Nationality British Education University of Kent Name Gareth Bacon | Domestic partner Cheryl Cooley Political party Conservative Party Conservative Party | |
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Born 7 April 1972 (age 52)
British Hong Kong ( 1972-04-07 ) | ||
Interview with Gareth Bacon AM
Gareth Andrew Bacon (born 7 April 1972) is a Conservative Party member of the London Assembly, elected in the May 2008 election. He is the leader of the Conservative GLA group.
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Early life
Bacon was born in Hong Kong, and studied at the University of Kent at Canterbury where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in Politics and Government in 1996, followed by a Master of Arts degree in European Studies in 1997. He worked as head of the public sector division of Martin Ward Anderson from 2004.
Career
Prior to running for the Assembly, Bacon was elected to Bexley Council in 1998, 2002 and 2006 for Sidcup West ward (later renamed Longlands ward), serving as the Council's Vice Chairman of the Town Planning Committee (1998–2002) and as its Deputy Mayor (2001–2002). He was also Shadow Cabinet Spokesman for Environment Transport and Regeneration from 2003 to 2006 and after the 2006 elections, was appointed Cabinet Member for the Environment. He retained his Cabinet post after the Conservative election victory of 2010.
Bacon was a key player in the team that secured a landslide victory for the Conservatives in the local elections of 2006, after which he was appointed Cabinet Member for the Environment. He was instrumental in steering through an enhanced recycling service in Bexley, which produced a 20% increase in the level of recycling in the borough in the first year, and ensured that Bexley retained its position as the leading borough for recycling in London, breaking through the 50% barrier for the first time and avoiding an increase of £2 million in costs for waste disposal.
In the local elections of May 2010 the Conservatives again won a landslide victory in Bexley, and Bacon was re-elected in Longlands ward with a majority of more than 2,000 votes. He was subsequently re-appointed Cabinet Member for the Environment.
Bacon is a former Deputy Chairman of Old Bexley & Sidcup Conservative Association (2000–2003) and was the Conservative candidate for the London Assembly constituency of Greenwich & Lewisham in 2004, where he lost to the incumbent Labour member, the former Leader of Greenwich Council, Len Duvall, although reducing the Labour majority by 22%.
In the London Mayoral/Assembly elections of 2008 he secured one of three ‘party list’ seats won by the Conservative Party. In June 2010 he was appointed by Mayor of London Boris Johnson to serve on the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority and at City Hall as of 2010 he serves on the London Assembly's Budget, Environment and Planning & Housing Committees. He was the Conservative Group spokesman on Environment between May 2008 and October 2010, before being appointed Conservative Budget spokesman.