Johnny Mercer (politician)

Johnny Mercer
MP
Member of Parliament
for Plymouth Moor View
Assumed office
8 May 2015
Preceded by Alison Seabeck
Majority 5,019 (11.1%)
Personal details
Born (1981-08-17) 17 August 1981
Kent, United Kingdom
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Felicity
Children 2
Alma mater Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Website Official website
Military career
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  British Army
Years of service 2002-2013
Rank Captain
Service number 558186
Unit 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery
Battles/wars

War in Afghanistan

John Luther Mercer (born 17 August 1981) is a British Conservative politician and business consultant. He is a former British Army officer and the author of 'We Were Warriors: One Soldier’s Story of Brutal Combat' (2017). He was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Moor View at the 2015 general election, gaining the seat from Labour.[1][2]

Early life and career

John Mercer was born in Dartford on 17 August 1981. The son of a banker and a nurse he grew up in a strict Baptist family with seven siblings.[3] [4] Between 1995 and 2000, he was privately educated at Eastbourne College,[5] a co-educational independent school in Eastbourne in East Sussex. After completing school, he opted to spend time working as an intern in the City of London instead of attending university, following the offer from the relative of a friend.[6] [7] He worked as Project Administrator at Eurolife Assurance Company Ltd, a now defunct insurance company, leaving a month after the Financial Services Authority withdrew the company's authorisation to conduct new insurance business.[8] [9] [10]

Military career

Mercer was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery after passing out from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in June 2003 before being promoted to lieutenant in April 2005.[11][12] Mercer rose to the rank of Captain in April 2008 and was attached to 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, serving three tours of Afghanistan.[13][14] Mercer retired in December 2013.[15]

Political career

Mercer has detailed publicly that he had not been politically active in his younger years and the first time he voted was for himself when he first ran for office.[16] He said that he entered politics with a view to improving the care of veterans and felt that he was a Conservative because he regarded a "massive welfare state that saps the ambition and drive of a younger generation" as a problem.[14] After contacting ex-military Conservative MP Bob Stewart, he was selected as the Conservative Party candidate for Plymouth Moor View two months after leaving the army in February 2014.[17][14]

Despite being in the the Conservative Party's top 25 target seats for the General Election in 2015,[18] Mercer has claimed he was largely responsible for organising his own campaign "on the cheap".[14] To raise funds he worked on building sites and even appeared in a shower gel advert.[19] [20]

He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Moor View at the 2015 general election, defeating the incumbent Labour MP Alison Seabeck. Mercer delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 1 June 2015, describing his "main missions" in Parliament to be improving provisions for mental health and war veterans.[21] He has been critical of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team.[22]

Mercer was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum,[23] although he says that the result should be respected.[24]

Mercer was re-elected with an increased majority at the 2017 general election and he has focused on care for veterans.[25][26] In October of the same year, he was placed at Number 88 on 'The 100 Most Influential People on the Right' by commentator Iain Dale.[27]

In the House of Commons he sits on the Defence Committee, the Defence Sub-Committee and the Health and Social Care Committee.[28]

As of 10 October 2018, in Parliament, the number of debates he has spoken in and the number of answers he has received to written questions are all below average amongst MPs.[29]

Controversies

Mercer has been challenged over his expenses on a number of occasions. His successful campaign to get elected as an MP in 2015 was subsequently the subject of a police investigation following allegations it breached rules on campaign spending. Mercer admitted to police that his account of expenses had been incorrect, but argued that the errors were minor and his spending had not breached legal limits.[30] The Crown Prosecution Service declined to charge him and the case was dropped.[31][32] In November 2015, he was criticised by the TaxPayers’ Alliance after it was revealed he had purchased five Apple iMacs on his Commons expenses, rather than 'cheaper equivalents'. Mercer responded that the purchases were appropriate and 'were cheaper than the desktop computers offered to MPs by the House of Commons’ official supplier'.[33] He was criticised in May 2016 for claiming £2,500 on expenses for “professional services” on social media management and in December 2017 The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority opened an investigation to determine whether Mercer had been paid business expenses he should not have. He responded: "As with the previous complaints, I am confident this one will be dismissed as well and I can say now that I am unaware of any wrongdoing."[34]

He was the subject of criticism in July 2018 after he choose to appear in Celebrity Hunted - a Channel 4 television programme where participants go on the run and images are released of them so people can try to track them down, rather than attend his work in Parliament. Whilst appearing on the programme he missed the meeting of the Health and Social Care Committee, which he is a member of, shortly before Parliament broke up for the summer recess. Mercer defended his decision, via a Channel 4 statement, arguing he had used his position to raise money for charity and had brought his parliamentary roles into filming.[35] [36]

In October 2018, he was criticised by his political rivals for taking on a second job on a salary of £85,000 a year for working 20 hours a month as a consultant to Brighton based Crucial Academy Ltd. His Labour rival accused him of neglecting his duties in his constituency to earn a “staggering” amount of money. However, Mercer responded that criticism “smacked of political jealousy” and the extra work only equated to four hours a week.[37] Additional employment for MPs as consultants has been criticised and his Labour Party opponents have called for the practice to be outlawed, but it is currently legal.[38]

Mercer employs his wife as a part-time Office Manager on a salary up to £30,000.[39] Articles in the Daily Telegraph and Guardian have criticised the practice of MPs employing family members, on the lines that it promotes nepotism.[40] [41] Although MPs who were first elected in 2017 have been banned from employing family members, the restriction is not retrospective - meaning that Mercer's employment of his wife is lawful.[42]

Books

Two years after becoming an MP, in June 2017, Mercer published We Were Warriors: One Soldier’s Story of Brutal Combat, a memoir of his three combat tours in Afghanistan.[43][26]

Personal life

Mercer is married to Felicity and they have two young children.[6] The family live a small village on the edge of Bodmin Moor, in Cornwall.[44] For his work in Parliament, Mercer stays in hotel on expenses. When he was first elected, he slept in East London on his yacht/motor cruiser named Pippa several nights a week, claiming in the Daily Telegraph at the time that it reduced his expenses costs.[45] After local media revealed he had started using hotels instead, he explained it was due to the weather conditions and that his expenses claims were still lower than the maximum that could be allowed.[46] He is an atheist.[47]

In November 2015 he attracted media attention with a radio interview where he responded to a question on whether he'd ever taken drugs by joking "You don't put diesel in a Ferrari".[48]

On a summer boat trip in 2016, he saved the life of MP Scott Mann who was "ashamed to admit" he could not swim.[49][50][51]

Honours

OSM for Afghanistan

References

  1. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9121.
  2. ↑ "Plymouth Moor View Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Mercer. J. 2017. We Were Warriors: One Soldier’s Story of Brutal Combat. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
  4. ↑ Mikhailova, Anna (6 May 2018). "Tory MP Johnny Mercer: My battles with mental illness - and how Army veterans are being exploited and failed". Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  5. ↑ "Eastbournian Society – 11 May 2015 – Johnny Mercer". Eastbourne College. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Life before being an MP". Johnny For Plymouth. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Mercer. J. 2017. We Were Warriors: One Soldier’s Story of Brutal Combat. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
  8. ↑ "LinkedIn". Linkdin. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  9. ↑ "Eurolife Assurance Company Ltd" (PDF). Financial Services and Markets Tribunal. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  10. ↑ "Eurolife victims face choice over losses". The Guardian. 19 February 2005. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "No. 56952". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 2003. p. 6794.
  12. ↑ "No. 57653". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 2005. p. 7044.
  13. ↑ "No. 58817". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 September 2008. p. 13704.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Prince, Rosa (6 June 2015). "Afghanistan veteran Johnny Mercer's Westminster mission". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 27 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "No. 60890". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 June 2014. p. 11368.
  16. ↑ Bennett, Owen (1 September 2015). "Johnny Mercer: We need to 'grow up' over Iraq, my 'gippingly' embarrassing Dove advert and why Tony Blair is my political hero". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "LinkedIn". Linkdin. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  18. ↑ "CONSERVATIVE TARGET SEATS". http://ukpollingreport.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2013. External link in |publisher= (help)
  19. ↑ Mason, Rowena (7 July 2015). "Plymouth MP appears half-naked in Dove shower gel advert". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  20. ↑ "Model claims his naked body stared in shower gel advert". Plymouth Herald. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  21. ↑ Kirkup, James (2 June 2015). "Cynical about politicians? This speech by Johnny Mercer MP should make you think again". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  22. ↑ Somper, James (18 September 2016). "British soldiers cleared of Iraqi civilian's death could now face prosecution". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016. Mr Mercer, who has just started chairing a parliamentary select committee inquiry into the post-operational support given to armed forces personnel said that he was "deeply ashamed" of the decision and labelled Ihat and the 1,500 cases it is currently investigating as a "fatally flawed process" that should be shut down
  23. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. London. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  24. ↑ "Johnny Mercer: Why I have changed my mind over Brexit". Plymouth Herald. 2 April 2017. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  25. ↑ "Plymouth Moor View result: Conservative Johnny Mercer re-elected". Plymouth Herald. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  26. 1 2 "We Were Warriors: One Soldier's Story of Brutal Combat - review". London Evening Standard. 22 June 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  27. ↑ Dale, Iain (2 October 2017). "The Top 100 Most Influential People On The Right: Iain Dale's 2017 List". LBC. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  28. ↑ "Johnny Mercer". Parliament UK. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  29. ↑ "They Work For You". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  30. ↑ Sam Blackledge, '"No action against Plymouth MP after 'admitting expenses error'". Plymouth Herald. 10 April 2017.
  31. ↑ "Tory election spending: MP admitted to police some claims were wrong". The Guardian. London. 10 April 2017. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  32. ↑ "MP Johnny Mercer's campaign expenditure investigated". BBC News. 8 July 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  33. ↑ "Tory MP Johnny Mercer accused over £3,500 expenses claim for five iMacs". Evening Standard. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  34. ↑ "Johnny Mercer expenses investigation: Watchdog launches probe into Plymouth MP". Plymouth Herald. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  35. ↑ "Plymouth MP 'missed key NHS debate to appear on reality TV show'". Plymouth Herald. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  36. ↑ "Tory MP explains why he missed parliament talk to go on reality TV show". Plymouth Herald. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  37. ↑ "Labour candidate blasts Plymouth Tory MP's £85,000 a year second job". Plymouth Herald. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  38. ↑ "What MPs do as second jobs". BBC. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  39. ↑ "IPSA". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  40. ↑ "One in five MPs employs a family member: the full list revealed". \Daily Telegraph. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  41. ↑ Mason, Rowena (29 June 2015). "Keeping it in the family: new MPs continue to hire relatives as staff". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  42. ↑ "MPs banned from employing spouses after election in expenses crackdown". London Evening Standard. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  43. ↑ "Johnny Mercer reveals why he decided to be an MP". Daily Mail. London. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  44. ↑ "Johnny Mercer on life in the army, his childhood demons and the broken Tory "brand"". New Statesman. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  45. ↑ Riley-Smith, Ben (2 January 2016). "Tory MP sleeps on boat in east London to avoid 'obscene' house prices in capital". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 2 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  46. ↑ "MP ditches plan to save expenses by staying on his yacht then racks up £12,500 in hotel bills". Devon Live. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  47. ↑ "In 2014 Johnny Mercer had never voted – now he's an MP". Independent. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  48. ↑ Heritage, Stuart (23 November 2015). "'You don't put diesel in a Ferrari': how politicians answer the drugs question". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  49. ↑ Mann, Scott (18 November 2016). "I Am An Adult, And I Am Unable To Swim | The Huffington Post". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  50. ↑ McCann, Kate (18 November 2016). "Tory MP Johnny Mercer rescued colleague who was afraid to admit he couldn't swim from drowning". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  51. ↑ "Non-swimmer North Cornwall MP Scott Mann rescued after trying to swim to shore on Rame Peninsula". Cornwall Live. Local World. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Alison Seabeck		 Member of Parliament
for Plymouth Moor View
2015–present		 Incumbent
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