Rob Wilson
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Robert Owen Biggs Wilson (born 4 January 1965) is an English politician and political author. He was elected
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Member of Parliament for the Reading East parliamentary constituency in the 2005 general election, being re-elected in the elections of
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and
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 Apri ...
, before being defeated in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
. He became
Minister for Civil Society The Minister for Civil Society was a position within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the Government of the United Kingdom. It concerned and directly supported charities, volunteering and social enterprise. The office was establish ...
in the
Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...
on 27 September 2014.


Early life

Wilson was born and brought up in south
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
. He attended
Wallingford School Wallingford School is a secondary school with academy status located in the town of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England. It was founded by Walter Bigg in 1659 in association with the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, formally succeeding ...
and then, between 1984 and 1988, the
University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...
, where he studied
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
. He spent his final year at university as the President of the
Reading University Students' Union The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...
. Wilson was a member of the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...
.


Politics


Local government

Wilson joined the Conservatives, and was elected as one of three councillors for the Thames ward of
Reading Borough Council Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonia ...
in 1992, serving one term (until 1996). In 1997, he unsuccessfully contested Bolton North East at that year's general election. In 2003 he was elected for the Caversham ward of Reading Borough Council, in a by-election for a one-year term. The following year, he was again elected a councillor for Thames ward. Following his election as Member of Parliament, he stood down from the Council in May 2006.


MP in the 2005–2010 parliament

Wilson was selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Reading East using a pioneering primary system, which opened the selection to non-party members for the first time. At the 2005 General Election he faced the Labour candidate and councillor, Tony Page. Page had replaced sitting MP, Labour's Jane Griffiths, who had been de-selected by her party. Wilson won 15,557 votes (35.4%) against Page's 15,082 votes (34.3%). The Conservative share of the vote increased by 3.4%. After his election, Wilson made his
maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
on 23 May 2005. He served on the Education and Skills Select Committee, selected by the committee chair. Here he played a role in the
committee stage In the United Kingdom an act of Parliament is primary legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelan ...
of the Education and Inspections Bill, on issues such as
Special Educational Needs Special educational needs (SEN), also known as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the United Kingdom refers to the education of children who require different education provision to the mainstream system. Definition The definiti ...
. In July 2007 Wilson was promoted to the Conservative frontbench as Shadow Higher Education Minister replacing
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 ...
. The MP, during his terms of office, promoted a major anti knife-crime campaign of Reading's papers; to do so meeting with crime victims' families and
Thames Valley Police Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. It the largest non-metropolitan police force in England and Wales, covering a ...
. Wilson successfully lobbied the DfT,
Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
and local council to secure funding for the expansion and increase in facilities at
Reading railway station Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, near the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames, from . Reading is the ninth-busiest station in th ...
– associated with investment into high rise and mid rise offices, retail and hotels in Reading. He jointly with former Labour MP
Martin Salter Martin John Salter (born 19 April 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Reading West from 1997 to 2010. Early life and career Born to Ray and Naomi Salter in Hampton, Middlesex, he received a gram ...
successfully lobbied for the extension of
Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...
services to and from Reading, providing direct trains to much of Central London, and western parts of Essex and Kent.


MP in the 2010–2015 parliament

On 6 May 2010, Wilson was re-elected by the people of Reading East with a majority of 15.2% of those who voted and 42.6% of the vote. In the resulting Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government from May 2010, the Liberal Democrats shared in ministerial positions. Wilson was among Shadow Ministers in the previous Parliament that were not offered a position as a Minister in coalition. In 2010 he 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 Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,
Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...
MP. In July 2014 the MP stated that he would have accepted an undisclosed ministerial position but wished to use his spare time to publish a book on the scandals involving former MP Chris Huhne (who perverted the course of justice by lying about driving too fast to keep his
driving licence A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...
) and the Chief Whip's plebgate incident each of which meant they lost their ministerial positions.Reading MP Rob Wilson turns down minister's job
BBC News. Retrieved 29 November 2014
He had earlier been offered a position as a junior government whip but refused this as still writing the same book. Critics, unnamed in a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
interview with Wilson, attributed his decision to decline a promotion to their perception that the Conservative Party was likely to lose both of its
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
seats and said that in writing this sort of
polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...
, the government may prefer not to promote Wilson. The Prime Minister's office appointed Wilson to the government as a minister on 27 September 2014, following the resignation of
Brooks Newmark Brooks Phillip Victor Newmark (born 8 May 1958) is a British Conservative politician and former Member of Parliament and minister. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Braintree in the 2005 general election and stood down at the 201 ...
following allegations in ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' that Newmark had sent sexually explicit images to an undercover reporter He became the
Minister for Civil Society The Minister for Civil Society was a position within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the Government of the United Kingdom. It concerned and directly supported charities, volunteering and social enterprise. The office was establish ...
which entails charities,
volunteering Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group wikt:gratis, freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. O ...
and
social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...
, which he accepted a month after finishing the book, which he assessed as incompatible with being in a senior government or opposition role.


MP in the 2015–2017 parliament

On 8 May 2015, Wilson was again re-elected by the people of Reading East, with 23,217 votes and a majority of 6,520, compared to 7,605 in 2010. Shortly after retaining his seat in the 2015 general election, Wilson sparked controversy with a remark on Twitter in which he seemed to show a lack of interest in solving his constituency's rising homelessness problem. When asked about how his party's cuts would help solve it, he responded with "Don't be a bad loser." This sparked considerable outrage online, including a petition on 38 Degrees for him to be removed from office. In July 2015, he was forced to defend his claims for travel expenses, which included 9p for a 352-yard car journey to a constituency event and 60p for a journey on his bicycle between his constituency office, the railway station and home. He said that putting such small costs on expenses might seem "odd", but said that over a year mileage "does add up". He pointed out he had not claimed any accommodation expenses in London since becoming an MP in 2005, saving taxpayers "hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, as I do commute most days it does mean I incur parking and mileage expenses instead". In the run-up to the EU referendum of 2016, Wilson publicly indicated that he believed the UK should remain a member of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
whilst not actively campaigning for it since he believed that he should stay neutral. In 2017 he voted to trigger
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 ...
.


Defeat in the June 2017 election

On 8 June 2017, Wilson was defeated in the
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
called by
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 ...
in an unsuccessful attempt to increase her majority prior to the negotiations over the exit from the European Union. He received 23,344 votes, but came second to
Matt Rodda Matthew Richard Allen Rodda (born 15 December 1966) is a British former journalist and civil servant, and a current Labour Party politician. He is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the Reading East parliamentary constituency and Shado ...
, standing for the Labour Party, with 27,093 votes, a majority of 3,759.


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Rob Wilson MP
*
Profile
at the Conservative Party
Reading East Conservatives – Rob Wilson MP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Rob 1965 births Living people UK MPs 2005–2010 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Reading Alumni of the University of Reading UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 Councillors in Berkshire Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians Ministers for Civil Society People educated at Wallingford School Conservative Party (UK) councillors