Gary William Sambrook[1] (born 25 June 1989)[2] is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Northfield from 2019 until 2024.[3] He has served as the Joint Executive Secretary of the backbench 1922 Committee from 2021 until he left parliament.[4]
Gary Sambrook | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Executive Secretary of the 1922 Committee | |
| In office 29 June 2021 – 30 May 2024 Serving with Bob Blackman | |
| Leader | Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak |
| Chairman | Sir Graham Brady |
| Preceded by | Nigel Evans |
| Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield | |
| In office 12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Burden |
| Succeeded by | Laurence Turner |
| Member of Birmingham City Council for Kingstanding | |
| In office 13 February 2014 – 5 May 2022 | |
| Succeeded by | Rick Payne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 June 1989 |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Profession | Politician |
| Website | www |
Political career
editSambrook became a councillor for Birmingham City Council in 2014, winning the Kingstanding ward seat, based on the area of the same name, in a by-election. During his campaign to become a councillor, he appeared in the Birmingham Mail when two local supporters, Ben Coleman and Michael Mason, composed a song in support of his campaign.[5] He has also worked for MP James Morris.[6]
Parliamentary career
editAt the 2019 general election, Sambrook was elected to Parliament as MP for Birmingham Northfield with 46.3% of the vote and a majority of 1,640.[7][8][9]
Sambrook is a member of both the Procedure and Ecclesiastical Committees.[10] According to the Financial Times, Sambrook is an "influential backbencher" and an executive secretary of the 1922 Committee.[11]
In October 2020, Sambrook, along with most other Conservative MPs, voted against a Labour Party Opposition Day Motion to extend the emergency COVID-19 pandemic provision of providing free school meals during school holidays until Easter 2021.[12] Sambrook's vote inspired grafitti reading "Gary Sambrook eats big dinners", to which he was reported by the BBC as responding "Apparently if you disagree that vouchers is the only way to solve poverty this is what happens."[13] The grafitti was noted as surreal by The Economist[14] and "the most perfect sentence ever written" by The Guardian columnist Joel Golby.[15]
In August 2021 he opposed the conversion of a residential home into a children's home for up to four children with emotional, behavioural and educational difficulties by circulating a letter stating, among various reasons, it would have a "negative impact on the area" and would "compromise the quality of the area". Sambrook said: "All children deserve a good quality home to live in. Especially children in care".[16]
In October 2021, Sambrook voted against an amendment to an Environment Bill that would have made it more difficult for water companies to dump raw sewage into rivers because Sambrook maintained it "was not fully costed and there was no plan to implement it" and "was also predicted to cost around £150 billion".[17]
In January 2022, Sambrook was named as one of the MPs plotting to oust Boris Johnson from his position as Prime Minister over Partygate.[11][18] In an email to constituents he stated "I would expect anyone who is found to have broken the law to seriously consider their position in government, and that includes the Prime Minister".[19] By February however he was no longer calling for Johnson to resign.[20][21] In July 2022, in the aftermath of the Chris Pincher scandal, Sambrook accused Johnson of blaming other people for his own mistakes and again called on him to resign.[22]
Sambrook was re-selected in March 2023 as the Conservative candidate for Birmingham Northfield at the 2024 general election.[23]
Personal life
editReferences
edit- ^ "Members Sworn". Hansard.parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
- ^ "Birmingham Northfield parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News.
- ^ "Pleased to have been elected unopposed along with @BobBlackman as Joint Secretary of the 1922 Committee. Looking forward to another year of working constructively with backbench colleagues and Government on delivering our pledges". Mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ Greatrex, Jonny (28 January 2014). "Poll: Is this the best (or worst) political campaign song ever? Vote Gary!". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Gary Sambrook MP". art4charity. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "General election 2019: Tories take Birmingham Northfield". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ "Birmingham Northfield Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ "Parliamentary General Election Results December 2019". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ "Parliamentary career for Gary Sambrook - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ a b Hughes, Laura; Cameron-Chileshe, Jasmine (20 January 2022). "Who are the Tory MPs plotting against Boris Johnson?". Financial Times. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ How Birmingham MPs voted in free school meals plea
- ^ "MP Stuart Anderson 'received death threats' over school meals vote". 26 October 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ "The rise of the self-pitying MP". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ Golby, Joel (27 October 2020). "England's food is awful – and the Tories still refuse to give it to children". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ Cardwell, Mark (13 August 2021). "Residents slam 'disgusting' MP letter opposing children's home". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ Dare, Tom (27 October 2021). "Birmingham MP accused of 'letting our waterways fill with waste and sewage'". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ Sheridan, Danielle (19 January 2022). "Meet the MPs leading the 'pork pie plot' rebellion against Boris Johnson". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ Ferguson, Emily (19 January 2022). "Who are the pork pie plotters? The 18 Tory MPs hoping to oust Boris Johnson". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ "'The Boris Johnson we love' - Birmingham MP throws support behind Prime Minister". www.birminghamworld.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ Bush, Stephen (1 February 2022). "Boris Johnson's toxicity has an upside – it damages his potential successors". New Statesman. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ "Boris Johnson: Embattled PM vows to keep going amid Tory revolt". BBC News. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
- ^ Gary Sambrook [@GarySambrook89] (24 March 2023). "Pleased to have been re-adopted tonight as the @Conservatives candidate for the next general election 😊🇬🇧" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Elkes, Neil (13 February 2018). "Top Tory says: 'I'm a Freemason and proud'". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
External links
edit