Spouse Harriet Marston Children 3 | Majority 16,649 (32.8%) Name Andrew Selous Allegiance United Kingdom Nationality British Role Politician Rank Major | |
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Andrew selous part 1
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (born 27 April 1962) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who has been the Member of Parliament for South West Bedfordshire since 2001 general election.
Contents
- Andrew selous part 1
- FSB News Briefing Andrew Selous MP South West Bedfordshire
- Early life
- Parliamentary career
- References
FSB News Briefing - Andrew Selous MP - South West Bedfordshire
Early life
London-born, Selous was educated at West Downs School in the city of Winchester, Hampshire, followed by Eton, and the London School of Economics, receiving a BSc in Industry and Trade in 1984. He was a member of the Territorial Army, a soldier in the Honourable Artillery Company and then an officer in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, between 1981 and 1994. From 1988–94, he was a director of his family firm CNS Electronics (now CNS Farnell). From 1991–2001, he was an underwriter at Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) PLC.
Parliamentary career
Selous was first elected to the House of Commons in 2001, and had previously contested Sunderland North seat in 1997. He is a director and prominent member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship.
In 2006, Selous was promoted to Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions.
In the Coalition government, he was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, from 28 May 2010 to 16 July 2014. On 16 July 2014, he was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice with responsibility for Prisons and Probation and retained this role following the 2015 general election. However he was asked to step down from the government by Theresa May after she became Prime Minister in July 2016.
He provoked ridicule by making a tweet (subsequently deleted) supporting the removal of benefit entitlement from non-English speakers: "Strongly support the loss of benefits unless claimants lean [sic] English."
He also attracted criticism in 2014 for reportedly telling a meeting that "disabled people work harder because they're grateful to have a job", following a furore over Lord Freud's claim that some disabled people were not worth the minimum wage. Selous subsequently argued that he had simply been trying to convey the message that disabled people were valued by employers, and his observation that disabled people often work harder was supported by a spokesperson for Disability Rights UK.
Selous chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Strengthening Couple Relationships, and argues that cross-party efforts to prevent family breakdown can relieve pressure on the care system. He was opposed to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, arguing that it was directly contrary to what Jesus said.