The Honourable
Robin Walker
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Chair of the Education Select Committee
Assumed office
16 November 2022
Preceded byRobert Halfon
Minister of State for School Standards
In office
16 September 2021 – 6 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byNick Gibb
Succeeded byWill Quince
Minister of State for Northern Ireland[lower-alpha 1]
In office
26 July 2019 – 16 September 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byNick Hurd
Succeeded byConor Burns
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
26 July 2019 – 16 December 2019
Serving with Colin Clark
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byThe Lord Duncan of Springbank
Succeeded byDouglas Ross
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
In office
17 July 2016 – 26 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byDepartment established
Succeeded byJames Duddridge
Member of Parliament
for Worcester
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byMike Foster
Majority6,758 (13.3%)
Personal details
Born (1978-04-12) 12 April 1978
West Midlands, England
Political partyConservative
RelationsPeter, Lord Walker (father)
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
ProfessionBusinessman
Websitewalker4worcester.com

Robin Caspar Walker[1] (born 12 April 1978) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Worcester since 2010. He has chaired the House of Commons Education Select Committee since November 2022.[2] He served as the Minister of State for School Standards from 2021 to 2022 and as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at both the Scotland Office and Northern Ireland Office under Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he identifies as a one-nation Conservative.[3]

Early life and education

His father was Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, MP for Worcester from 1961 to 1992 and subsequently member of the House of Lords. Robin Walker was born in London, and was educated at St Paul's School, an independent school for boys in Barnes in West London, followed by a scholarship at Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Ancient and Modern History.

Career

After leaving university, Walker set up his own internet business, before pursuing a career in the City of London with the financial communications company Finsbury.

Walker has campaigned in three elections, working for Secretary of State for Health Stephen Dorrell in 1997, for Richard Adams, the Conservative Candidate for Worcester in 2001, and as press officer for Oliver Letwin, then Shadow Chancellor, in 2005. In the 2010 general election, he defeated incumbent MP Mike Foster to win the Worcester seat, eighteen years after his father retired as a member of parliament for the same constituency (with revised boundaries) and joined the House of Lords.

Parliamentary career

Walker was selected to contest the Worcester constituency in August 2006, in which he was elected in 2010, and then was re elected in the 2015 General Election, defeating Labour challenger Joy Squires.[4]

Since being elected Member of Parliament for Worcester, Walker has campaigned for jobs for local people in Worcester, more and better apprenticeships, fairer funding in education, cutting fuel duty as well as a referendum on the European Union.

Walker was elected to the Business Innovation and Skills Committee in 2012, focusing on apprenticeships, SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) policy and business rates reform to improve opportunities for young people and businesses. He was made Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in September 2014.

Walker was one of a small group of Conservative MPs who rebelled from the party line and voted in favour of an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.[5] He ultimately supported the government's plan to hold a referendum by 2017, and voted against a rebel amendment to hold the referendum in 2014.[6]

Walker has campaigned for fairer funding in education as a member of the cross party F40 campaign, which in 2014 secured an extra £350 million for lower funded areas – £5 million of which is earmarked for Worcestershire.[7][8]

Walker was made the chairman of the All Party Group for Credit Unions in October 2014.[9] Walker has supported a number of cross party initiatives on making credit unions available in post offices as well as helping them to compete with larger lenders.[10] He had also received the Citizens Advice Parliamentarian of the Year Award earlier in the year, in recognition for his campaign for better regulation of pay day lenders.[11]

In July 2014, Walker called on Prime Minister David Cameron to use "every tool in the box" to de-escalate the violence in Gaza, and bring both sides to the table.[12] Later that year, Walker campaigned for a two-hour train service from Worcester to London, citing benefits to local constituents and businesses.[13] He spoke on this topic during a parliamentary debate in the House of Commons, calling for a "faster and more frequent train service".[14]

He campaigned for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.[15]

In May 2015, Walker was made PPS to Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan and also sat on the House of Commons Select Committee for Administration.

Walker was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.[16] In July 2016, he was appointed as Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union, in the government led by Theresa May.[17]

In October 2016, Walker formally debated a petition calling for the observance of a British Independence Day in the United Kingdom. Arguing against, he said that "tempting though that might be, I think the idea of an independence day would face fierce competition from the likes of St George's Day, Trafalgar Day and many more."[18][19]

In February 2023, Walker announced he would be standing down at the next general election.[20]

Personal life

Walker is a long-term supporter of both Worcester RFC "The Worcester Warriors" and the Worcestershire County Cricket Club. He wore the Worcestershire CCC tie whilst delivering his maiden parliamentary speech in the House of Commons. On 9 April 2011, Walker married Charlotte Keenan,[21] former chief executive of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation,[22] currently managing director at Goldman Sachs.[23] Their daughter, Hermione, was born in 2018.[24]

Notes

  1. ↑ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (2019–2020)

References

  1. ↑ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8746.
  2. ↑ "Robin Walker elected as education committee chair". schoolsweek.co.uk. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  3. ↑ "Robin Walker MP (@WalkerWorcester) on Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "Worcester parliamentary constituency – Election 2015 – BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Grew, Tony (31 January 2013). "Robin Reliable". PoliticsHome.com. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Robin Walker – Referendum on the UK's membership of the EU". Public Whip. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Hansard". parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Tom Edwards (29 April 2014). "Extra 5m school funding for Worcestershire is not enough, say MPs". worcesternews.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Tom Edwards (15 October 2014). "Robin Walker MP named new chair of parliamentary group on credit unions". worcesternews.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Hansard". parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Citizens Advice". citizensadvice.org.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  12. ↑ Tom Edwards (22 June 2014). "MP Robin Walker urges PM to use every tool in the box to cool Gaza tensions". worcesternews.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Tom Edwards (21 October 2014). "Train services have been neglected in Worcestershire". worcesternews.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Hansard". parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Tom Edwards (8 August 2014). "Reject Independence, Worcester MP urges Scotland". worcesternews.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  16. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  17. ↑ "Worcester's Robin Walker "hugely excited" after becoming Brexit minister as FOUR county MPs join Government". Worcester News. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Turns out there are 'no current plans' for a British independence day on June 23". Aol. 17 October 2016.
  19. ↑ "UK Exit from the European Union". UK Parliament. 17 October 2016.
  20. ↑ "Robin Walker to step down as Worcester MP". Worcester News. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  21. ↑ David Paine (11 April 2011). "MP swaps division bells for wedding bells". Worcester News. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  22. ↑ "Charlotte Keenan – Chief Executive, Tony Blair Faith Foundation". Tony Blair Institute. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  23. ↑ "Charlotte Keenan LinkedIn Profile". Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  24. ↑ "Worcester MP Robin Walker celebrates birth of daughter". Worcester News. 21 March 2018.
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