Antony Higginbotham (born 16 December 1989) is a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician who was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

in the 2019 general election.

Early life

Higginbotham was born in Haslingden, Rossendale, Lancashire. He attended

Haslingden High School Haslingden High School is a secondary school located in Haslingden, Rossendale, England. The school receives children from many local primary schools, one of the largest being Haslingden Primary School. History The two schools in Haslingden t ...

and went on to study British Politics at Hull University, becoming the first in his family to attend university. After graduating, he briefly worked for the NHS. He then went on to complete a Graduate Diploma in Law at City Law School. Before becoming an MP, he worked for a trade organisation representing international banks. He then worked as a banker, first for a Japanese bank then as a banker at

NatWest National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

Political career

While living in London, he unsuccessfully contested the Peninsula ward in the

2018 Greenwich London Borough Council election The 2018 Greenwich London Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Greenwich London Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. Results summary Ward results Abbe ...

. He contested the Burnley seat for the Conservative Party in the 2019 general election, campaigning on a pro-

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

platform in an area that voted 66.6% in favour of leave in the

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

. He won the seat from incumbent Julie Cooper (9.7% swing, 3.4% majority), becoming the first Conservative MP for the constituency since Gerald Arbuthnot in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

. Higginbotham and the Burnley Council submitted a bid in June 2021 for £20m to improve constituency life through three construction projects. He is a member of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, which includes 12 months of courses on military affairs to help improve parliamentary knowledge on the military. Higginbotham endorsed

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...

during the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, citing her views on tax, education and 'levelling up'.

Personal life

Higginbotham is openly gay and one of 20 LGBT+ Conservative MPs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higginbotham, Antony 1989 births Living people UK MPs 2019–present Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies LGBT politicians from England LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom People from Haslingden Politics of Burnley 21st-century English politicians Gay politicians 21st-century LGBT people