Kevin Hollinrake
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business[lower-alpha 1]
Assumed office
27 October 2022
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byDean Russell
Member of Parliament
for Thirsk and Malton
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byAnne McIntosh
Majority25,154 (44.4%)
Personal details
Born
Kevin Paul Hollinrake

(1963-09-28) 28 September 1963
Easingwold, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseNikky
Children4
Alma materSheffield Polytechnic
WebsiteOfficial website

Kevin Paul Hollinrake (born 28 September 1963)[1] is a British Conservative politician and businessman. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thirsk and Malton since May 2015 and has been serving as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Enterprise and Markets since October 2022.[2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

Kevin Hollinrake was born and brought up in North Yorkshire. He attended Easingwold School and studied physics at Sheffield Polytechnic, though he did not complete his degree.[6]

Business

After dropping out of Sheffield Polytechnic, Hollinrake worked for Prudential. He then co-founded the Hunters estate agency in York in 1992. By 2015, the agency had grown to over 150 branches across the country, with Hollinrake holding a 15% stake in the company.[7] Hunters Property was admitted to trading on AIM in July 2015 with a market capitalisation of £16.9m.[8] In February 2015, the company issued an IPO (initial public offering) for new investors to raise £2.5 m for capital investment.[9]

In 2009, Hollinrake became a director of Vizzihome from which he resigned in 2013.[10] In 2013 he founded Shoptility Limited where he was the Chairman until commencement of voluntary winding up in October 2017, and the company was dissolved in June 2019.[11]

In July 2007, Hollinrake was selected as the Conservative candidate for Dewsbury for the 2010 general election. In October 2008 however, he resigned his candidacy in order to focus on his business.[12]

Parliamentary career

Hollinrake was selected to be the Conservative candidate for the seat of Thirsk and Malton following the de-selection of Anne McIntosh.[13] Hollinrake was a strong supporter of David Cameron's Northern Powerhouse idea, which aims to link the north of England more closely to markets in the south; making it easier to travel, exchange and do business.[14]

In January 2016, Hollinrake 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.[15]

He served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[16]

Hollinrake was opposed to Brexit before the 2016 referendum.[17]

In 2019, Hollinrake was one of 72 MPs who voted to not permit same-sex marriages in Northern Ireland.[18]

In 2020, Hollinrake became one of four Vice-Chairs of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Whistleblowing.[19] This group has been subject to criticism by some campaigners on whistleblowing law reform.[20]

In September 2020, Hollinrake was criticised for a tweet he made in response to a question about the free school meal campaign ran by footballer Marcus Rashford.[21] When asked on Twitter ''why it takes a footballer to make a stand for hungry children in our country'', he replied that ''where they can, it's a parent's job to feed their children.''[22] This prompted a backlash from Rashford and members of the public. Hollinrake defended himself, stating that tax rises would be required for such action.[23]

In April 2021, The Observer revealed that Hollinrake claimed expenses of £2,925 each month between April and November 2020 to pay his own rent despite renting out five residential properties of his own in York. When asked to comment, Hollinrake acknowledged that he owned other properties, but claimed to have seen a "substantial reduction in earnings" since leaving the private sector and said that he did not think it would be reasonable for him to have to pay for his own accommodation expenses in London.[24]

In November 2021, he was one of 13 Conservative MPs who voted against a government-supported amendment to defer the suspension of Conservative MP Owen Paterson who was found to have breached lobbying rules.[25]

Ministerial Career

Rishi Sunak appointed Hollinrake to the post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Business and Trade in October 2022. As the Minister for Postal Affairs, he was responsible for Government oversight of Post Office Limited.[26]

Fracking

On 2 February 2018, Hollinrake authored an article in The Yorkshire Post titled: "Why I'm supporting fracking in Yorkshire", in which he argued fracking was too good an opportunity to miss and would help tackle climate change.[27] Critics have argued that shale gas is a fossil fuel and extracting it will make climate change worse, but Hollinrake has argued it provides part of the transition to a low carbon energy mix. In May 2015, Hollinrake said that he would be writing to Amber Rudd, the Secretary of State for Energy, to declare support for "safe and discreet" fracking, as long as sufficient compensation was received locally.

In January 2016, Hollinrake stood down as Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas after he received complaints from his constituents about funding received from fracking companies.[28] In his resignation statement he said: "A number of constituents have contacted me to express concerns that my involvement with the group is inappropriate, due to the amount of sponsorship it receives from the oil and gas industry."[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Enterprise and Markets from February 2023 to December 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "Hollinrake, Kevin Paul, (born 28 Sept. 1963), MP (C) Thirsk and Malton, since 2015". Who's Who. 2015. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.283958.
  2. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9124.
  3. ↑ "Thirsk & Malton Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015. BBC News. 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  6. ↑ "About Kevin Hollinrake". Kevin Hollinrake. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Snowdon, Ros (18 June 2015). "MP's estate agency chain set for £17m Aim debut". The Yorkshire Post.
  8. ↑ "Admission to trading on AIM". London Stock Exchange. 2 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "Hunters announces plans to float on stock market". propertyindustryeye.com. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "VIZZIHOME LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "SHOPTILITY LIMITED - Insolvency (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Kevin Hollinrake resigns as candidate for Dewsbury".
  13. ↑ Wallace, Mark (25 July 2014). "Kevin Hollinrake selected to fight Thirsk and Malton". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "MP reports Harmony in Yorkshire". Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  15. ↑ Stone, Jon (13 January 2016). "Tories vote down law requiring landlords make their homes fit for human habitation". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  16. ↑ List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): June 2019 (PDF). UK Government. 2019. p. 3.
  17. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  18. ↑ "Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill — New Clause 1 — Marriage of Same-Sex Couples".
  19. ↑ "Meet the team". APPG Whistleblowing. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "Home". The Whistler. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  21. ↑ "Marcus Rashford hits back at Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake over food poverty comments". Sky News.
  22. ↑ "Kevin Hollinrake MP on Twitter: "@brybarrett999 @MarcusRashford Where they can, it's a parents job to feed their children"".
  23. ↑ "MP Kevin Hollinrake defends view after Marcus Rashford row".
  24. ↑ Jayanetti, Chaminda (11 April 2021). "Tory MPs claim almost £3m in housing rent on expenses". The Observer. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "Committee on Standards – in the House of Commons at 12:49 pm on 3rd November 2021". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  26. ↑ "Kevin Hollinrake: who is Post Office minister? What has Tory MP said about Horizon IT scandal". NationalWorld. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  27. ↑ Hollinrake, Kevin (2 February 2018). "Why I'm supporting fracking in Yorkshire". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  28. ↑ "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Groups as at 30 July 2015 : Unconventional Oil and Gas". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  29. ↑ Carrington, Damien (19 January 2016). "Conservative MP resigns from parliamentary shale gas group over industry funding". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
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