Simon Hart
Simon Anthony Hart (born 15 August 1963)[3][4] is a British politician serving as the Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury since October 2022.[5] He previously served as Secretary of State for Wales between 2019 and 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected in the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, defeating the previous Labour MP Nick Ainger who had represented the constituency and its predecessor since 1992.[6] He was reelected in 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections.
Simon Hart | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2021 | |
| Chief Whip of the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury | |
| Assumed office 25 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Wendy Morton |
| Secretary of State for Wales | |
| In office 16 December 2019 – 6 July 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Alun Cairns |
| Succeeded by | Robert Buckland |
| Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office | |
| In office 24 July 2019 – 16 December 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Oliver Dowden |
| Succeeded by | Jeremy Quin |
| Member of Parliament for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Nick Ainger |
| Majority | 7,745 (18.4%)[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 August 1963 Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Abigail Kate Hart[2] |
| Alma mater | Royal Agricultural College |
| Website | www |
He resigned as Secretary of State for Wales after writing a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 6 July 2022.
Early life
Hart was born in Wolverhampton on 15 August 1963 and grew up in the Cotswolds. He was privately educated at Radley College before attending the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.[7] He worked as a chartered surveyor in Carmarthen and Haverfordwest and served with the Territorial Army for five years in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars (part of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry).
Hart was Master and Huntsman of the South Pembrokeshire Hunt from 1988 to 1999. He was director of the Campaign for Hunting (ie fox hunting) from 1999 to 2003. He was the chief executive of the Countryside Alliance from 2003 to 2010, and later its chairman from 2015 to 2019.[8]
Political career
He has been the MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire since the 2010 general election. He was re-elected at the 2015 general election and 2017 general election. In the 2019 general election, Hart more than doubled his previous majority of 3,110[9] to 7,745. He secured 52.7% of the vote, up 5.9 percentage points compared to 2017.[10]
In 2017 Hart faced questions over breaches of the code of conduct and was being investigated over an alleged breach of paragraph 15.[11][12]
In August 2018, Hart accused actress Maxine Peake of hypocrisy, for 'taking money from the NHS for work on an advertisement, whilst attacking the Government for lack of investment in the NHS'. Peake responded that the fee came from an advertising agency and would not have gone back to the NHS if she had returned it, and she had donated the fee to The Salford Foundation Trust children's charity regardless.[13]
On 27 July 2019, in Boris Johnson's administration, he was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office, with responsibility for policy implementation.[14] He replaced fellow Conservative Oliver Dowden and stood down as Chairman of the Countryside Alliance.[15]
In October 2019 it was reported that Hart was the Welsh MP with the highest expense claims for first-class rail tickets. Official guidance from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority states politicians should "consider value for money" when booking tickets; however, first-class rail travel is still permissible within the expenses rules.[16]
In the run-up to the 2019 general election, Hart shared an image of a campaign placard which had been defaced during the 2017 general election. Referencing the levels of "abuse … vitriol and intimidation" to which candidates had been subjected in 2017, Hart used a Facebook post to call for high standards of conduct among candidates, a subject on which he says he has worked to find cross-party solutions since the 2017 election.[17] However, during the 2019 election campaign, the same sign was shown to have two swastikas newly added, putting Hart under suspicion. Shadow secretary of state for Wales, Christina Rees, asked Hart "did you deface your own signs with swastikas for personal electoral gain? If not, explain how they came to be there. Because right now there appears to be no other rational explanation."[18]
Hart has served on the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, Welsh Affairs Select Committee, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Commons Select Committee on Standards and Commons Select Committee of Privileges.[19]
Welsh Secretary
Following the 2019 general election, Hart was appointed Secretary of State for Wales by Prime Minister Boris Johnson,[20] replacing Alun Cairns.[21]
On 22 April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he became the first minister to speak in the Commons chamber via remote video link, answering a question from Marco Longhi, the Conservative MP for Dudley North, who also spoke remotely.[22][23]
On 6 July 2022, Hart resigned from government in the wake of widespread criticism of Boris Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal, following the earlier resignations of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid.[24]
Chief Whip
Hart was appointed Chief Whip of the Conservative Party by Rishi Sunak on 25 October 2022.
Personal life
Hart lives near Narberth in Pembrokeshire with his wife Abigail and their two children.[25] He employs his wife as his office manager.[26][27][28]
References
- ^ "Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire South parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ Commons, House of. "House of Commons – The Register of Members' Financial Interests – Part 2: Part 2". www.publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
- ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8746.
- ^ Hart, Simon Anthony. 1 December 2012. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U4000714.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
- ^ "All change in Carmarthen and Pembrokeshire". BBC News, 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Simon Hart". Telegraph.co.uk UK Political Database. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012.
- ^ "Hart, Rt Hon. Simon (Anthony), (born 15 Aug. 1963), PC 2019; MP (C) Carmarthen West and Pembrokeshire South, since 2010; Secretary of State for Wales, since 2019". Who's Who 2021. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- ^ "Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire - 2017 Election Results - General Elections Online". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire South parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Two MPs face code of conduct probes". BBC News. 26 June 2017.
- ^ Williamson, David (3 July 2017). "A Welsh MP was investigated for 'wrongly using an envelope'". Wales Online.
- ^ "Maxine Peake: Actress hits back over NHS ad 'hypocrisy' claim". BBC News. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ "Simon Hart MP – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ Martin, Rachel (1 August 2019). "Countryside Alliance chairman stands down amid Cabinet Office appointment". Agri Land. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ Sinclair, Bruce (15 October 2019). "MP Simon Hart claimed more than £7,500 in first-class rail tickets for himself, the highest of any Welsh MP". Western Telegraph. Haverfordwest. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ Priddy, Sarah; Johnston, Neil (17 May 2019). "Intimidation in public life".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Cockburn, Harry (29 November 2019). "Tory MP accused of adding swastika graffiti to his own election placard to get sympathy". The Independent. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ "Simon Hart MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ "Simon Hart appointed new Welsh secretary". BBC News. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ Hemming, Jez (6 November 2019). "Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns resigns over rape trial collapse scandal". North Wales Live. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ Poole, Danielle. "Marco Longhi MP makes history by asking first question in virtual Parliament". Worcester News. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ^ "Welsh minister attacks Raab over target comments". BBC News. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ^ "Welsh Secretary Simon Hart resigns from UK Government - 'no other option left'". Nation.Cymru. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
- ^ "MP website". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ^ "They Work For You". Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ^ "One in five MPs employs a family member: the full list revealed". The Daily Telegraph. London. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2019.[dead link]
- ^ Mason, Rowena (29 June 2015). "Keeping it in the family: new MPs continue to hire relatives as staff". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
External links
- Simon Hart MP official constituency website
- Simon Hart MP Conservative Party profile
- Simon Hart MP Welsh Conservative Party profile
- Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire Conservatives
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- at the Countryside Alliance
- Official channel at YouTube