Gavin Williamson

The Right Honourable
Gavin Williamson
CBE MP
Secretary of State for Defence
Assumed office
2 November 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by Sir Michael Fallon
Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office
14 July 2016 – 2 November 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May
Deputy Julian Smith
Preceded by Mark Harper
Succeeded by Julian Smith
Parliamentary Private Secretary to
the Prime Minister
In office
7 October 2013 – 13 July 2016
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Sam Gyimah
Succeeded by George Hollingbery
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Transport
In office
11 September 2012 – 7 October 2013
Prime Minister David Cameron
Sec. of State Patrick McLoughlin
Preceded by Andrew Jones
Succeeded by Iain Stewart
& Julian Sturdy
Member of Parliament
for South Staffordshire
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Patrick Cormack
Majority 22,733 (44.3%)
Personal details
Born Gavin Alexander Williamson
(1976-06-25) 25 June 1976
Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Joanne Eland
Children 2
Education Raincliffe School
Scarborough Sixth Form College
Alma mater The University of Bradford
Website Official website

Gavin Alexander Williamson CBE (born 25 June 1976) is a British Conservative politician. He was first elected to parliament at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Staffordshire.[1] Williamson was Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Patrick McLoughlin as Secretary of State for Transport[2] prior to being appointed PPS to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, in October 2013. On 14 July 2016, he was appointed Chief Whip in Theresa May's government,[3] and on 2 November 2017 he was appointed Secretary of State for Defence.

Early life and career

Williamson is originally from Scarborough, North Yorkshire. His parents, Ray, a local government worker and Beverly, a job centre worker,[4][5] were both Labour voters.[6] Williamson was educated in Scarborough, at East Ayton Primary School, followed by Raincliffe School, a state comprehensive school, and the Scarborough Sixth Form College, where he studied Government and Politics and Economics at "A" Level. He obtained a BSc in Social Sciences from the University of Bradford.[7]

Williamson was the penultimate national chairman of Conservative Students, before it was abolished in 1998 and the separate youth wings of the party were amalgamated as Conservative Future. He was elected a county councillor in 2001 for the Seamer division in North Yorkshire but later stood down in 2005. Williamson is a former Deputy Chairman of Staffordshire Area Conservatives, Chairman of Stoke-on-Trent Conservative Association, and Vice-Chairman of Derbyshire Dales Conservative Association.[8]

Williamson worked as managing director of fireplace manufacturer Elgin & Hall, a subsidiary of AGA, until 2004.[9][10]

Williamson had become managing director of Aynsley China, a Staffordshire-based pottery firm by 2005. It sold ceramic tableware and he later became co-owner. In April 2005, Williamson was quoted in reports on the consumer rush to buy items with the wrong wedding date on for Charles and Camilla's wedding. He told The Telegraph, "We've literally had fights in our own retail shops. On the first day after the announcement I went into our factory shop in Stoke-on-Trent and we had people fighting over the last plate that we had on the shop floor. I think everybody has decided that this is going to be their pension."[4][11][12][13]

He has also worked for a Staffordshire pottery firm that made and sold ceramic tableware, of which he became co-owner, and for an architectural design firm until he became an MP in 2010.[2][14]

In the 2005 General Election, he stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative Party candidate in Blackpool North and Fleetwood.[11] After 2005, Williamson then moved to Derbyshire.[11]

Parliamentary career

Williamson meets with US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels in November 2017

Early parliamentary career (2010–2011)

In January 2010, Williamson was selected as the Conservative candidate in South Staffordshire for the 2010 general election. The incumbent, Patrick Cormack, had announced that he was retiring. The selection went to five ballots, but in the end Williamson won out over local councillor Robert Light in the final ballot.[15] Williamson was subsequently elected with a majority of 16,590 votes. Shortly after being elected, he cited his political inspiration as Rab Butler and, when asked what department of any he would most like to lead, he said the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as it is "business and manufacturing that can lead the way out of difficult economic times".[16]

Williamson made his maiden speech on 8 June 2010, on the same day as Nicky Morgan and Kwasi Kwarteng. During his speech, he said that "We do not sing enough the praises of our designers, engineers and manufacturers. We need to change that ethos and have a similar one to that of Germany or Japan. We will have a truly vibrant economy only when we recreate the Victorian spirit of ingenuity and inventiveness that made Britain such a vibrant country, as I am sure it will be again."[17] Williamson campaigned on a number of issues in his first year in Parliament.

In July 2010, Williamson called for a new law to allow local authorities to clamp down on car boot sales that disrupted traffic flow, citing villages in his constituency as examples.[18] In June 2011, he expressed support for postwoman Julie Roberts, who had been suspended after clinging for over a mile onto the bonnet of her post van that had been stolen. He said that "People want her back in work and they want the Royal Mail to show some common sense and some common decency" and asked the Royal Mail to reinstate her into her old job.[19] Williamson was one of several MPs who was absent or abstained on the important 21 March 2011 vote on supporting UN-backed action in Libya. The vote ultimately passed 557–13.[20]

Parliamentary Private Secretaryships (2011–2016)

In October 2011, Williamson was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Hugo Swire. He replaced Conor Burns, who became Owen Paterson's new PPS.[21] In September 2012, Williamson became PPS to Patrick McLoughlin, Secretary of State for Transport, and in 2013 became PPS to the Prime Minister, David Cameron.[22]

In Parliament, Williamson was a member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee and was Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Motor Neurone Disease.[2]

Williamson supported the United Kingdom's remain campaign during the 2016 EU membership referendum.[23][24][25]

Williamson voted against an investigation into Tony Blair's role in the Iraq War.[26]

Chief Whip (2016–2017)

Following David Cameron's resignation, Williamson "privately vowed" to stop the front-runner Boris Johnson from becoming Conservative Party leader. He assessed Theresa May to be the likeliest candidate to defeat Johnson, offered his help to her, and was invited to be her parliamentary campaign manager.[6] Following May becoming prime minister, Williamson was appointed Chief Whip.[6]

Following the Conservative-DUP electoral pact after the 2017 General Election, Williamson visited Belfast to discuss arrangements with the DUP.[27]

Defence Secretary (2017–present)

Williamson was appointed Secretary of State for Defence on 2 November 2017 after the resignation of Sir Michael Fallon the preceding evening.[28][29]

In February 2018, Williamson dined with Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a former Putin minister, in exchange for £30,000.[30] Later that month, Williamson alleged that the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, in meeting a Czech diplomat (later revealed to be a spy) during the 1980s, had "betray[ed]" his country. In response to the statement, a spokesman for Corbyn stated: "Gavin Williamson should focus on his job and not give credence to entirely false and ridiculous smears".[31]

Williamson has supported the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis despite concerns from human rights activists and Labour MPs about war crimes allegedly committed by the Saudi military.[32][33]

Williamson meeting with United States Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis in 2018

On 15 March 2018, in the wake of the Salisbury poisoning, Williamson answered a question about Russia's potential response to the UK′s punitive measures against Russia by saying that "frankly, Russia should go away, and it should shut up". The remark attracted media attention and criticism in the UK.[34] Meanwhile, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman of the Russian Defence Ministry, said: "The market wench talk that British defence secretary Gavin Williamson resorted to reflects his extreme intellectual impotency".[35][36] Williamson′s remark was quoted by the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, who posted a comment on his official Twitter account: "The Kremlin's 'chemical attack' in the UK is nothing but an encroachment on British sovereignty. And our message to Russia is the same as that of British defense secretary Gavin Williamson: 'shut up and go away'." [37][38]

Personal life and honours

Williamson is married to Joanne, a former primary school teacher. The couple have two daughters, Annabel and Grace.[8] He was a charity trustee at a Citizen's Advice Bureau, and a school governor.[2]

Williamson is a patron of the World Owl Trust and while chief whip kept a Mexican redknee tarantula, Cronus, in his parliamentary office,[4] for which he was criticised by parliamentary authorities in November 2016.[39]

In the 2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Williamson was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for political and public service".[40]

In January 2018, it became known that Williamson, while he was managing director of fireplace firm Elgin & Hall in 2004, had an office romance. To save his marriage, he has said he left the firm.[9] According to Williamson, it became "flirtatious and a couple of times we shared a kiss", but it "never went further", Williamson told the Daily Mail.[10] "My family means everything to me and I almost threw it away", Williamson said. "This incident nearly destroyed two marriages".[9] The Sunday Telegraph reported that a senior co-worker stated that the woman involved was in tears when reporting the incident at work and that Williamson was subsequently the subject of a meeting with managers.[41]

References

  1. ↑ "The Conservative Party | People | Members of Parliament | Gavin Williamson MP". Conservatives.com. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "About Gavin". Rt. Hon. Gavin Williamson MP. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Profile: Gavin Williamson, the "baby-faced assassin" who was Chief Whip. As of 2 November 2017 he became the new defence secretary– Conservative Home". Archived from the original on 8 June 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Profile: Who is Gavin Williamson, the new defence secretary?". BBC News. 2 November 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "ANDREW PIERCE profiles new defence secretary Gavin Williamson". Cetusnews. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Eaton, George. "Gavin Williamson: the cunning Tory chief whip with a tarantula on his desk". The New Statesman. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  8. 1 2 "The Rt. Hon. Gavin Williamson CBE MP". South Staffordshire – Conservative Association. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 Kentih, Benjamin (26 January 2018). "Gavin Williamson: Tory Defence Secretary admits to 'kissing' trysts with married former colleague". The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  10. 1 2 Syal, Rajeev (26 January 2018). "Defence secretary refuses to answer questions about relationship with past colleague". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 "ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Gavin Williamson selected for South Staffordshire". Conservativehome.blogs.com. 30 January 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  12. ↑ Barrow, Becky (9 April 2005). "Ebay bidders go wild for April 8 memorabilia". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "Royal wedding pottery snapped up". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  14. ↑ "Gavin Williamson – Biography". politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  15. ↑ "Gavin Williamson selected for South Staffordshire". Conservative Home. 30 January 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  16. ↑ "Gavin Williamson MP answers ConHome's Twenty Questions for the Class of 2010". Conservative Home. 6 September 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  17. ↑ "Nicky Morgan and Gavin Williamson stress the importance of manufacturing as Kwasi Kwarteng uses his maiden speech to accuse Labour MPs of being in "never-never land"". Conservative Home. 9 June 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  18. ↑ Patel, Sunita (31 July 2010). "New law call on car boot sales". Express and Star. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  19. ↑ "MP backs axed have-a-go postie". The Scarborough News. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  20. ↑ "The full list of how MPs voted on Libya action". BBC News. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  21. ↑ "PoliticsHome.com". PoliticsHome.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011.
  22. ↑ "Gavin Williamson MP". Democracy Live. BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  23. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  24. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  25. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  26. ↑ "How has our new defence secretary voted on the key issues?". Metro.co.uk. 2 November 2017.
  27. ↑ "Who is the most powerful person in Britain?". ITV. 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  28. ↑ "Theresa May appoints Gavin Williamson as defense secretary". POLITICO. 1 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  29. ↑ "Williamson is named defence secretary". BBC News. 2 November 2017. Archived from the original on 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  30. ↑ "Boris Johnson defends playing tennis with wife of Putin's ex-minister in return for £160,000 Tory donation". The Independent. 18 March 2018.
  31. ↑ Fisher, Lucy (15 February 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn 'can't be trusted' after claims he met Soviet spy, says Gavin Williamson". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 21 February 2018. (subscription required)
  32. ↑ "UK Government must be held accountable for children killed during Saudi Arabia's Yemen bombing, says Labour". The Independent. 7 March 2018.
  33. ↑ "Britain to Sell Jets to Saudis Despite Conduct of Yemen War". The New York Times. 9 March 2018.
  34. ↑ Merrick, Rob (15 March 2018). "Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson tells Putin to 'go away and shut up' rather than expel British diplomats from Russia". The Independent. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  35. ↑ Cecil, Nicholas; Murphy, Joe; Stewart, Will (16 March 2018). "Russians taunt 'Gavin Williamson the wench' as West is united". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  36. ↑ В Минобороны прокомментировали грубый выпад главы британского военного ведомства в адрес России TV Zvezda, 15 March 2018.
  37. ↑ Poroshenko joins Britain urging Russia to "shut up and go away" unian.info, 17 March 2018.
  38. ↑ Порошенко вслед за Британией посоветовал России заткнуться‍ RIA Novosti, 17 March 2018.
  39. ↑ McCann, Kate (24 November 2016). "Revealed: The first picture of Cronus, the chief whip's pet tarantula". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  40. ↑ "Resignation Honours 2016" (PDF). GOV.UK. Cabinet Office. 4 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  41. ↑ Nicola Harley, Steve Bird, Victoria Ward (28 January 2018). "Female colleague Gavin Williamson 'shared kiss' with was in tears, it was claimed". Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Patrick Cormack		 Member of Parliament
for South Staffordshire
2010–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Mark Harper		 Chief Whip of the House of Commons
2016–2017		 Succeeded by
Julian Smith
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
2016–2017
Preceded by
Michael Fallon		 Secretary of State for Defence
2017–present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Mark Harper		 Conservative Chief Whip of the House of Commons
2016–2017		 Succeeded by
Julian Smith
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