Jump to content

Damian Collins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 194.60.38.227 (talk) at 08:41, 8 April 2021 (Description and referencing of select committee inquiries). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Damian Collins
MP
Collins in 2020
Chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
In office
19 October 2016 – 6 December 2019
Preceded byJesse Norman
Succeeded byJulian Knight
Member of Parliament
for Folkestone and Hythe
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byMichael Howard
Majority21,337 (36.1%)
Personal details
Born
Damian Noel Thomas Collins

(1974-02-04) 4 February 1974 (age 50)
Northampton, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseSarah Richardson
Children2
Alma materSt Benet's Hall, Oxford
Websitedamiancollins.com Edit this at Wikidata

Damian Noel Thomas Collins (born 4 February 1974)[1][2] is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Folkestone and Hythe since the 2010 general election. From 19 October 2016[3] to 6 November 2019[4], Collins was Chair of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.

Education

Collins was educated at St. Mary's [R.C.] High School, a state voluntary aided comprehensive school in the village of Lugwardine in Herefordshire, followed by Belmont Abbey School, a former boarding independent school in Hereford, where he studied for his A Levels. He then went up to St Benet's Hall at the University of Oxford, from which he graduated in modern history in 1996. The previous year, he became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association.[5]

Early career

Between 1999 and 2008, Collins worked for the M&C Saatchi advertising agency. In 2005, whilst still working at M&C Saatchi, he set up Influence Communications within the group which specialised in issues based marketing campaigns. Before joining M&C Saatchi, he worked in the Conservative Research Department. In 2008, he joined Lexington Communications, where he was senior counsel, before leaving to stand at the 2010 general election.[6]

Political career

Conservative activism

From 2003 to 2004 Collins was the Political Officer of the Bow Group think tank[7], and contributed to its 2006 publication Conservative Revival: Blueprint for a Better Britain (Politico's Publishing, 2006)[8].

At the 2005 general election, Collins stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate in Northampton North, where he finished in second place to sitting Labour MP Sally Keeble who was re-elected with a majority of 3,960 votes[9]. In May 2006, Collins was included on the "A-list" of Conservative parliamentary candidates, created following the election of David Cameron as Leader of the Conservative Party.[10]

On 13 July 2006, Collins was selected as prospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Folkestone and Hythe in Kent[11], succeeding as Conservative candidate for the seat to Michael Howard, a former Home Secretary and Leader of the Conservative Party, who had announced his decision to step down from the House of Commons[12].

Member of Parliament

Collins made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 27 May 2010 in the Queen's Speech debate. He spoke about the new Conservative-Liberal Coalition Government’s energy and environmental policy, and his support for a new nuclear power station at Dungeness in his constituency[13].

On 12 July 2010, Collins became a member of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee[14].

In 2010, it was reported that Collins claimed £4,440.90 over three months in rent for a house in London, despite declaring that he already owned a home in the capital. In his defence, he said the property belonged to his wife and was "too small to provide accommodation for my young family, and even if that was not the case, as a new Member of Parliament I wouldn't be able to claim any accommodation allowance against the mortgage on the property."[15]

On 10 September 2012, Collins was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers[16]. In July 2014, Collins was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond[17].

In the 2016 EU referendum, Collins campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union[18]. He subsequently supported delivering the result of the referendum, for the UK to leave the EU, describing himself in July 2019 as "someone who voted Remain, but has always upheld the pledge I made at the last general election: to honour the result of the referendum[19]".

In 2016 Collins was elected as Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee[20] and was re-elected unopposed following the 2017 general election[21] of the newly re-named Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee[22]. He remained Chair until the dissolution of Parliament on 6 November 2019[23].

Select Committee inquiries

During his tenure as Committee Chair, Collins led several parliamentary inquiries:

Disinformation and 'fake news'

Collins launched a high-profile inquiry into Disinformation and ‘fake news’[24] in the wake of allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, widening its scope to investigate the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, and concluding that “legal liabilities should be established for tech companies to act against harmful or illegal content on their sites[25].” This led to the UK Government publishing the Online Harms White Paper[26]. The Select Committee’s inquiry featured in the 2019 Netflix documentary film The Great Hack[27]. In 2019 Time magazine reported that Collins had "put Britain at the forefront of the war against Facebook[28]."

Homophobia in sport

An inquiry into homophobia in sport[29] concluded that “despite the significant change in society’s attitudes to homosexuality in the last 30 years, there is little reflection of this progress being seen in football”, recommending that “Football clubs should take a tougher approach to incidents of homophobic abuse, issuing immediate bans” and “It should be made clear that match officials should have a duty to report and document any kind of abuse at all levels[30].”

Combatting doping in sport

An inquiry into doping in sport was launched following journalistic investigations from the Sunday Times and on ARD about the prevalence of doping in sport and the responsiveness of the World Anti-Doping Agency, UK Anti-Doping, and the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF)[31].

On 25 September 2020, Collins was named as one of the 25 members of the "Real Facebook Oversight Board", an independent monitoring group over Facebook.[32]

Personal life

Collins and his wife Sarah have two children, a daughter, Claudia (born 2007), and a son, Hugo (born 2009).[33]

Author

Collins is the author of Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon[34] first published in hardback in June 2016 by William Collins and republished in paperback in February 2017. Philip Sassoon was himself elected as MP for Hythe in 1912.

References

  1. ^ "Damian Noel Thomas Collins". Who's Who.
  2. ^ Blundell, John, ed. (2013). Remembering Margaret Thatcher: Commemorations, Tributes and Assessments. New York: Algora Publishing. p. 118.
  3. ^ "Damian Collins elected Chair of Culture, Media and Sport Committee". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Dissolution of Parliament". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Damian Collins - Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe". Conservative Party. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  6. ^ http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/c/26956/Damian%20Noel+COLLINS.aspx
  7. ^ "People: Damian Collins MP". www.sportindustry.biz. Sport Industry Group. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  8. ^ Philp, Chris (2006). Conservative Revival: Blueprint for a Better Britain. London: Politico's Publishing Ltd. p. 170. ISBN 184275159X.
  9. ^ "Election 2005 | Results | Northampton North". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  10. ^ "ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Who is on the A-list?". ConservativeHome.
  11. ^ "ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Damian Collins selected for Folkestone & Hythe". ConservativeHome.
  12. ^ "Michael Howard stands down as MP". BBC News. 17 March 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Hansard Volume 510: debated on Thursday 27 May 2010". hansard.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Hansard Volume 513: debated on Monday 12 July 2010". hansard.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  15. ^ Brady, Brian (5 December 2010). "MPs who own London homes still claim rent". The Independent.
  16. ^ Walker, Stephen (12 September 2012). "NIO roles for Damian Collins and Alec Shelbrooke". BBC News.
  17. ^ "FULL PPS RESHUFFLE LIST". Guido Fawkes. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  18. ^ Collins, Damian. "Vote Remain in the referendum on 23rd June". Twitter. @DamianCollins. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  19. ^ Collins, Damian (6 June 2019). "Only Boris Johnson can restore trust and excitement in our politics". The Times. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Damian Collins elected Chair of Culture, Media and Sport Committee". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  21. ^ "ELECTION FOR CHAIRS OF SELECT COMMITTEES: RESULT" (PDF). www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  22. ^ "Role of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Dissolution of Parliament". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  24. ^ House of Commons, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. "Disinformation and 'fake news'". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ House of Commons, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (14 February 2019). "Disinformation and 'fake news': Final Report" (PDF). www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ HM Government (April 2019). "Online Harms White Paper" (PDF). GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ Cadwalladr, Carole (20 July 2019). "The Great Hack: the film that goes behind the scenes of the Facebook data scandal". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  28. ^ "How This Politician Put Britain at the Forefront of the War Against Facebook". Time. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  29. ^ House of Commons, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. "Homophobia in Sport inquiry". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 8 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. ^ House of Commons, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (7 February 2017). "Homophobia in Sport" (PDF). www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ^ House of Commons, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (27 February 2018). "Combatting doping in sport" (PDF). www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 8 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ^ "While Facebook works to create an oversight board, industry experts formed their own". NBC News. 25 September 2020.
  33. ^ "Damian Collins Conservative Candidate". Folkestone & Hythe. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  34. ^ "Charmed Life by Damian Collins - Paperback | HarperCollins". HarperCollins UK. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe
2010–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Damian_Collins&oldid=1016640739"