James Berry (politician)

James Berry
Member of Parliament
for Kingston and Surbiton
In office
8 May 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded by Ed Davey
Succeeded by Sir Ed Davey
Personal details
Born (1983-08-04) 4 August 1983
Canterbury, England, UK
Political party Conservative
Alma mater University College London
Harvard University
Website Official website

Michael James Ellwood Berry is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston and Surbiton from May 2015 to May 2017.[1]

Early life

James Berry was born and brought up in the city of Canterbury in Kent.[2]

Education

From 1996 to 2001, Berry was educated at The King's School, Canterbury,[3] an independent school in his home city of Canterbury, followed by University College London, from which he graduated, and at the Harvard Law School in the United States, where he received a degree in Law.[4]

Career

Before his election, Berry worked as a barrister in London, specialising in healthcare and police issues.[4] In May 2015, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Kingston and Surbiton.[1] During his campaign, he had stressed education as a key interest.[5] Berry strongly supports implementation of mindfulness meditation practices and beliefs for children in schools, which he states will positively impact pupils' future workplace productivity.[6]

Berry is at odds with his party with regard to lowering the voting age as he is an advocate of votes for 16 and 17 year olds.[7]

Berry was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum,[8] and his constituency voted in favour of remaining in the European Union.[9] However, Berry subsequently voted with the government to pass the Article 50 bill.

In the 2017 general election Berry lost his seat, despite gaining almost 600 votes more than his 2015 result. He was beaten by a majority of 4,124 votes by the previous constituency MP Ed Davey, who served from 1997-2015.

Personal life

Berry married a Harvard graduate in August 2013.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Kingston & Surbiton Parliamentary constituency, BBC
  2. 1 2 "Conservative Party: James Berry: Candidate for Kingston and Surbiton".
  3. ↑ "Old King's Society – For the Record – Honours and Distinctions – News of OKS – James Berry (page 3)" (PDF). Old King's Society of The King's School, Canterbury. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 Simmons, Richard, Meet the lawyers standing for Parliament, Lawyer 2B, 10 April 2015
  5. ↑ Edwin Newberry, Conservative candidate for Kingston and Surbiton James Berry believes education is key for aspiration. Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine., Kingston Courier, 16 November 2014
  6. ↑ "Miserable Children, Workforce Resilience and Why We Need Mindfulness In Schools | Huffington Post". huffingtonpost.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "New Kingston and Surbiton MP James Berry exclusively tells the River that maintenance grants ‘was not right’ and had to go |". riveronline.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ "How London voted in the EU ref, borough by borough". 23 June 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ed Davey		 Member of Parliament
for Kingston and Surbiton
2015–2017		 Succeeded by
Ed Davey


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