Ben Spencer (politician)
![]() | This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. (January 2022) |
Ben Spencer | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2020 | |
Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Philip Hammond |
Majority | 18,270 (34.3%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Benjamin Walter Jack Spencer[1] 11 December 1981 Liverpool, England |
Political party | Conservative |
Children | 2 |
Website | Official website |
Benjamin Walter Jack Spencer (11 December 1981),[2] is a British politician and psychiatrist of the Conservative Party serving as the Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge since 2019.
Early life[]
Born in Liverpool, Spencer attended Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall and the Royal Free and University College London Medical School.
Medical career[]
Spencer specialised in General Adult Psychiatry and worked as both a consultant psychiatrist on a women's inpatient ward then later in HIV psychiatry. During his career he researched decision-making capacity in people with schizophrenia and received a PhD in Psychological Medicine, working within the health, Ethics and Law Research Group at Kings College London.
Political career[]
Spencer sits in the Conservative safe seat of Runnymede and Weybridge. While his voting record shows him voting the same way as the vast majority of other Conservative MPs, he did vote against the Government's plans for COVID restrictions in November 2020, against the introduction of COVID passes in December 2021 and abstained on the Second Reading of the UK Internal Markets Bill in 2020. Unusually Spencer has been successful in both Private Members Bill Ballots since his election. In 2020 he aimed to put forward the Mental Health Admissions (Data) Bill, however due to COVID and disruption to the Parliamentary schedule this was unable to proceed through the House. In 2021 Spencer introduced a second Private Member's Bill presenting his Planning (Enforcement) Bill to Parliament in June 2021. The Bill second reading took place on 19 November 2021 but was withdrawn with a view to incorporating the provisions in the forthcoming Planning Bill. He is currently a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee and COVID Recovery Group.
Personal life[]
Spencer lives in the constituency with his wife and two children. He has two cats called Frazzle and Ragnar.
References[]
- ^ "No. 62862". The London Gazette. 20 December 2019. p. 23192.
- ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
External links[]
- 1981 births
- Living people
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- English psychiatrists
- UK MPs 2019–present