The subject of this article is standing for re-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 4 July. They will not be an incumbent MP once Parliament is dissolved on 30 May. Some parts of this article may be out of date during that period. |
Eddie Hughes | |
---|---|
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping | |
In office 16 January 2021 –8 September 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Kelly Tolhurst |
Succeeded by | Andrew Stephenson |
Member of Parliament for Walsall North | |
Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |
Preceded by | David Winnick |
Majority | 11,965 (32.7%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Birmingham,England | 3 October 1968
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | Clare Hughes (m. 2014) |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | University of Glamorgan |
Edmund Francis Hughes [1] (born 3 October 1968) is a British Conservative Party politician who served in the Second Johnson ministry as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping from 2021 to 2022. He has also been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall North since 2017. [2]
He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping by Boris Johnson in January 2021, due to the resignation of Kelly Tolhurst. He returned to the backbenches following the formation of the Truss ministry in September 2022.
Hughes was born on 3 October 1968 in Birmingham, England. [3] His father was a bus driver and his mother was a cleaner. He has five brothers and attended Handsworth Grammar School (now King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys). [4] Hughes studied civil engineering at the University of Glamorgan. [5]
He was a director of YMCA Birmingham for development and asset management from 2014 to 2017, and assistant chief executive in 2017. [3] He was a trustee of the Walsall Wood Allotment Charity, which helps people in financial need. Hughes served on the West Midlands Police Authority and was chairman of Walsall Housing Group from 2016 until June 2018. [6] [7] [3]
He stood for the Pheasey ward on Walsall Council in 1998, but was unsuccessful. He was, however, elected as a councillor for the Hatherton Rushall ward on Walsall Council in 1999, gaining the seat from Labour, until 2004 when boundary changes occurred and he was elected a councillor for Streetly ward. [8] [9] He has held several positions on the council including the decision-making cabinet, chairman of Children's Services Scrutiny and Audit committees. [7] He left the council in 2018. [3] He stood unsuccessfully for MP of Birmingham Hall Green in 2005. [3]
Hughes was elected the MP for Walsall North at the 2017 general election, where he unseated the sitting veteran Labour Party MP David Winnick. [10] Winnick, aged 83 at the time, had held the seat for the previous 38 years, since the 1979 general election. [11]
Hughes introduced a Ten Minute Rule bill into the House of Commons to improve tenant safety around carbon monoxide poisoning. It received a first reading on 13 September 2017. [12]
Hughes spoke in the Commons during a debate on NHS pay in September 2017, stating that the starting salary for a newly qualified nurse was higher than that of the average constituent of Walsall North, in defending not lifting a below inflation cap of 1% on public-sector pay increases. He said it was his job to stick up for everyone, not just people in the public sector. Despite his intervention, the opposition motion to lift the cap was passed. [13] The Conservative Government subsequently announced, in March 2018, that they would end the cap on NHS salaries. [14]
Hughes has campaigned for more front line police on the streets and raised the issue with Theresa May in the House of Commons. [15]
He is a supporter of Brexit, campaigning for a leave vote, and was one of 62 Conservative MPs who wrote to the Prime Minister urging support for her Lancaster House speech. [16]
Since being elected in June 2017 Hughes had campaigned for funding for a new A&E department at Walsall Manor Hospital, including raising the issue with the Prime Minister at PMQs. Funding of £36m was eventually allocated by the Department for Health & Social Care in December 2018. [17]
Hughes was a member of the Consolidation Bills Committee and the Women & Equalities Select Committee. [18]
Hughes was made a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the ministerial team of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in June 2018. [19] During his time as PPS at MHLG Hughes was responsible for liaising with parliamentary colleagues in respect of revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework which was subsequently published in July 2018. He subsequently moved with Dominic Raab to the Department for Exiting the European Union. He resigned to vote against the Withdrawal Agreement on 15 January 2019. [20] From February 2020 to January 2021, he was an Assistant Whip. [2] [3]
As chair of the APPG for Excellence in the Built Environment Hughes chaired the committee's inquiry into the need for a New Homes Ombudsman which was published in June 2018. In October 2018 the government announced that there will be a New Homes Ombudsman – "a watchdog that will champion homebuyers, protect their interests and hold developers to account." [21]
He joined the government in January 2021, being appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government due to the resignation of Kelly Tolhurst. [22] [23]
Hughes endorsed Kemi Badenoch during the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. [24] He spoke at her campaign launch event held on 12 July. [25]
On 9th May 2023 Hughes claimed in a letter to Walsall Academy that 'one female pupil has developed a UTI' as she didn't feel comfortable using gender-neutral toilets. [26] [27] On the 1st May 2024 Kemi Badenoch's office used this as evidence for Badenoch's claim that girls at a school who did not want to use gender-neutral toilets developed urinary tract infections. [27]
He announced in March 2023 that he would stand down as MP for Walsall North at the next general election. [28] Walsall North is set to be dissolved by the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. [29] In June 2023, he was selected as the Conservative Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Tamworth, formerly a safe seat for the Conservatives which elected Chris Pincher in the 2010, 2015, 2017, and 2019 general elections. [30]
Hughes works with libertarian Conservative think tank Freer UK, with whom he released a report on blockchain technologies, advocating that the UK government appoint a Chief Blockchain Officer. [31] [32] [33]
He married Clare in 2014. Hughes has a son and daughter from a previous marriage. [3] His brother Des is a Labour councillor. [34]
Hughes is an Aston Villa FC fan and a Catholic. [35]
Bruce Thomas George was a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall South from February 1974 until 2010.
David Julian Winnick is a British Labour Party politician who served 42 years as a Member of Parliament (MP), for Walsall North between 1979 and 2017, he was also the MP for Croydon South from 1966 to 1970.
Siôn Llewelyn Simon is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2001 to 2010 and as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands from 2014 to 2019.
Walsall North is a constituency created in 1955 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Eddie Hughes, a member of the Conservative Party.
Birmingham Handsworth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Handsworth district of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was abolished in 1983.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and alongside the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. It ranks at Parliamentary Secretary level and is not a Cabinet office.
Justin Paul Tomlinson is a British politician and former marketing executive who has served as Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Swindon since 2010.
Andrew Iain Lewer is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Northampton South since the 2017 general election. He has previously served as Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands from 2014 to 2017.
Kelly Jane Tolhurst is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Schools and Childhood from September to October 2022.
Paul Stuart Scully is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton and Cheam since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister for London from February 2020 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy from October 2022. He was sacked from both roles in November 2023.
Olukemi Olufunto "Kemi" Badenoch is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Business and Trade since 2023 and President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden in Essex since 2017.
The 2021 West Midlands Mayoral Election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of the West Midlands, on the same day as other local elections across England and Wales, including councillors in six of its seven boroughs and the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands city region. This was the second election for the post, which had its first election in 2017 due to the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. The mayor was elected using the supplementary vote system. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Michael Alex Burghart is a British politician, academic and former teacher who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he was formerly a special adviser to Theresa May. He has been serving as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office since October 2022.
Rachel Helen Maclean is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Redditch in Worcestershire since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she currently serves as its Deputy Chairman for Women. She has previously served as Minister of State for Housing and Planning and has held ministerial roles in the Department for Transport and Home Office.
Julia Louise Lopez is a British Conservative Party politician who has been both Minister of State for Data and Digital Infrastructure and Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries since 2023. She has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornchurch and Upminster in Greater London since the 2017 general election.
Lee Benjamin Rowley is a British politician and former management consultant serving as Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Building Safety since November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Derbyshire since 2017. He previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety between October 2022 and November 2023.
Marco Andrea Longhi is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dudley North since 2019.
Suzanne Webb is a British Conservative Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stourbridge since the 2019 general election. She was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Liz Truss from September to October 2022.
Shaun “Sean”/“Shorn” Stephen Bailey is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich West at the 2019 general election. Prior to his political career, he was a trainee solicitor.