Julian Knight (politician)

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Julian Knight
MP
Official portrait of Julian Knight MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2019
Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Assumed office
29 January 2020
Preceded byDamian Collins
Member of Parliament
for Solihull
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byLorely Burt
Majority21,273 (38.4%)
Personal details
Born (1972-01-05) 5 January 1972 (age 51)
Chester, England
Political partyConservative
SpousePhilippa Harrison
Alma materUniversity of Hull
WebsiteOfficial website

Julian Carlton Knight[1] (born 5 January 1972) is a British politician and former journalist who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Solihull since 2015. He is a member of the Conservative Party.[2]

Early life

Knight was born in 1972 in Chester. He grew up in a lone-parent family.[3] He attended Chester Catholic High School, and went on to study History at the University of Hull, the first in his family to do so,[3] and graduated with a 2:2.[citation needed]

Employment before Parliament

After university, Knight moved to London to find work, doing a variety of jobs before finding a job on a local newspaper. He moved up in journalism over the intervening years, working for the BBC as personal finance and consumer affairs reporter for five years until 2007, working across online, TV and radio. In 2007 he became the Money and Property Editor of The Independent on Sunday.[4]

In April 2015, Knight was criticised by Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury,[5] for a book he authored eleven years earlier on tax avoidance. In his 2004 book, Wills, Probate and Inheritance Tax for Dummies, Knight "sets out ways that hardworking parents can pass on the graft of a lifetime" to their children. In the book, he was critical of the system of inheritance tax that existed at the point of publishing. He distinguished between personal tax avoidance, which he advised families on, and the "aggressive tax avoidance" of some multinational companies.[6]

Political career

In 2014, Knight was selected to be the Conservative candidate for Solihull,[7][8] a former Conservative safe seat which had been won by the Liberal Democrats in the 2005 General Election.[9][10] At the 2015 general election Knight won the seat back for the Conservatives with a majority of 12,902, after an 11.9 per cent swing towards the Conservatives.[11]

Prior to the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership, Knight stated he would vote to remain in the EU. [12]

Knight defended his seat at the 2017 general election and was returned with an increased majority.[11]

In January 2018, Knight was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Ministry of Justice[13] providing support to Ministers. In September 2018 he moved to the Department for Work and Pensions before moving to HM Treasury in January 2019.

Knight is a passionate advocate for animal welfare and called for CCTV in slaughterhouses before it was Government policy.[14]

Knight also served as the Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Mongolia, where he formed part of a network of parliamentarians with the role to strengthen relations with foreign countries, and aide British businesses in accessing foreign markets.[15] In April 2018, Knight made his first visit to the country as Trade Envoy.[16] Knight made his final visit in September 2018, and left the post at a later date.[17]

Knight defended his seat during the 2019 General Election. He increased his majority, this time to 21,273.[18] Labour came second and the Liberal Democrats were placed third.[19]

In December 2021, Knight said there was a "real sense of palpable loss" over the death of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in Solihull. Knight said the sentences given to the killers of the boy were too lenient and he would be referring the sentences to the Attorney General's Office for review under the Unduly Lenient Scheme.[20]

In April 2022 following the Prime Minister's (Boris Johnson) receipt of a fine from the Metropolitan Police Force for breaking Covid-19 laws introduced by Boris Johnson's own Conservative government,[21] Knight offered his full support to the Prime Minister.[22]

Committees

From July 2015 to April 2017, Knight served as a member of the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee,[23] during which time he co-sponsored the Government's Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.[24]

Since December 2016 he has served on the Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee, later the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.[23] In that role he has made several high-profile interventions, including on the BBC gender pay row[25][26] and against Facebook and digital company Cambridge Analytica during the committee's inquiry into 'fake news'.[27][28]

In January 2020 Knight was elected as Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. Knight replaced Damian Collins as chairman.[4]

Other work

Knight has written books on a variety of subjects for the For Dummies series, including the Euro crisis, Retiring Wealthy and The Royal Wedding.[29]

Knight has also campaigned locally to prevent the closure of Solihull Police Station, launching an online petition to help.[30]

Personal life

Knight lives in Solihull. He is married to Philippa, a former nurse.[3]

References

  1. ^ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11779.
  2. ^ "Solihull Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Knight, Julian. "About". Julian Knight. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  4. ^ a b Tobitt, Charlotte (30 January 2020). "Former BBC journalist who backs licence fee reform elected DCMS Committee chairman". Press Gazette.
  5. ^ "Tory candidate for Solihull under fire over book on tax avoidance". The Guardian. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Tory candidate for Solihull under fire over book on tax avoidance". The Guardian. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Solihull Conservatives select Julian Knight as our Parliamentary Candidate". Solihull Borough. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Julian Knight selected for Solihull". West Midlands. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Electoral Commission | Solihull". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  10. ^ "Lib Dems hold inquest after their 'decapitation strategy' misses". The Independent. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Solihull parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC News. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Solihull's Conservative MP Julian Knight will vote to stay in Europe". Solihull Observer. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  13. ^ "List of PPS's". Conservative Home. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Knight hails Government's progress on animal welfare".
  15. ^ "Trade envoys". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  16. ^ "PRESIDENT RECEIVES UK TRADE ENVOY JULIAN KNIGHT - President of Mongolia". President of Mongolia. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  17. ^ "Trade Mission to Mongolia 16th – 21st September 2018 - CEA: Construction Equipment Association". CEA: Construction Equipment Association. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Solihull parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News.
  19. ^ "General Election 2019: Solihull result". Coventry Telegraph. 12 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: Jail terms of boy's killers to be reviewed". BBC News. 4 December 2021.
  21. ^ Lyons, Izzy; Saunt, Raven (20 April 2022). "How much Boris Johnson was fined and what the law says about Covid fixed penalty notices". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  22. ^ "Statement from Julian Knight MP". Julian Knight MP. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Julian Knight MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Solihull MP Julian Knight has pledged to support Solihull Council in its new effort to tackle homelessness in the borough". Solihull Observer. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  25. ^ Singh, Anita (1 February 2018). "Sarah Montague: I was gobsmacked by BBC gender pay report". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  26. ^ "BBC Managers Face Barrage of Criticism in Gender Pay Dispute". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  27. ^ Waterson, Jim (26 April 2018). "'Facebook is a morality-free zone': tech chief lambasted by MP". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  28. ^ "MPs laugh at Facebook boss during intense grilling in parliament". The Independent. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  29. ^ "Who is Julian Knight". Birmingham Mail. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  30. ^ Collis, Emily (23 November 2021). "'We've got to fight this' - MP's outrage as Solihull Police Station to close". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 25 November 2021.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Solihull
2015–present 		Incumbent
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