Christopher Dimitri Kelly (born 1978) is a

British Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Dudley South constituency in England's

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

at the 2010 general election. Kelly stood down at the 2015 general election after having served a single term.

Education

Kelly was born in 1978 and educated at

Wolverhampton Grammar School Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Wolverhampton, England. History Initially a grammar school for boys, WGS was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who ...

in the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

, West Midlands 1989–96, followed by Oxford Brookes University, where he was a History and Politics student 1996–1999, and

Imperial College Business School Imperial College Business School is the graduate business school of Imperial College London in the UK. In 2004, the business school was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. History In 1851, the Great Exhibition was the first World's Fair, organized by ...

in 2002/3 where he gained an MBA. Kelly and his friend

Justin Tomlinson Justin Paul Tomlinson (born 5 November 1976) is a British Conservative Party politician and former marketing executive who served as Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health from 2019 to 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament ...

placed a bet while at university that either would be

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

before the year 2038, at the odds of 10,000 to 1. They stand to win £500,000 should this happen. Tomlinson and Kelly were both subsequently elected as members of parliament for the Conservative Party.

Career

After business school, Kelly worked as research assistant for Michael Howard in 2004/5 whilst the latter served as Leader of the Conservative Party. Kelly was employed by his family's business, Keltruck Ltd – a

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...

truck dealership based in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, c ...

– serving as marketing director from 2006 to 2010, and was subsequently a paid non-executive director of his father's company. Kelly was selected as the Conservative candidate for Dudley South in September 2007. He was elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election in the constituency represented for the previous 16 years by Labour's

Ian Pearson Ian Phares Pearson (born 5 April 1959) is a British Labour Party politician who was a member of parliament (MP) from 1994 until 2010, representing Dudley West from 1994 until 1997, and then Dudley South from 1997 until his retirement from the ...

. In Parliament he was a member of the

European Scrutiny Committee The European Scrutiny Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Following Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in January 2020 and the end of the transition period on 31 December 202 ...

, and founder Chairman of both the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Family Business and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Combating Metal Theft. In 2010 Kelly attracted criticism for emailing all his fellow Conservative MPs from his Parliamentary email account urging them to give his sister a secretarial or managerial job. In August 2014 Kelly announced his intention to stand down at the 2015 general election. Kelly said that he would "...like to thank all those who have supported me since I was selected for Dudley South in September 2007...I would especially like to thank all those who voted for me at the general election in May 2010 and all of the friends and supporters who helped me for that election, as well as those who have supported my efforts since." The Dudley South seat was subsequently retained by the Conservatives, with Mike Wood succeeding Kelly as the area's elected representative at the 2015 election.

References

External links

Chris Kelly MP – Archive.orgKelly's CV at Conservaties In Touch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Chris Living people 1978 births Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of Oxford Brookes University Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School Politicians from Wolverhampton UK MPs 2010–2015 British people of Cypriot descent Free Enterprise Group