I was elected as Member of Parliament for the Forest of Dean on 5th May 2005 with a majority of 2,049. I had previously contested the seat in the 2001 election and had succeeded in cutting the Labour majority from 6,343 to 2,049.

Education and Career

I was born in 1970 and grew up in Swindon, where I attended Headlands School and Swindon College. I went on to Brasenose College, Oxford and graduated in 1990 with Upper Second-Class Honours in PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics).

In 1995 I qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG, and until 2002 worked for Intel Corporation in a variety of roles including finance, business operations and marketing before establishing my own chartered accountancy practice in the Forest of Dean.

I also served as the Governor for Newent Community School from November 2000 to July 2005.

Political Interests

I always had a long-standing fascination with politics dating back to my student days and held ambitions of one day becoming an MP and serving the people of Gloucestershire.

After contesting the 2001 election, I was re-selected as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for the Forest of Dean in July 2002 and was elected to Parliament in May 2005. In December 2005 I was appointed Shadow Minister for Defence and was given special responsibility for the Forces’ Families Manifesto.

In July 2007, following David Cameron’s reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet’s frontbench, I was appointed Shadow Minister for Disabled People as part of the Shadow Work and Pensions team.

Personal

I am married to Margaret and currently reside in Newham Bottom in the constituency. We have two black Labradors, Cara and Darci, who help to keep me fit during our long weekend walks in the Forest.

Outside of work I enjoy travelling (recently venturing to Pakistan and Israel), cooking and the cinema, and in particular I am supportive of the local cinema theatres in Coleford and Cinderford.

I believe that your MP should be your voice in Parliament – not the voice of Westminster telling you what you should think. I am working to make sure that the voices of my constituents are heard in the halls of Westminster, and the interests of the Forest of Dean, and the Severn and Wye and Leadon Valleys are fully represented.