Simon James Wright (born 15 September 1979) is a former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

politician, who 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 o ...

for Norwich South who served from 2010 to 2015. Wright defeated frontbench incumbent

Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Early life T ...

(Labour), winning 29.7% of the votes and a narrow majority of 310 votes. He is now chief executive officer of a Norfolk-based charity, Nelson's Journey.

Early life

Wright was educated at

Dereham Neatherd High School Dereham Neatherd High School is a high school situated in Dereham, Norfolk, England. It is a co-educational comprehensive school, for ages 11–16. History The school was formerly the Dereham High School for Girls, opening in 1912. The first ...

. He attended

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, receiving a BSc in Maths, and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, receiving a PGCE. He has worked as a maths teacher at Alderman Peel High School in

Wells-next-the-Sea Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, England. The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 2,451,Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household c ...

in North Norfolk.

Political career

Wright was elected as a councillor for the Lancaster North ward (Fakenham) on

North Norfolk District Council North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

in 2003. Wright achieved the second-highest percentage of the vote of two seats available in the poll behind Cllr Nich Starling (LD). Later that year, Wright quit his job as a teacher to become campaigns officer for

Norman Lamb Sir Norman Peter Lamb (born 16 September 1957) is a British politician and solicitor. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 2001 to 2019, and was the chair of the Science and Technology Select Committ ...

, Liberal Democrat MP for

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer. The population at the 2011 Census was 101,149. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was ...

. In 2005, Wright oversaw Norman Lamb's successful re-election campaign in North Norfolk, which increased his majority from 483 votes to 10,606. Wright stepped down as campaigns officer in 2007 to devote himself full-time to being the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Norwich South. Wright's first parliamentary appointment saw him appointed to the Environmental Audit Select Committee in July 2010. He lost his seat at the 2015 general election, when he finished in fourth place behind the Green, Conservative and Labour Party candidates.

Personal life

Simon Wright worked as campaigns officer for Norman Lamb MP. The member of staff whom Wright replaced in that role became his wife in 2006. After losing his parliamentary seat in 2015, Simon became chief executive officer of a children's bereavement charity called Nelson's Journey in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

in June 2016. In 2019 Simon got re-married to fellow runner Anna Thorpe, making headlines for taking part in the weekly

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

with other guests before the ceremony.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Simon 1979 births Living people Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of King's College London Councillors in Norfolk Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors