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Laura Farris

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Laura Farris
Official portrait, 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and Safeguarding
In office
13 November 2023 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byEdward Argar (Victims)
Sarah Dines (Safeguarding)
Member of Parliament
for Newbury
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byRichard Benyon
Succeeded byLee Dillon
Personal details
Born
Laura Rose McNair-Wilson

(1978-06-13) 13 June 1978 (age 46)
Bucklebury, Berkshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Henry Farris
​
(m. 2011)​
Children2
Alma materLady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Profession
  • Barrister
  • journalist
WebsiteOfficial website

Laura Rose Farris[1] (née McNair-Wilson; born 13 June 1978)[2] is a British Conservative politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newbury from 2019 until 2024. Prior to her parliamentary career, she worked as a journalist and later as a barrister. She was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and Safeguarding from November 2023 until July 2024.[3]

Early life and career

Laura McNair-Wilson was born on 13 June 1978, and grew up in Bucklebury, in West Berkshire.[4] Her father Michael McNair-Wilson and her uncle Patrick McNair-Wilson were Conservative MPs.[5]

She studied philosophy, politics and economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, graduating in 2000 with an upper second class degree.[4][6] She also holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from City, University of London, graduating in 2006, and took the Bar Vocational Course at BPP Law School in 2007.[6] She qualified as a barrister in 2007, practising mainly in employment law. Farris was appointed to the panel of counsel operated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2015.[6]

Farris worked as a journalist for BBC and Reuters and also worked for Hillary Clinton when she was a United States Senator for New York.[7]

Parliamentary career

At the snap 2017 general election, Farris stood as the Conservative candidate in Leyton and Wanstead, coming second with 20.8% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP John Cryer.[8][9][10]

Farris was selected as the Conservative candidate for Newbury on 10 November 2019.[11] At the 2019 general election, Farris was elected as MP for Newbury, winning with 57.4% of the vote and a majority of 16,047 votes.[12] Her father had represented the constituency between 1974 and 1992.[13]

She has been a member of the Justice Select Committee since June 2021 and the Privileges Committee and the Standards Committee since March 2022. Farris was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee from March 2020 to March 2022.[14] She identifies as a one-nation conservative.[15]

On 22 October 2021, Farris opposed a bill to prevent employers from firing employees and rehiring them on worse terms and conditions. She stated during the debate that the rules on fire and rehire needed to be tightened up, but the choice should be available as "an option of last resort" for companies facing insolvency.[16] In November 2021, a man was convicted of sending a malicious communication to Farris in 2020 and given a suspended sentence.[17][18]

Farris endorsed Rishi Sunak in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[19]

In July 2024, Farris was re-selected as the Conservative candidate for Newbury at the 2024 general election, however lost re-election to Lee Dillon.[20][21]

Personal life

Farris married Henry Farris in 2011.[22] The couple have two daughters.[23][24][25]

References

  1. ^ "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  3. ^ "Ministerial appointments: November 2023". GOV.UK. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Introducing the six candidates shortlisted for Devizes". ConservativeHome. 28 October 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "Laura Farris". Littleton Chambers. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Election 2019: the lawyers standing for parliament". The Lawyer. 30 October 2019. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.(subscription required)
  8. ^ "Leyton & Wanstead parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  9. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Leyton and Wanstead". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Conservatives select Newbury candidate". Newbury Today. 11 November 2019. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Newbury Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Conservatives hold Newbury as Laura Farris elected". Newbury Today. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Parliamentary career for Laura Farris". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  15. ^ @Laura_Farris (13 December 2019). "It's a huge honour to have been elected MP for Newbury. I am so so grateful to my brilliant team @WestBerksTories. I will always put this wonderful community first & strive to be a proud One-Nation voice on the Conservative back benches" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 September 2020 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ "Fire-and-rehire: Government blocks law to curb the practice". BBC News. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  17. ^ Kirk, Tristan (27 August 2020). "Conservative MP left 'in fear' after receiving email referencing samurai sword killing". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  18. ^ "Man convicted of terrorising Newbury MP Laura Farris". Newbury Today. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  19. ^ Ashby, Jonathan (11 July 2022). "I back Sunak, says Newbury MP". Newbury Today.
  20. ^ Laura Farris [@Laura__Farris] (22 July 2023). "It has been the privilege of my life to represent Newbury in Parliament & I'm delighted to have been formally re-adopted as the Conservative candidate at the next General Election.💙" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ^ "Newbury - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Laura McNair-Wilson and Henry Farris wedding". Jenks & Co. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Election 2017: Conservatives announce Remain-supporting barrister Laura Farris as candidate for Leyton and Wanstead". Ilford Recorder. 9 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Mr H. Farris and Miss L. McNair-Wilson". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.(subscription required)
  25. ^ "Farris". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.(subscription required)
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Newbury
2019–2024 		Succeeded by
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