Sir Graham Frank James Bright (born 2 April 1942) is a British politician and businessman. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a

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 ...

(MP) from 1979 to 1997. He subsequently served as the

Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Cambridgeshire Police in the English County of Cambridgeshire. The p ...

from 2012 to 2016.

Political career

An active Young Conservative, he cut his political teeth as a member of Thurrock Borough Council from 1965–79, and of

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

from 1967–70. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

and 1974 in

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The ...

, and in Dartford at the second general election of 1974, before being elected in Luton East in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

. After constituency boundary changes, he transferred to Luton South at the 1983 general election, holding the seat until his defeat at the 1997 general election by Labour's Margaret Moran. During his time in Parliament, Bright served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to various members of the Cabinet for 18 years, most notably to John Major for his first four years 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 i ...

(1990–94). Bright then went on to serve as a Vice-

Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in government, the off ...

from 1994–97. He received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

in 1994. Bright introduced two Private Member's Bills to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

which became law. The first, introduced in 1983 was passed as the

Video Recordings Act 1984 The Video Recordings Act 1984 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed in 1984. It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK must carry a classification that has been agreed upon ...

that required all commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK to carry a classification. The second, introduced in 1990 was the often referred to as the "Acid House artiesBill" became the Entertainments (Increased Penalties) Act 1990. In material relating to his candidature for Cambridgeshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Bright has described these Bills as being "aimed at protecting young people." In September 2012 Bright was selected by the Conservative party to be their candidate in the election for Cambridgeshire's Police and Crime Commissioner. He won the election in November that year, and appointed his Party and business colleague Brian Ashton as his deputy which was criticised as potential favouritism. In December 2012, Bright called for a crackdown on "anti-social" and "dangerous" cyclists. In November 2013 he said that bicycle helmets should be compulsory.

Outside politics

Until he was 15, Bright was educated at Hassenbrook Secondary Modern School in Stanford-le-Hope. He later took courses at Thurrock Technical College. Outside politics, he worked as a marketing executive, factory manager and company director. He was chairman and chief executive of Dietary Foods Ltd for over 30 years.

Notes

External links

www.grahambright.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bright, Graham 1942 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 Politics of Thurrock UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister Place of birth missing (living people) Knights Bachelor Police and crime commissioners in England Politicians awarded knighthoods Conservative Party police and crime commissioners Conservative Party (UK) councillors Members of Essex County Council