcement on 7 July 2022 that he would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party after a series of political controversies. The leadership ele ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Louie 1988 births Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Bexley Living people UK MPs 2019–present