Alec Shelbrooke
Alec Edward Shelbrooke PC MP (born 10 January 1976) is a British Conservative politician who has been Member of Parliament for Elmet and Rothwell since 2010. Early life. Born in 1976 in Bromley, Kent, Shelbrooke was educated at Saint George's Church of England Comprehensive School, Gravesend, and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brunel University in 1998. After leaving university, Shelbrooke became a director of non-research European projects at the University of Leeds. Political career. He has fought four local government elections (being elected to Leeds City Council in 2004 and re-elected in  2006 as Councillor for Harewood Ward) and unsuccessfully stood in Wakefield at the 2005 General Election. He was Deputy Chairman of Elmet Conservative Association from 2001 to 2004. After entering parliament, in November 2010 Shelbrooke was confirmed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Minister of State for Transport Theresa Villiers. In September 2012, Shelbrooke was made PPS to Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Mike Penning. He announced his delight at taking over the responsibility for "Northern Island" [sic] on Twitter and later blamed the spelling mistake on autocorrect. In December 2012, Shelbrooke introduced a Ten Minute Rule bill under  which UK welfare claimants would be issued with a cash card instead of receiving their benefits in cash. The card would only permit claimants to make purchases such as food, clothing, energy, travel and housing, and prevent them purchasing items considered non-essential, such as cigarettes, alcohol, satellite television, and gambling. In May 2013, Shelbrooke was one of the 'rebel' Tory MPs who voted to 'express regret' at the lack of a referendum bill in the Queen's speech. He subsequently voted in favour of a 2017 referendum on continued EU membership and opposed a rebel motion calling for it  to be held in 2014. He became PPS to the Foreign Office in 2014. Shelbrooke was opposed to the UK leaving the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum. In 2016, Shelbrooke published two reports: one proposing Local Government reform in England, and the other co-authored with Dr Mark McBride-Wright highlighting the impact of homophobia within the engineering industry. In 2017, he became Vice Chairman (International) of the Conservative Party, a soft-power role designed to promote the UK's interests overseas as well as supporting centre-right political parties in the developing world through the Westminster Foundation  for Democracy. Shelbrooke remains an officer of the International Democrat Union. Shelbrooke was an Executive Member of the 1922 Committee during a period of turbulence within the Conservative Party leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019. He was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council in Theresa May's retirement honours list. Shelbrooke backed Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election that followed. Shortly before the 2019 general election, Shelbrooke led a Westminster Hall debate on Endometriosis, a condition in which cells similar to those in the endometrium, the layer of tissue that normally  covers the inside of the uterus, grow outside the uterus. He has also spoken out on other women's health issues such as the surgical mesh scandal in the UK, leading to the publication of a review by Julia Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege in 2020. In 2020, Shelbrooke was appointed Leader of the UK Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Views. From a working class background, Shelbrooke describes himself as a "Conservative Trade Unionist" and is member of union reform campaigning groups Blue Collar Conservatism and The Trade Union Reform Group.