Chris Philp

Chris Philp
MP
Member of Parliament
for Croydon South
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded by Richard Ottaway
Majority 11,406 (18.6%)
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Assumed office
22 January 2018
Sec. of State Sajid Javid
James Brokenshire
Parliamentary Private Secretary
to HM Treasury Ministers
In office
27 June 2017 – 22 January 2018
Chancellor Philip Hammond
Camden Borough Councillor
for Gospel Oak
In office
4 May 2006 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by Raj Chada
Succeeded by Theo Blackwell
Personal details
Born (1976-07-06) 6 July 1976
West Wickham, London, England
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s)
Elizabeth Purves (m. 2009)
Children 2
Alma mater University College, Oxford
Website www.chrisphilp.com

Christopher Ian Brian Mynott Philp[1] (born 6 July 1976) is Conservative Party politician. He was elected in May 2015 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Croydon South.

Early years

Philp was brought up in West Wickham, close to the border of Bromley and Croydon, where his mother, Edna (née Mynott) was a primary school teacher and his father, Dr Brian Philp MBE FSA, an archaeologist. In 2014, his father stood as a UKIP candidate for the Hayes and Coney Hall Ward in the Bromley Council Elections.[2] Philp was educated at a state primary school in West Wickham, St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, and then at University College, Oxford, graduating with a first class bachelor's degree in physics. He then completed a master's degree in theoretical quantum mechanics.

Business career

Philp worked for McKinsey and Company before co-founding distribution business Blueheath Holdings, in 2000, which was listed on the AIM before being acquired in a reverse merger by Booker Cash & Carry[3][4]

He joined forces with Sam Gyimah, from 2010 a Conservative MP, to found Clearstone Training and Recruitment Limited, a HGV training provider[5] which went into liquidation in 2007[6]

Philp also founded property development lender Pluto Capital and the charity Next Big Thing, a business plan competition for inner-city teenagers which was dissolved in 2016.[4]

Philp was voted London's Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and The Times in 2003,[7] alongside being voted the CBI's Entrepreneur of the Future, 2005. In 2005, Philp was listed as one of the UK's top 50 entrepreneurs by startups.co.uk,[8]

Political career

Philp was Chairman of the Bow Group, a Conservative Party think tank, from 2004 to 2005, and then took a month off work to act as a key adviser to Andrew Lansley, then Shadow Secretary of State for Health, in the national campaign against MRSA in the run up to the 2005 general election. Philp defeated the Labour Leader of Camden Council to be become a Councillor in the Gospel Oak ward of Camden in May 2006 with a swing of over 10%, the first Conservative to win the ward in over 20 years.

In a 2008 interview with The Guardian, about his views of being a candidate, he said, "10 years ago I wouldn't have voted Tory myself". In the 2010 general election, he was the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, losing by 42 votes to the Labour's sitting MP Glenda Jackson and increasing the Conservative vote share of the vote by nearly 10 percentage points compared to the previous election.[9][10]

Philp's book Conservative Revival: Blueprint for a Better Britain was published in conjunction with the Bow Group and was co-authored by 10 Conservative MP's or recent candidates in their 30s. The book was an important contribution to the modernisation of the Conservative Party, with a foreword written by David Cameron, the then Leader of the Opposition. Philp was also the author of "Work for the Dole: A proposal to fix welfare dependency", published by The Taxpayers' Alliance in September 2013. His report called for mandatory participation in community work and training in return for the continued payment of benefits payments.[11]

In November 2013, Philp was selected to be the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Croydon South, the seat was held by the Conservative MP Richard Ottaway, who was retiring at the next general election. On 8 May 2015, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Croydon South, and with a majority of over 17,000; the highest achieved in the constituency for over 20 years. The constituency was among the party's safest seats in Greater London.[12]

Shortly after being elected to Parliament, Philp became the first of the 2015 Conservative intake to be elected by other MPs to the influential Treasury Select Committee.[13]

Philp is an outspoken critic of Govia Thameslink Railway's ownership of Southern Rail, the performance of which he has described as "abysmal". Philp has called for the Government to take control of the Southern Rail franchise and for cross-party support in ending disputes between Southern Rail and the RMT Union.[14] He proposed a bill to ban 'unreasonable' strikes while speaking in Parliament.[15]

Philp has called for corporate rules to be changed to give shareholders more control over company directors' appointments and pay.[16][17]

Philp was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 European membership referendum[18] and is on record supporting grammar schools.[14]

In May 2016, when debating the Government's Starter Homes Initiative, Philp was accused by housing charities of failing to understand how a couple buying a house for the first time cannot afford a £10,000 deposit. Responding to criticism, he stated 'No one says it is easy, the average age of a first time buyer these days is about 30 so people have 10 years to save £5,000.'[19]

Following the 2017 General Election, Philp was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to HM Treasury Ministers.[20] Philp was made PPS to Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for the Ministry Housing, Communities and Local Government on 22 January 2018.[21]

Personal life

Philp married Elizabeth Purves in 2009.[22] Their twins Kitty and Nicholas, were born prematurely in April 2013 and spent an extended period in intensive care following their birth.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Election of a Member of Parliament for Croydon South" (PDF). Croydon.gov.uk. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Bromley Council, 2014 : Conservative Hold". Englishelections.org.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  3. ↑ Bowker, John (9 May 2007). "Booker strikes deal to return to stock market". Reuters. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 Guy Montague-Jones, Guy (15 May 2015). "Pluto Finance founder is elected new Tory MP for Croydon South". Property Week. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Clegg, Alicia (13 December 2005). "Tricks of the truck-driving trade". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  6. ↑ Crick, Michael (26 March 2010). "Revolt over Surrey East Tory candidate 'secretly suppressed'". BBC Newsnight. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year London & South Region Award Recipients" (PDF). Ernst & Young. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "The top 50 entrepreneurs of 2005" (PDF). Thestevies.com. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "Local skirmishes | CYBERBORISjohnson". Cyberboris.wordpress.com. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "The new Tories: Chris Philp, Hampstead and Kilburn | Politics". The Guardian. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "The New Boys and Girls - No. 15 Chris Philp". Private Eye (1420). Pressdram Ltd. 10 June 2016. p. 13.
  12. ↑ "Election 2015: Croydon South". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Chris Philp MP - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  14. 1 2 "The web site of Chris Philp". Chrisphilp.com. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  15. ↑ Swinford, Steven (24 January 2017). "More than 120 Tory MPs back calls for tougher anti-strike laws to end rail misery for commuters". Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  16. ↑ Chu, Ben (31 August 2016). "Conservative MP calls for Swedish-style boardroom reforms to clamp down on spiralling bosses' pay". Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  17. ↑ Philp, Chris (1 September 2016). "Shareholders need proper control in order to make capitalism work". Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  18. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  19. ↑ Andrea Downey. "MP Chris Philp 'fails to understand' how first-time buyers cannot afford a £10,000 deposit (From Croydon Guardian)". Croydonguardian.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  20. ↑ "Parliamentary Private Secretaries: full list - Conservative Home".
  21. ↑ "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): January 2018". GOV.UK.
  22. ↑ . doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U283931 (inactive 2018-07-18). Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ↑ Amie Keeley. "Former Hampstead and Kilburn parliamentary candidate's delight as premature twins arrive home – News – Hampstead Highgate Express". Hamhigh.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Richard Ottaway		 Member of Parliament
for Croydon South
2015–present		 Incumbent
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