Ben Spencer (politician)

Benjamin Walter Jack Spencer (born 11 December 1981)[2] is a British Conservative Party politician and psychiatrist. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Runnymede and Weybridge at the 2019 general election.[3] He is currently a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

Ben Spencer
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for Runnymede and Weybridge
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byPhilip Hammond
Majority18,270 (34.3%)
Personal details
Born
Benjamin Walter Jack Spencer[1]

(1981-12-11) 11 December 1981
Liverpool, England
Political partyConservative
Children2
WebsiteOfficial website

Medical career

Spencer is a psychiatrist who has worked at both King's College Hospital and Maudsley Hospital.[4] In 2013 he was awarded the Advanced Psychiatric Trainee of the Year Award by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.[5] At King's College Hospital he was chair of the Psychiatry Physical Health Committee.[6] He leads the Conservative Health - Mental Health Special Interest Group (SIG).[7]

Political career

Spencer contested Camberwell and Peckham constituency in 2017; it has traditionally been a safe seat for Labour.[4] He was selected to contest the Conservative safe seat of Runnymede and Weybridge at the 2019 general election after the sitting MP, Philip Hammond, had the whip withdrawn in September 2019, along with 21 other Conservative MPs, and announced that he would not seek re-election.

Although Spencer voted for the second COVID-19 lockdown, he is a steering committee member of the lockdown-sceptic COVID Recovery Group, a group of Conservative MPs who opposed the UK government's December 2020 lockdown.[8]

References
  1. "No. 62862". The London Gazette. 20 December 2019. p. 23192.
  2. 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.
  3. "Runnymede & Weybridge parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Election 2019. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  4. "Meet Ben Spencer, the Maudsley Hospital junior doctor standing as GE2017 Tory candidate for Camberwell and Peckham". Southwark News (1 June 2017). Southwark News Limited. 2017.
  5. "Roll of Honour November 2019" (PDF). /www.rcpsych.ac.uk. Royal College of Psychiatrists. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  6. "Junior Doctor Initiative". www.kcl.ac.uk. Kings College Hospital. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  7. "Conservative Health - Mental Health Special Interest Group". Dr Ben Spencer for Runnymede and Weybridge. Dr Ben Spencer for Runnymede and Weybridge. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  8. Hope, Christopher (10 November 2020). "Tory lockdown rebels unite to form Covid Recovery Group". The Telegraph.


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