- Conor Burns
-
Conor Burns MP Member of Parliament
for Bournemouth WestIncumbent Assumed office
6 May 2010Preceded by John Butterfill Majority 5,583 (13.4%) Personal details Born 24 September 1972 Nationality British Political party Conservative Residence Westbourne, Dorset Alma mater University of Southampton Religion Roman Catholic Website www.conorburns.com Conor Burns[2] (born 24 September 1972) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth West at the 2010 general election.
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Early life
Burns lived in Belfast before moving with his family to Hertfordshire in 1980.[3] He was educated at St Columba's College, St Albans and read Modern History and Politics at the University of Southampton.[3] Whilst at Southampton he was chairman of the University's Conservative Association, 1992–93 and Chairman of Wessex Area Conservatives, 1993-94.[4] He later had a number of jobs in the communications and finance sectors,[3] most recently as an associate director of the public affairs company PLMR.[5] He was previously a director of the Policy Research Centre for Business Ltd, Company Secretary of De Havilland Global Knowledge Distribution plc[6] and served as the manager of the Zurich Advice Network, managing 150 financial advisors.[7]
Political career
Burns was an elected councillor on Southampton City Council for three years from 1999, serving as the Conservative Group leader from 2001.
Burns stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Eastleigh in the 2001 general election, finishing second with 34.3% of the vote and again in the 2005 general election, again finishing second with 37.5% of the vote, 568 votes behind current Environment Secretary Chris Huhne.[8]
Burns was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Bournemouth West in the 2010 general election with a majority of 5,583.[9]
He was appointed as PPS to Hugo Swire, the Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office in 2010, before which he briefly sat on the Education select committee.
Burns was a member of the A-List and was selected in September 2008.[10]
Political interests
Writing in 2008, Burns called for the international community to prepare a contingency plan for the governance of Zimbabwe after the eventual departure from office of Robert Mugabe.[11] He was outspoken in calling on former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to grant asylum to young gay Iranian student Mehdi Kazemi.[12][13]
A strong Eurosceptic, Burns has been critical of the electoral system used to elect Members of the European Parliament[14] and the impact of UK Independence Party candidates[15] in denying victory to Conservative candidates.
A friend of Captain James Philippson who died in Afghanistan,[16] Burns has been critical of the perceived failure of the Ministry of Defence to provide troops with appropriate equipment, stating that many troops "would be alive today had they had the most basic of equipment".[17]
Personal life
Burns lives in the Westcliff Road in the Westbourne area of Bournemouth.[7]
References
- ^ "Conor Burns MP". BBC Democracy Live (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/31713.stm. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ^ "List of Members returned to serve in Parliament at the General Election 2010". London Gazette. 13 May 2010. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/59418/notices/1118281/from=2010-05-06;to=2010-05-19;all=returned+westminster/. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ a b c "Conor Burns". The Conservative Party. http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Burns_Conor.aspx. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
- ^ [1]
- ^ PR Week 11 May 2010 "Many lobbyists win seats but some see majority decreased" by David Singleton
- ^ BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/candidates/candidates/6/65965.stm.
- ^ a b [2]
- ^ "Eastleigh". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/constituency/909/eastleigh. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
- ^ "Bournemouth West". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/a56.stm. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
- ^ http://conservativehome.blogs.com/goldlist/2009/04/the-18-of-the-original-100-alisters-selected-for-conservative-seats-.html
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ [7]
- ^ "MoD criticised for soldier deaths". BBC News. 15 February 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/7245533.stm.
- ^ [8]
External links
- Conor Burns MP official constituency website
- Conor Burns MP Conservative Party profile
- Bournemouth West Conservatives
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
- Voting record at PublicWhip.org
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
- Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
- Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
John ButterfillMember of Parliament for Bournemouth West
2010–presentIncumbent Categories:- 1972 births
- Living people
- Gay politicians
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- UK MPs 2010–
- People from Belfast
- People from Bournemouth
- People from Hertfordshire
- Alumni of the University of Southampton
- Old Columbans (St Albans)
- LGBT politicians from the United Kingdom
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