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Jeremy Wright

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The Right Honourable
Sir Jeremy Wright
KC MP
Official portrait, 2024
Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales
In office
8 July 2024 – 5 November 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Preceded byEmily Thornberry
Succeeded byThe Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
In office
9 July 2018 – 24 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byMatt Hancock
Succeeded byNicky Morgan
Attorney General for England and Wales
Advocate General for Northern Ireland
In office
15 July 2014 – 9 July 2018
Prime Minister
Preceded byDominic Grieve
Succeeded bySir Geoffrey Cox
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Rehabilitation
In office
6 September 2012 – 15 July 2014
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byCrispin Blunt
Succeeded byAndrew Selous
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
12 May 2010 – 6 September 2012
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded bySteve McCabe
Succeeded byMark Lancaster
Member of Parliament
for Kenilworth and Southam
Rugby and Kenilworth (2005–2010)
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded byAndy King
Majority6,574 (12.4%)
Personal details
Born (1972-10-24) 24 October 1972 (age 52)
Taunton, Somerset, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Yvonne Salter
​
(m. 1998)​
Children2
Residence(s)Shrewley, Warwickshire, England
Alma materUniversity of Exeter
Websitewww.jeremywright.org.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Sir Jeremy Paul Wright KC (born 24 October 1972) is a British lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General for England and Wales from 2014 to 2018 and as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2018 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kenilworth and Southam, previously Rugby and Kenilworth, since the 2005 general election and has served as Shadow Attorney General since July 2024.[1]

He served as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from 12 May 2010 until his appointment as Minister of State for Prisons at the Ministry of Justice on 6 September 2012. He became Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland on 15 July 2014. Wright replaced Matt Hancock as Culture Secretary on 9 July 2018, serving in the post for a year until being sacked by incoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019 and returning to the backbenches.[2]

Early life and career

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Jeremy Wright was born on 24 October 1972 in Taunton, Somerset. His parents were both teachers and he has one brother who served as a Commander in the Royal Navy. Wright was educated at two independent schools: Taunton School and Trinity School, New York City, before going to the University of Exeter, where he graduated as a Bachelor of Laws.

He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1996 and specialised in criminal law in the Midlands until his election to Parliament in 2005.[3] Wright remains a member of No.5 Chambers in Birmingham but is officially listed as non-practising as of May 2013.[4][5]

Parliamentary career

[edit]

Early political career

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Wright was first elected to Parliament at the 2005 general election, when he won the seat of Rugby and Kenilworth. He won the seat with 41.2% of the vote and a majority of 1,556.[6]

In July 2007, Wright was appointed as an Opposition Whip and served as a Government Whip from 2010 until 2012, holding the office of Lord Commissioner of the Treasury.[3][4][7] He served as a member of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee between 2005 and 2007.[3][7]

Wright has generally supported the proposals for the HS2 London to Birmingham rail link which will run through his constituency.[8] He has opposed some of the detailed original plans for the route, although supporting route changes made in 2010.[9][10][11]

In government

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At the 2010 general election, Wright was elected for the newly created seat of Kenilworth and Southam with 53.6% of the vote and a majority of 12,552.[12][13]

In September 2012 Wright was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice. His specific responsibility was as Minister for Prisons and Rehabilitation.[4][7][14] He was appointed Attorney General on 15 July 2014, replacing Dominic Grieve. For the purposes of this role, he was appointed a Queen's Counsel.[15]

Wright speaks at the 150 Years of International Humanitarian Law: The UK Perspective event in London on 29 October 2014.

At the 2015 general election, Wright was re-elected with an increased vote share of 58.4% and an increased majority of 21,002.[16][17]

Wright campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union before the EU membership referendum on 23 June 2016.[18]

In November 2016, Wright was criticised by a number of other Conservative MPs for his role in the Government's loss of a High Court case which gave MPs and peers a veto over when Brexit begins. Although it was suggested that he should resign as Attorney General, Wright retained his position.[19]

At the snap 2017 general election, Wright was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 60.8% but a decreased majority of 18,086.[20][17]

In July 2018, after a series of resignations[21] in May's cabinet after her decision of a "Soft Brexit" was reached at Chequers,[22] Wright was appointed to Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, after Matt Hancock was moved to become Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.[23]

With Sajid Javid in late 2018, Wright warned social media firms that "the era of self-regulation is coming to an end" with regard to extremist content and announced a forthcoming 'online harms white paper', published in April 2019,[24] which is expected to introduce legal regulation of online publishers and social media, including new censorship rules.[25][26]

At the 2019 general election, Wright was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 57.7% but an increased majority of 20,353.[27]

In late May 2022, Jeremy Wright became the 27th Conservative MP to publicly call for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign, in a 2,000 word letter on his website.[28][29]

In opposition

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Following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 United Kingdom general election and the subsequent formation of the Starmer ministry, Wright was appointed Shadow Attorney General in Rishi Sunak's caretaker Shadow Cabinet.

Register of Members' Interests

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From 1 September 2021 to 1 September 2022, Wright was a Professor of Practice at the University of Warwick in Coventry, for which he received £10,000 per annum, paid monthly. This was for approximately 3 hours a week. (Registered 1 October 2021).[30]

Expenses claims

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Wright has defended his expenses claims as an MP, including claiming nearly £3,000 for the purchase of furniture for a flat in London after he became an MP in 2005.[31] He repaid £46.71 over-claimed for council tax in 2007–08 after a "genuine mistake".[32] He also claimed just under £800 in mobile phone call charges which he was ordered to repay.[32] He appealed the decision to order repayment of these expenses, claiming that he had requested permission to charge an amount for mobile phone calls as he did not have a landline installed in his London flat.[32][33][34] Wright succeeded in his appeal and was not required to repay the amount claimed for mobile phone calls.[35] Wright published errors on his website in 2009, placing political links on it, an activity banned if costs for the site are paid for from Parliamentary expenses, although he was not required to repay the expenses claimed in this instance.[36]

Personal life

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He married Yvonne Salter in 1998, with whom he has a son and a daughter. He and his wife live in the village of Shrewley in Warwickshire.[3][37]

In November 2018, Wright said that he likes to unwind by spending time with his "very large" Lego collection. Wright described assembling lego bricks as "therapeutic".[38]

He was knighted in the 2022 Birthday Honours for political and public service.[39]

References

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  1. ^ "UK politics live: Lord Cameron resigns as Rishi Sunak announces interim shadow cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  2. ^ [1], Sky Sports report, 25 July 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d 'WRIGHT, Jeremy Paul', Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012; online edn, November 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Jeremy Wright MP, Democracy Live, BBC. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  5. ^ WRIGHT, Jeremy (Kenilworth and Southam), The Register of Members' Financial Interests: Part 1. As at 7 May 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Jeremy Wright, Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  8. ^ Warwickshire candidates support high-speed rail link, BBC election 2010, 14 April 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  9. ^ High-speed route in Warwickshire 'revised', says MP, BBC News, 8 September 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  10. ^ Warwickshire MP joins HS2 protest group, Coventry Telegraph, 11 October 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  11. ^ County divided on HS2 rail route, BBC News, 10 January 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ^ "UK > England > West Midlands > Kenilworth & Southam". Election 2010. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  14. ^ Jeremy Paul Wright, politics.co.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  15. ^ "The Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC MP – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Kenilworth & Southam parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  18. ^ "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  19. ^ Christopher Hope (3 November 2016). "Attorney General Jeremy Wright under pressure to quit after shock High Court defeat over Brexit timing". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Candidates confirmed for General Election". Stratford-upon-Avon Herald. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  21. ^ Stewart, Heather; Crerar, Pippa; Sabbagh, Dan (9 July 2018). "May's plan 'sticks in the throat', says Boris Johnson as he resigns over Brexit". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  22. ^ "At-a-glance: The new UK Brexit plan". BBC News. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  23. ^ "Who is the health secretary Matt Hancock as Jeremy Hunt becomes foreign sec?". Metro. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  24. ^ Online Harms white paper, UK government, April 2019
  25. ^ "Christchurch attack: tech firms must clean up platforms – Javid". The Guardian. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  26. ^ All that's wrong with the UK's crusade against online harms, WIRED, Gian Volpicelli, 9 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  27. ^ "Kenilworth & Southam Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  28. ^ "Ex-attorney general Jeremy Wright joins Tory calls for PM to quit". BBC News. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  29. ^ "Conservative former attorney general calls on Boris Johnson to resign". The Independent. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  30. ^ "Jeremy Wright MP, Kenilworth and Southam". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  31. ^ My furniture claim was not extravagant, Coventry Telegraph, 1 June 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  32. ^ a b c Jeremy Wright MP made mobile phone and furniture expenses claims, Coventry Telegraph, 30 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  33. ^ Tory whip appealing against MPs' expenses payback demand, The Guardian, 23 December 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  34. ^ Tory MP Jeremy Wright appeals over MPs expenses order, Coventry Telegraph, 23 December 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  35. ^ MP Jeremy Wright won't have to repay £700 expenses, Coventry Telegraph, 3 February 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  36. ^ Tory candidate Jeremy Wright under pressure to repay expenses after breaking rules, Birmingham Post, 29 April 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  37. ^ "About Jeremy". Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  38. ^ "Which cabinet minister uses Lego to relax?". BBC News. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  39. ^ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B2.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jeremy Wright.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Rugby and Kenilworth
2005–2010 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament
for Kenilworth and Southam
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of State for Justice
2012–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Attorney General for England and Wales
2014–2018 		Succeeded by
Advocate General for Northern Ireland
2014–2018
Preceded by Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
2018–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales
2024–present 		Incumbent
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