Stuart Andrew
Stuart James Andrew (born 25 November 1971) is a Welsh politician serving as Minister of State for Housing since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Pudsey since 2010. Andrew was born in Anglesey, Wales. He was a councillor on Wrexham County Borough Council from 1995 to 1999. Elected as a Conservative, he defected to the Labour Party in 1998, before rejoining the Conservative Party in 2000. He was a councillor on Leeds City Council from 2003 to 2010. He was elected for Pudsey at the 2010 general election. He  served as Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons until February 2022 when he was appointed Minister of State for Housing. Early life. Andrew was born on 25 November 1971 in Anglesey, Wales. He grew up in Anglesey, and was state educated at Ysgol David Hughes in Menai Bridge. After leaving school he worked for the Department of Social Security. In 1994 he took a job with the British Heart Foundation, before roles at Hope House Children's Hospice and East Lancashire Hospice. Before being elected to Parliament he led the fundraising team for Martin House Hospice. Early  political career. Andrew was first elected as a Conservative councillor to represent the Maesydre ward on Wrexham County Borough Council in 1995. He stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for Wrexham in the 1997 general election. In 1998, he left the Conservatives and defected to the Labour Party, citing issues with the "direction of the party". Andrew was re-elected as a Labour councillor in 1999, but resigned from the council later in the year. He rejoined the Conservative Party in 2000 and, after moving to Leeds, was elected to Leeds City Council between 2003 and 2010. He represented the  Aireborough ward and then Guiseley and Rawdon ward, following boundary changes in 2004. Parliamentary career. Andrew was elected as MP for Pudsey in the 2010 general election, taking the seat from Labour with a majority of 1,659 votes, and subsequently resigned from Leeds City Council. Andrew served on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee between November 2010 and November 2012. On 22 February 2012 Andrew was headbutted and punched in a House of Commons bar during a disturbance created by Scottish Labour MP Eric Joyce, but tweeted the next day that, "I'm OK." Joyce was charged with common assault, A  fourth charge was added on 9 March, and he was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,400 in compensation to Andrew and other victims, but not given a custodial sentence. In a statement before the House of Commons on 12 March 2012, Joyce apologised personally to his victims, stated that he had resigned from the Labour Party, and that he intended to complete his current term as an MP but not seek re-election. In 2012, Andrew brought forward a bill that would create a new power for governors to "destroy or otherwise dispose of any unauthorised property  found within a prison or an escort vehicle". The bill was supported both by the government and the Labour Party, with Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Sadiq Khan saying he backed the bill. During the debates on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which he subsequently voted for, Andrew responded to comments from Gerald Howarth about "aggressive homosexuals" by telling of a time when he had been attacked in the street and beaten unconscious "because of who and what I am". At the 2015 general election, Pudsey was considered to be one of the most marginal seats in  the country. However, Andrew retained the seat through increasing his majority to 4501. In January 2016, Andrew was one of 72 MPs who voted down an amendment in Parliament on rental homes being "fit for human habitation" who were themselves landlords who derived an income from a property. In May 2016, it emerged that Andrew was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police in the 2015 general election party spending investigation, for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses. However, in May 2017, the Crown Prosecution Service said that while there  was evidence of inaccurate spending returns, it did not "meet the test" for further action. Andrew was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, with particular responsibility for cities, on 23 September 2016. Andrew supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum. At the 2017 general election, Andrew was re-elected with an increased vote share, but saw his majority cut to 331. He became Assistant Whip (HM Treasury) in June 2017 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office) in January 2018, before moving to be Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence). In July 2019, Andrew wrote to Bradford Council to oppose plans  to introduce a new link road in south east Bradford, impacting the Pudsey constituency. In July 2019, he moved back to the Whips Office, holding the office of vice-chamberlain of the Household. In 2019, on both 14 October and 19 December, Andrew was ceremonially taken hostage by the Queen at Buckingham Palace for the duration of her speeches to Parliament. Andrew's majority increased at the 2019 general election. In the February 2020 reshuffle he was appointed Deputy Chief Whip and promoted to Treasurer of the Household. On 10 September 2020, Andrew stood in for Jacob Rees-Mogg as  Acting Leader of the House of Commons in Business Questions as Rees-Mogg was self-isolating awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test on his son. During the COVID-19 pandemic emergency arrangements, he held a large number of proxy votes for other Conservative MPs, and at one stage in 2021 personally controlled a majority of votes in the House of Commons. He did not always cast these proxy votes the same way, instead following the instructions of individual MPs. In a cabinet reshuffle on 8 February 2022, Andrew was appointed Minister of State for Housing. Personal life. Andrew lives in  Guiseley, West Yorkshire and London. He is openly gay and a patron of LGBT+ Conservatives.