Ranil Jayawardena

Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena[2] (born 3 September 1986) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Hampshire since May 2015 and the Minister for International Trade since May 2020.[3] Born in London, England, he moved to Hampshire before starting school. His education was at his local comprehensive in North East Hampshire, Robert May's School, followed by Alton College. Jayawardena graduated from the London School of Economics and worked for Lloyds Banking Group, rising to become a senior manager.

Ranil Jayawardena

MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade
Assumed office
5 May 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byConor Burns
Deputy Chairman
of the Conservative Party
In office
13 February 2020 – 5 May 2020
Preceded byPaul Scully
Succeeded byLee Rowley
Member of Parliament
for North East Hampshire
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byJames Arbuthnot
Majority20,211 (34.1%)[1]
Councillor of the Borough of
Basingstoke and Deane
In office
5 May 2008 – 11 May 2015
Personal details
Born (1986-09-03) 3 September 1986
London, United Kingdom
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
Alison Lyn Jayawardena (m. 2011)
Children2
Alma materLondon School of Economics
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and career

Jayawardena was born on 3 September 1986 in London, England.[4][5] His father, Nalin Jayawardena,[6] is of Sri Lankan origin and moved to the United Kingdom in 1978 to pursue a career in accountancy.[7] His mother, Indira Jayawardena,[6] has Indian heritage; he also has a brother and sister.[8] His early education was at Hook Infant School and Hook Junior School in Hook,[9] Robert May's School, a state comprehensive school in the village of Odiham,[10] and Alton College in the town of Alton (all in Hampshire).[11] At the London School of Economics, he graduated with a BSc. in Government in 2008.[12] After university, Jayawardena worked for Lloyds Banking Group in capital markets, corporate banking and in its group executive functions. He also worked on a voluntary basis in the office of North East Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot.[13]

Jayawardena served as a councillor of the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane in Hampshire from 2008 to 2015.[14] During his time as a councillor, he was also the Cabinet Member for Finance and Property, before being made Deputy Leader of the Council,[15] where he had a particular focus on urban revitalisation and economic regeneration.[16][17][18]

As Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategy, his role varied from securing a new combined John Lewis and Waitrose store for Basingstoke,[19] cracking down on anti-social behaviour and littering[20] and providing half an hour free parking in all council car parks.[21]

Parliamentary career

James Arbuthnot, the MP for North East Hampshire, indicated in 2011 that he would retire at the next parliamentary election which was due to be held in 2015.[22] Jayawardena was selected in an open primary as the parliamentary candidate for the constituency in 2013. Other short-listed individuals for the seat included future MPs Victoria Atkins and Helen Whately.[23] He went on to be elected as the MP for the constituency at the 2015 general election with 35,573 votes (65.9% share) and a majority of 29,916.[24] This was the largest margin of victory by any Conservative MP in the election.[25] During the election, the candidate for the UK Independence Party was suspended after making a death threat towards Jayawardena.[26]

In his maiden speech, he outlined his belief in the rule of law, in human rights and in equality before the law being matched by equality in opportunity, and that rights must be balanced by responsibilities.[27] In December 2015, he voted to support Prime Minister David Cameron's plans to carry out airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria.[28] In the 2015–17 parliament, he was part of the Home Affairs Committee and the International Trade Committee.[29] After becoming an MP, he continued to be vocal about local issues that he had supported as a councillor such as protecting weekly bin collections.[30][31] Jayawardena supported Brexit in the June 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.[32]

He held his seat in the 2017 general election with 37,754 (65.5%) votes and a majority of 27,772.[33] In June 2017, he shut down his Twitter account after labelling it as "a platform full of trolls, extremists – and worse".[34] After the 2017 election, he was re-appointed to the International Trade Committee and also joined the House of Commons' Procedure Committee.[29]

Jayawardena was elected the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) on Sri Lanka and Finland; and was the treasurer of the APPGs on Iceland and Lithuania too.[35] He also founded the APPG on Endangered Species.[36][37]

In January 2018, Jayawardena was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to the ministerial team at the Department for Work and Pensions.[38] In September 2018, he was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Ministry of Justice. He resigned from this post on 15 November 2018 in protest at the government's proposed Brexit deal.[39]

Jayawardena supported Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election.[40] Having left Twitter in 2017, he returned to it during the contest.[41] In the same year, he was appointed as a Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party.[42]

He was re-elected in the 2019 general election with 35,280 votes, a very similar number of votes to 2015 and 2017, but with reduced majority of 20,211 (34.1%) votes.[1] He was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party in February 2020. [43]

On 5 May 2020, he was appointed as Minister for International Trade, in the Department for International Trade,[44] by Boris Johnson following the resignation of Conor Burns.

Personal life

Jayawardena lives in Bramley, Hampshire.[45] He has been married to Alison (née Roberts), a solicitor, since 2011.[6][46] The couple have two daughters.[47] His wife works part-time as a Senior Researcher for his parliamentary office.[48] He is a Christian,[4] and was a trustee/director of the Conservative Christian Fellowship.[49]

References
  1. "North East Hampshire". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  2. "Declaration of Results" (PDF). Electoral Commission. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  3. "Ranil Jayawardena MP". gov.uk. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. Bennett, Owen. "Ranil Jayawardena: I Never Got An Apology From Ukip After One Of Its Candidates Said He Wanted To Shoot Me". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  5. "Ranil Jayawardena". MyParliament. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  6. "Jayawardena, Ranil Malcolm (Who's Who, online edition)". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  7. "Ukip candidate suspended for threatening to 'put a bullet in' Tory rival". The Guardian. 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  8. "'Ranil's election great honour to Sri Lanka'". Daily News. 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015.
  9. Harrison-Fisher, Andre (12 December 2017). "MP returns to old school to open new building". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  10. Richards, Adam (19 March 2013). "Cllr Ranil Jayawardena says too many children in the borough are being let down". Southern Daily Echo. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  11. "Alton to leave East Hampshire in boundary shake up". Farnham Herald. 16 September 2016. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  12. "LSE alumni elected in the UK general election". London School of Economics. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  13. Syal, Rajeev; Barr, Caelainn (5 March 2015). "300 staff working for peers and MPs have lobbying interests, analysis reveals". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  14. "North East Hampshire". UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  15. Bave, Jessica (5 June 2014). "Clive Sanders to remain as leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council". Southern Daily Echo. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  16. Jayawardena, Ranil (March 2013). "Basingstoke Town Centre Programme" (PDF). Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  17. Richards, Adam (26 November 2013). "Derelict eyesore being demolished". Hampshire Chronicle. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  18. Garfield, Richard (20 March 2014). "Network Rail bridges the gap to Basing View". Andover Advertiser. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  19. "John Lewis signs at Basing View". Morgan Sindall Group. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  20. Bave, Jessica (11 February 2015). "Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council launches crackdown on litter at Basingstoke Leisure Park". County Press. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  21. Stanley, John (7 November 2013). "Top of the Town 'set to get free parking'". Basingstoke Observer. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  22. "Tory MP James Arbuthnot to step down for 'new challenge'". BBC News. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  23. "Ranil Jayawardena selected as James Arbuthnot's successor". Ranil Jayawardena. 18 November 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017.
  24. "Hampshire North East parliamentary constituency — Election 2015". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  25. Williams, Zoe. "In the country's safest Tory seat, prosperity seeks a steady hand". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  26. Dutta, Kunal (5 May 2015). "Ukip sacks candidate Robert Blay for threatening to shoot his Tory rival". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  27. Jayawardena, Ranil (3 June 2015). "House of Commons". Hansard.
  28. "Syria strikes: Find out how your MP voted". BBC News. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015.
  29. "Mr Ranil Jayawardena". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  30. "Council's bin collection change idea branded 'junk' by former deputy". Basingstoke Observer. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  31. Pamely, Harry (17 February 2017). "Ranil Jayawardena MP rubbishes idea of fortnightly bin collection". Basingstoke Gazette. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  32. 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 22 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  33. "Hampshire North East". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  34. Brown, Matthew (26 June 2017). "MP Jayawardena quits Twitter over 'trolling, extremists – and worse'". Basingstoke Observer. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  35. "Register of All-Party Parliamentary Groups". parliament.uk. 2 January 2019.
  36. Jayawardena, Ranil (4 June 2018). "House of Commons". Hansard.
  37. Jayawardena, Ranil (4 September 2018). "House of Commons". Hansard.
  38. "List of PPS's | Conservative Home". Conservative Home. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  39. Birkbeck, Tim (15 November 2018). "Ranil Jayawardena resigns from PPS post over the UK's draft Brexit agreement with the EU". Basingstoke Gazette.
  40. Payne, Sebastian; Tilford, Cale; Kao, Joanna S; Stabe, Martin (20 June 2019). "UK's next prime minister — who are the lead candidates?". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  41. Ranil Jayawardena (12 June 2019). "An inspiring launch to @BorisJohnson's campaign to become Leader of the Conservative Party - and Prime Minister of our great country. This is the man who can unite our divided politics and people, with a vision for Brexit and beyond. #BackBoris @BackBorispic.twitter.com/r1E1qCYCLT".
  42. Wallace, Mark (5 August 2019). "The Party's new line-up of Deputy and Vice Chairmen". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  43. "Team Ranil". Twitter. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  44. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State". Gov.uk. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  45. "Ranil Jayawardena MP visits HLF supported RSPB reserve at Hazeley Heath". Heritage Lottery Fund. 12 November 2015.
  46. "Alison Lyn Jayawardena". The Law Society. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  47. "About Ranil". Ranil Jayawardena. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  48. "Register of Members' Financial Interests" (PDF). parliament.uk. p. 253. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  49. "The Team". Conservative Christian Fellowship. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
James Arbuthnot		 Member of Parliament
for North East Hampshire
2015–present		 Incumbent
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