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John Glen (politician)

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Not to be confused with John Glenn.
For other people named John Glen, see John Glen.
John Glen
MP
Parliamentary Private Secretary
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 2016
Preceded byChris Skidmore
Member of Parliament
for Salisbury
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byRobert Key
Majority20,421 (40.3%)
Personal details
Born (1974-04-01) 1 April 1974 (age 50)
Bath, Somerset, England[1]
Political partyConservative
SpouseEmma Glen[2]
Alma materMansfield College, Oxford
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
King's College London
Websitehttp://www.johnglenmp.com

John Philip Glen (born 1 April 1974[3] in Bath) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Salisbury in Wiltshire since the general election in May 2010.

Early life and education

Glen was brought up in a small family horticultural business in rural Wiltshire. He was educated at King Edward's School, Bath[4] where he was Head Boy, and Mansfield College, University of Oxford, where he read Modern History and was elected President of Mansfield College JCR. He later entered the University of Cambridge, where he studied for an MBA at Fitzwilliam College.[5] He was the first person in his family to go to university.

Career

After graduating from Oxford, Glen worked for two Ministers in 1996–1997.

He went on to campaign in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland for Michael Bates (now Lord Bates) in the 1997 general election, following which he joined the Strategy practice of Accenture, a large management consultancy firm. Whilst there he worked on projects for Glaxo Wellcome, BP and the Post Office.

After three years in consulting, Glen worked for Rt Hon William Hague MP's team (then Leader of the Conservative Party). In his role as Head of the Political Section of the Conservative Research Department, he helped prepare Hague for Prime Minister's Question Time and briefed the Shadow Cabinet for media appearances.

Glen was one of the youngest candidates at the 2001 general election, when he stood in Plymouth Devonport. He came second, achieving 27.1% of the vote and a 2.9% swing.[6] Following this election, he took an MBA at Cambridge University and worked in the oil and gas industries in the UK and in the US for the next few years.

Early in 2004, he returned to the Conservative Party to work as Deputy Director of the Conservative Research Department in the run up to the 2005 general election. He then became Director of the Department and set up the secretariat for the Policy Review that was established after David Cameron became Leader.

He returned to business in 2006, managing his firm's relationship with the World Economic Forum.

He became a Magistrate (JP) at Horseferry Road, Westminster in 2006.

In 2015 he completed a MA in International Security and Strategy, with distinction, at King's College London through the Royal College of Defence Studies.[7]

Parliamentary career

Glen was elected to Parliament in the General Election of May 2010 with an increase in the percentage share of the vote compared with the Conservative result in 2005.[8]

From June 2010 to September 2012, he sat on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.[9]

In the September 2012 reshuffle, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. He was succeeded by Henry Smith in May 2015.

Glen sits on the Downing Street Policy Board with responsibility for constitutional affairs.[10]

According to a survey by WriteToThem.com, a non-campaigning website which enables constituents to contact their MP, Glen was ranked as the second most responsive MP.[11] Overall, MPs responded to only 56 per cent of mail sent to them through the site; John Glen responded to 95 per cent.[11]

He won the recent 2015 election with 55.6% of the vote – an increase of 6.4% from 2010.[12] After the 2015 General Election, Glen was made PPS to Business Secretary Sajid Javid MP.[13]

Glen was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.[14]

Following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister in July 2016, Glen was made PPS to Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond MP.[15]

Interests

Glen has a wide variety of interests including Defence,[16] Foreign Policy,[16] poverty and inclusive economic growth,[17] and beginning and end of life matters.[18]

APPG membership

Glen sits on a number of All-party parliamentary groups (APPGs). He is the Chair of the APPG on Global Uncertainties which exists to inform parliamentarians of the activities of the UK Research Councils in response to global security challenges which help governments, businesses and societies to better predict, detect, prevent and mitigate threats to security. Recent meetings have included topics such as Ebola, UK Human Trafficking and Religious Literacy in World Affairs.[19]

Furthermore, Glen is vice-chair of the Carpet Industry APPG,[20] which is funded by The Carpet Foundation.[21] Glen also played a significant contributory role[22] in the APPG Hunger and Food Poverty's Inquiry, Feeding Britain.[23] Additionally, he is Secretary for British Council APPG which took him on a visit to Kabul as being a member of APPG Egypt and APPG Parents and Families.[24]

His website lists his memberships:[24]

  • Archives and History
  • British Council – Appointed Secretary in 2011
  • British-Maldives Parliamentary Group
  • Carpet Industry – Vice Chair
  • Complex Needs and Dual Diagnosis
  • Constitution, Parliament and Citizenship
  • Global Uncertainties – Chair
  • Historic Churches
  • Malaysia
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Parents and Families
  • Runaway and Missing Children and Adults
  • Suicide and Self Harm Prevention
  • Voice UK

Beliefs

Times columnist[25] Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome described John Glen as a "full spectrum Conservative":

For want of a better expression, he's what I think of as a full spectrum Conservative. On the one hand he's a Eurosceptic; he's a believer in low taxation; he supports a tough approach to crime and strictly controlled immigration. But there's also a commitment to the greener, gentler conservatism of David Cameron. John was helping me with the social justice project ten years ago when we worked together in the Conservative Christian Fellowship. In his campaign video he makes it clear that, in fixing Labour's deficit, we mustn't balance budgets on the backs of the poor. He's a practical environmentalist; strongly committed to recycling, better use of energy and protecting the countryside.[26]

  • Anti-mitochondrial donation therapy – Glen described himself as "instinctively cautious about technologies that, while noble in intent, could potentially open the door to the development of 'genetically modified babies'"[27]
  • Armed Forces – Glen is committed to supporting the armed forces and ensuring that defence commitments are matched by funding for equipment[28]
  • Education – Glen welcomed the government's education reforms, and believes in the role of competition in schools and increased rigour in qualifications[28]
  • Food poverty – Glen took part in the APPG on Hunger and Food Poverty inquiry, and argued that prosperity needs to be shared, and that the Department for Work and Pensions should improve benefit payment reliability to prevent the need for foodbank use.[17] Trussell Trust chairman Chris Mould and CEO David McAuley said that Glen "been very supportive of The Trussell Trust and has played an important role as a key member of the APPG Inquiry Panel"[22]
  • Living wage – Glen welcomed the rise in the minimum wage and supports employers paying the living wage[29]
  • He is an advocate for religious education.[30]

Glen's top priorities are to encourage investment in the infrastructure of his constituency. In particular improving educational choices for young people and supporting the Armed Forces community. Glen has supported a new free Sixth Form and a University Technical College in Salisbury. These new institutions will capitalise on existing defence expertise in Wiltshire.

Glen has encouraged local community land trusts to secure a pioneering development opportunity on former Ministry of Defence land. Investment in the road network is long overdue, and he is fighting to secure a successful conclusion to the 20-year battle to upgrade the A303. Porton Down is rightly famous across the world, and Glen is campaigning to ensure Public Health England retains its base there. He wants to see greater support for the life sciences sector, and is working in partnership with the public sector, NHS and universities to establish a world leading research and development hub in his constituency.[31]

Blood Stem Cell Donation

In June 2013 Glen joined the Delete Blood Cancer register at an event in Parliament. Despite the 1 in 1200 chance of being matched with a cancer sufferer, less than a year later he had been matched with a blood cancer patient. In January 2015, Glen donated his blood stem cells at The London Clinic, enabling the patient to have a second chance at life.

Glen said: "“It is a huge privilege to be asked to donate some of my blood stem cells to someone with a blood cancer who is in desperate need of them. On signing up myself I never thought I would hear from them again, but now I have this amazing opportunity for what is simply only a little discomfort to me.”[32][33]

Free Enterprise Group paper

On 31 January 2013 Glen published a paper entitled 'Completing the Reform, Freeing the Universities' as a member of the Free Enterprise Group of MPs.[34]

The paper advocated encouraging universities to build up endowments, which could then replace income from grants; reforms to the tuition fee cap towards "total course costs" instead of per-year caps, and allowing fee differentials by subject group; changes to the way in which research funding is allocated; and administrative savings from the Research Councils and the Office of Fair Access.[35]

He wrote an op-ed for the Daily Telegraph about the policies advocated in the paper, entitled 'Tuition fees cannot be the last reform of university funding'.[36]

The paper also received coverage in the Times Higher Education Magazine and was described as a possible basis for university policy in the next Conservative manifesto.[37]

References

  1. ^ "Who's Who". ukwhoswho.com.
  2. ^ "Mansfield College". ox.ac.uk.
  3. ^ "John Glen MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  4. ^ http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/bath-business-partnership-host-dinner-event-guest/story-29308420-detail/story.html
  5. ^ "Fitzwilliam's MPs". Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  6. ^ Elections 2001 [1] The Guardian.
  7. ^ Spire FM http://www.spirefm.co.uk/news/local-news/1819864/masters-degree-for-salisburys-mp/. Retrieved 17 February 2016. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Salisbury election results [2] The Guardian.
  9. ^ Beholden to no-one http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/beholden-to-no-one/ ePolitix.com.
  10. ^ "Fair deal for whole of UK". Your Valley News.
  11. ^ a b "John Glen will get back to you, survey says". Salisbury Journal.
  12. ^ "John Glen MP".
  13. ^ "Government role for Glen". Salisbury Journal.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "John Glen on Twitter". Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  16. ^ a b "John Glen MP – Working hard for the people of Salisbury and South Wiltshire".
  17. ^ a b "John Glen MP: How to make food banks even more effective". Conservative Home.
  18. ^ "Promoting Assisted Dying Is Not a Compassionate Response to Suffering". The Huffington Post UK.
  19. ^ "House of Commons – Register of All-Party Groups as at 30 March 2015: Global Uncertainties". parliament.uk.
  20. ^ "House of Commons – Register of All-Party Groups as at 30 March 2015: Carpet Industry". parliament.uk.
  21. ^ "The Carpet Foundation – All you need to know about carpet and carpets". carpetfoundation.com.
  22. ^ a b "Trust's backing for plans to get rid of food poverty". salisburyjournal.co.uk.
  23. ^ "FoodPovertyInquiry.org". foodpovertyinquiry.org.
  24. ^ a b "John Glen MP – Working hard for the people of Salisbury and South Wiltshire".
  25. ^ "Tim Montgomerie – The Times".
  26. ^ I'm backing John Glen for Salisbury [3]Conservative Home
  27. ^ "Unresolved issues on 'three parent children'". Salisbury Journal.
  28. ^ a b "John Glen MP – Working hard for the people of Salisbury and South Wiltshire".
  29. ^ "Old Sarum business named and shamed for not paying minimum wage". Salisbury Journal.
  30. ^ "John Glen on Twitter". Twitter.
  31. ^ https://www.conservatives.com/OurTeam/Members_of_Parliament/Glen_John
  32. ^ "One in a million chance: MP's lifesaving stem cell donation". Salisbury Journal.
  33. ^ "Salisbury MP John Glen in blood stem cell donation". BBC News. 28 January 2015.
  34. ^ "Completing the reform, freeing the universities – 1 February 2013". freeenterprise.org.uk.
  35. ^ http://www.freeenterprise.org.uk/sites/freeenterprise.drupalgardens.com/files/201302/Completing%20the%20reform%20freeing%20the%20universities_0.pdf
  36. ^ Tuition fees cannot be the last reform of university funding, Daily Telegraph
  37. ^ "Search".
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Salisbury
2010–present 		Incumbent
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