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Aidan Burley

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Aidan Burley
Burley in 2010
Member of Parliament
for Cannock Chase
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded byTony Wright
Succeeded byAmanda Milling
Majority3,195 (7.0%)
Personal details
Born (1979-01-22) 22 January 1979 (age 45)[1]
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materSt John's College, Oxford
Websiteaidanburleymp.org

Aidan Burley[2] (born 22 January 1979) is a businessman, entrepreneur and former British politician. He was Conservative Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase (2010–2015).

Early life

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Burley was born in Auckland, New Zealand and migrated with his parents to the United Kingdom a few months later.[3]

He was educated at West House School, a private school in Birmingham, King Edward's School, Birmingham, where he stood and won as a Conservative in 1997 in the school's mock election[4] and St John’s College, Oxford University.

Business

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Burley co-founded online e-commerce subscription business Friction Free Shaving, known as the woman’s analogue to Dollar Shave Club, which he set up in 2015 after leaving Parliament.[5][6] As CEO Burley initiated and led a crowdfunding investment round on Seedrs in March 2016 raising £150,522 from 121 investors and later a VC round in April 2017 led by Athene Capital with £1.25m being invested from Northern & Shell Ventures owned by British publisher and businessman Richard Desmond. Burley exited the business via an MBO in 2023.[7]

Friction Free Shaving was also the first company in the world to depict a woman really shaving her legs and underarms in a TV advert.[8][9] The ad was devised to end the 'taboo' of refusing to show women shaving real body hair in advertising.[10] Subsequently, US shave and body brand Billie released a campaign video of women proudly showing off their body hair before being acquired by Edgewell Personal Care for $310 million.[11]

In 2021 Burley joined WorldPR, a global Public Relations consultancy, where he works as Chief of Staff to the Chairman, Patrick Robertson, Founder of the Bruges Group.

Career

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Burley was a management consultant for Accenture and later Hedra/Mouchel, working on contracts with the Home Office and the National Health Service.[citation needed]

During this period, he also worked for Conservative MPs Philip Hammond and Nick Herbert when they were shadow ministers, and he was elected a Conservative councillor in 2006 for the Fulham Broadway ward of Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council.[4]

Parliamentary career

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Burley was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase in the 2010 general election with a majority. of 3,195[12] achieving the largest swing of the election from Labour to the Conservatives, 14.01%.[13]

Burley was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2010 to 2011. Between 12 January 2011 and 17 December 2011 he was Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Transport: firstly Philip Hammond, and later Justine Greening.[14] He is a supporter of the Free Enterprise Group.[15]

Burley was named by ConservativeHome as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.[16]

In 2014, Burley, along with six other Conservative Party MPs, voted against the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill, which would require all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.[17]

Political funding

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It was reported in 2014 that the Cannock Chase Conservative Association had received £28,927 since 2010, and that Burley had received corporate donations from Japan Tobacco International and JCB Research; he had also received a donation from Conservative Friends of Israel. He also received £3,600 in remunerations from Clever Together LLP for work he did in 2012.[18]

Controversies

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In December 2011, it was reported that Burley attended a stag party in Val Thorens, France, where the groom wore a fancy dress Nazi uniform and made a salute.[19] Following this event, he expressed regret over the incident.[20] Subsequently, Prime Minister David Cameron removed him from his parliamentary role due to additional allegations.[21][22] An internal review by the Conservative Party concluded that, although Burley's actions were offensive, they did not demonstrate racism or anti-Semitism.[23] But in February 2014, Burley announced he would not seek reelection in 2015.[24]

During the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, Burley criticized the event on Twitter for being overly left-leaning,[25] later clarifying his comments were about its presentation.[26][27] His remarks were criticized, including by fellow Conservative MP Gavin Barwell, who disapproved of his views.[28][29] Burley also expressed concerns about the ceremony's overtly political content, writing "Bring back Shakespeare, Red Arrows and the Stones" on Twitter/X.

References

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  1. ^ "Aidan Burley". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8745.
  3. ^ "Aidan Burley". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  4. ^ a b "About Aidan". Aidan Burley. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Friction Free Shaving start-up secures £1.25m and partnership with Northern & Shell". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  6. ^ Hurst, Samantha (16 April 2016). "Friction Free Shaving Crew on Seedrs Success: We Cannot Thank Everyone Who Helps Us Enough". Crowdfund Insider.
  7. ^ Beech, Adam (7 November 2023). "MBO at female shaving product subscription firm". Insider Media.
  8. ^ "The long-awaited truth behind female shaving revealed by a TV advert". www.stylist.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  9. ^ "This women's razor ad showing visible hair being shaved is a first for British TV". Harper's BAZAAR. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  10. ^ Cuskelly, Claudia (24 February 2017). "Is this the answer to YOUR irritable skin?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Edgewell Personal Care Announces Acquisition of Billie Inc". ir.edgewell.com. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Cannock Chase". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  13. ^ Live, Birmingham (6 May 2010). "General Election 2010: Full Midland results and stats". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Aidan Burley". Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  15. ^ "Free Enterprise Group". Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  16. ^ Barrett, Matthew (14 September 2012). "The 24 Conservative MPs who are still on the backbenches and have never rebelled". Conservative Home. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  17. ^ Saul, Heather (16 December 2014). "Equal Pay: Seven male Tory MPs vote against bill to make big companies reveal gender pay gap". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Donations made by Clever Together LLP to Aidan Burley". Aidan Burley. Search The Money Ltd. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  19. ^ Samuel, Henry (18 December 2013). "Briton faces fine for wearing Nazi uniform at France stag party". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  20. ^ "MP Aidan Burley sorry for guests' stag party behaviour". BBC News. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  21. ^ "Conservative MP Aidan Burley sacked over Nazi-themed stag party". The Daily Telegraph. 17 December 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  22. ^ "Aidan Burley Nazi stag photos: French police inquiry". BBC News. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  23. ^ "Nazi stag MP Aidan Burley 'caused deep offence', report finds". BBC News. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  24. ^ "Nazi stag-do Tory MP Aidan Burley to step down". BBC News. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  25. ^ Manning, Lucy (28 July 2012). "Tory MP Aidan Burley not backing down on 'leftie' ceremony accusation". ITV News. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  26. ^ "MP attacks 'leftie Ceremony' tweets". ITV News. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  27. ^ "Aidan Burley says 'leftie multi-cultural' tweet misunderstood". BBC News. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  28. ^ "London 2012: Boris Johnson dismisses 'leftie' complaint". BBC News. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  29. ^ "David Cameron attacks 'idiotic' criticism from Aidan Burley MP". BBC News. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase
2010–2015 		Succeeded by
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