Ben Spencer (politician)
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Ben Spencer | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Philip Hammond |
| Majority | 18,270 (34.3%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Benjamin Walter Jack Spencer[1] 11 December 1981 Liverpool, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | Official website |
Benjamin Walter Jack Spencer (11 December 1981)[2] is a psychiatrist and British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge since 2019.
Early life
Born in Liverpool, Spencer attended Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall and the Royal Free and University College London Medical School.
Medical career
Spencer specialised in General Adult Psychiatry and worked as both a consultant psychiatrist on a women's inpatient ward then later in HIV psychiatry. During his career, he researched decision-making capacity in people with schizophrenia and received a PhD in Psychological Medicine, working within the Mental Health, Ethics and Law Research Group at King's College London.
Political career
Spencer sits in the seat of Runnymede and Weybridge. His voting record shows him voting the same way as the vast majority of other Conservative MPs.
Spencer has been successful in both Private Members Bill Ballots since his election. In 2020, he aimed to put forward the Mental Health Admissions (Data) Bill, however due to COVID and disruption to the Parliamentary schedule, this was unable to proceed through the House.
In 2021, Spencer introduced a second Private Member's Bill presenting his Planning (Enforcement) Bill to Parliament in June 2021. The Bill's second reading took place on 19 November 2021 but was withdrawn with a view to incorporating the provisions in the forthcoming Planning Bill.
He is currently a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee and COVID Recovery Group.
On 3 November 2021, Spencer voted not to suspend Owen Paterson after he had been found guilty of paid lobbying by the Parliamentary Committee on Standards.[3] Spencer later claimed he regretted the decision after Paterson had resigned.
On 23rd September 2022, following the fiscal event introduced by Kwasi Kwarteng, Spencer made a speech in the commons supporting the measures that had been announced. Kwarteng was removed from office 3 weeks later after the unfunded measures caused instabilty in the markets. Many of the measures were dropped without being implemented.
On 3 October 2022, Spencer was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister without Portfolio and Chairman of the Conservative Party Jake Berry.[4]
Personal life
Spencer lives in the constituency with his wife and two children. He has two cats called Frazzle and Ragnar.
References
- ^ "No. 62862". The London Gazette. 20 December 2019. p. 23192.
- ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
- ^ Demianyk, Graeme (3 November 2021). "How MPs Voted As Tories Mobilise To Protect Owen Paterson". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^ "I am delighted that @DrBenSpencer is joining @conservatives, as my Parliamentary Private Secretary. Looking forward to working with him!". Twitter. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
External links
- Articles with short description
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- 1981 births
- Living people
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- English psychiatrists
- UK MPs 2019–present