Jeremy Wright

Early life

Born at Taunton, Somerset, his parents were both teachers and he has one brother who served as a Commander in the Royal Navy. Wright was educated at Taunton School and Trinity School, New York City, before going to the University of Exeter, where he graduated a bachelor of Laws.

He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1996 and specialised in criminal law in the Midlands until his election to Parliament in 2005. He remains a member of No.5 Chambers in Birmingham but is officially listed as non-practising as of May 2013.

Parliamentary career

Wright was first elected to Parliament at the 2005 general election, when he won the seat of Rugby and Kenilworth from the sitting Labour MP Andy King who had represented constituency since the 1997 general election. At the 2010 election he retained the newly created Kenilworth and Southam constituency increasing his majority to 12,552.

In July 2007 Wright was appointed as an Opposition Whip and served as a Government Whip from 2010 until 2012, holding the office of Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. He served as a member of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee between 2005 and 2007. In September 2012 Wright was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice. His specific responsibility was as Minister for Prisons and Rehabilitation. He was appointed Attorney General on 15 July 2014, replacing Dominic Grieve. For the purposes of this role, he was appointed a Queen's Counsel.

Wright set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia in 2007.

Wright has generally supported the proposals for the HS2 London to Birmingham rail link which will run through his constituency. He has opposed some of the detailed original plans for the route, although supporting route changes made in 2010. In 2016, Wright became the campaign manager for Stephen Crabb's leadership bid for the Conservative leadership election. Crabb withdrew from the contest after coming fourth in the first round and transferred his support to Theresa May.

Expenses claims

Wright has defended his expenses claims as an MP, including claiming nearly £3000 for the purchase of furniture for a flat in London after he became an MP in 2005. He repaid £46.71 over-claimed for council tax in 2007–08 after a "genuine mistake". He also claimed just under £800 in mobile phone call charges which he was ordered to repay. He appealed the decision to order repayment of these expenses, claiming that he had requested permission to charge an amount for mobile phone calls as he did not have a landline installed in his London flat. Wright succeeded in his appeal and was not required to repay the amount claimed for mobile phone calls. Wright published errors on his website in 2009, placing political links on it, an activity banned if costs for the site are paid for from Parliamentary expenses, although he was not required to repay the expenses claimed in this instance.

Personal life

He married Yvonne Salter in 1998, with whom he has a son and a daughter. He and his wife live in Warwickshire.