The subject of this article is standing for re-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 4 July, and has not been an incumbent MP since Parliament was dissolved on 30 May. Some parts of this article may be out of date during this period. |
David Simmonds | |
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Member of Parliament for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Nick Hurd |
Majority | 16,394 (31.0%) |
Member of Hillingdon London Borough Council for Ickenham ward Cowley (1998–2002) | |
In office 7 May 1998 –5 May 2022 | |
Personal details | |
Born | David Timothy Simmonds 1976 (age 47–48) Kent, England |
Political party | Conservative |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Durham University (BA Hons) Birkbeck, University of London (PGC) |
Website | Official website |
David Timothy Simmonds (born 1976) CBE is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner since 2019. [1] [2] He is a member of the Conservative Party. Simmonds was formerly a councillor on Hillingdon London Borough Council, having served from 1998 to 2022. [3]
Simmonds was born in 1976, the son of Rory and Veronica Simmonds. He attended Cardinal Newman RC School in Pontypridd, before going to Grey College, University of Durham, where he gained a BA. Simmonds gained a Postgraduate Certificate at Birkbeck College, University of London, and a Financial Planning Certificate from the Chartered Institute of Insurers (CII). His professional background is in financial services, where he worked for several high street banks after qualifying with the CII in 1997. He was a non-executive director at NHS Hillingdon. [4]
Simmonds was elected as a Conservative councillor for the London Borough of Hillingdon in 1998, winning his seat in Cowley from the Labour Party. [5] From 2002 to 2022, he represented the borough's Ickenham ward. [6]
At the 2001 general election, Simmonds stood as the Conservative candidate in Caerphilly. He finished in third place, behind Wayne David and Lindsay Whittle, and won 11.4% of the vote. [7] At the 2005 general election, he stood in Erewash, coming second to the Labour incumbent, Liz Blackman. Here Simmonds won 30.4% of the vote, a decrease of 4.5% from the 2001 general election. [8]
He has served in hung and majority administrations as a committee chairman and Cabinet Member, with responsibilities including planning, housing, social services, education and children's services. He led work for the Local Government Association in a number of high-profile areas including children's services, education, immigration and Brexit, serving as Conservative Group Leader and Deputy Chairman of the organisation representing councils. Simmonds was also Chairman of the Children and Young People Board from 2011 to 2015. [3]
His previous public service includes as Chairman of the National Employer's Organisation for Schoolteachers (NEOST) and of the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE), as an active member of the Committee of the Regions and leader of the UK Conservative delegation there, and at the Congress of the Council of Europe.
He is known for his work on refugee children and led the implementation of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme (VPRS) with then-Home Secretary Theresa May to resettle vulnerable refugees to areas of the UK volunteering to take them in.
He served as Deputy Chairman and previously Treasurer of the Conservative Councillors Association, and served as an associate non-executive director in his local NHS and as a magistrate in North-West London. He stepped down as Deputy Leader of Hillingdon Council and as Deputy Chairman of the LGA following his election to Parliament. He was Deputy Leader of the council from 2002 to 2020, and Deputy Chairman of the LGA from 2015 to 2020. [3]
Simmonds won the safe Conservative seat of Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner at the 2019 general election, succeeding the retiring incumbent, Nick Hurd. He won with 55.6% of the vote, achieving a majority of 16,394. [9] This was an increase from the majority of 13,980 achieved at the 2017 general election. [10] The constituency includes the Ickenham ward he represented as a councillor. Simmonds is a member of the Education Select Committee and the Finance Committee.
Simmonds is the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration, the APPG on Housing and Planning, the APPG for Social Workers, and the APPG for Airport Communities. [11]
On 7 July 2022, Simmonds was elected to the executive of the 1922 committee of backbench Conservative MPs. [12]
He was awarded a CBE in the 2015 Birthday Honours list. [13]
Simmonds is married to an NHS doctor, and has two children. He lists his recreations as travelling in Europe, wine and modern British prints. [14] [15] [3]
Ickenham is an area in Greater London, forming the northern part of Uxbridge and within the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Northwood is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, North West London, located 14.5 miles (23.3 km) north-west of Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex. The area was situated on the historic Middlesex boundary with Hertfordshire, and since being incorporated into Greater London in 1965, has been on the Greater London boundary with that county.
Ruislip is a suburb in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London. Prior to 1965 it was in Middlesex. Ruislip lies 13.8 miles (22.2 km) west-north-west of Charing Cross, London.
The London Borough of Hillingdon is a London borough in Greater London, England. It forms part of outer London and West London, being the westernmost London borough. It was formed in 1965 from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton. The borough includes most of Heathrow Airport and Brunel University, and is the second largest of the 32 London boroughs by area.
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Ruislip-Northwood was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1950 to 2010 that elected one member (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was centred on the districts of Ruislip and Northwood in the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Ruislip-Northwood was an urban district in west Middlesex, England, from 1904 to 1965. From its inception Ruislip-Northwood fell within the Metropolitan Police District and from 1933 it was part of the London Passenger Transport Area.
Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by David Simmonds, a Conservative.
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The 2022 Hillingdon London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. All 53 members of Hillingdon London Borough Council were elected. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.
Steven Tuckwell is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in Greater London since the 2023 by-election, in which he succeeded Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A member of the Conservative Party, he has also sat on Hillingdon Borough Council since 2018.
Ruislip-Northwood was an electoral division for the purposes of elections to the Greater London Council. The constituency elected one councillor for a four-year term in 1973, 1977 and 1981, with the final term extended for an extra year ahead of the abolition of the Greater London Council.
Hillingdon was an electoral division for the purposes of elections to the Greater London Council. The constituency elected three councillors for a three-year term in 1964, 1967 and 1970.