Benjamin Obese-Jecty (, born September 1979) is a British

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

politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Early life

Obese-Jecty's father was originally

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

and came to Britain on the SS ''Apapa'' as a four year old in 1953. He is

mixed race The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

, with his mother being white English. He attended university before joining the British Army.

Military service

Having attended the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

, Obese-Jecty was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Duke of Wellington's Regiment on 11 December 2004, with seniority in that rank from 15 December 2001. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on the same day, 11 December 2004, with seniority in that rank from 15 December 2003. He moved to the

Yorkshire Regiment The Royal Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated R YORKS) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, created by the amalgamation of three historic regiments in 2006. It lost one battalion as part of the Future of ...

after his first regiment was merged with others to form it in 2006. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 11 June 2007. Obese-Jecty served a tour of duty in Iraq as a battle casualty replacement, "only three months after completing istraining". From 2009 to 2010, as part of Operation Herrick 11, he served a tour in Afghanistan in an "embedded partnership role mentoring the

Afghan National Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when th ...

's 2nd Kandak" in Sangin,

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

. Obese-Jecty moved to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers on 11 December 2012, thereby ending his active military service.

Professional career

After leaving the British Army in 2012, he moved into banking. Obese-Jecty spent two years as an academy trustee at Esher Sixth Form College from 2021 to 2023. He was a member of the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee for the South West region for a three year term from February 2021 to February 2024.

Political career

In the 2019 general election, Obese-Jecty was selected for the Conservative Party in the safe Labour seat of Hackney North and Stoke Newington against then Labour

Shadow Home Secretary In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK), shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effecti ...

Diane Abbott. He finished second behind Abbott achieving 11.9% of the vote. During the campaign Obese-Jecty was subjected to racial slurs from other black people because he was standing for the Conservative Party. In September 2023, Obese-Jecty was selected as the Conservative candidate to succeed Jonathan Djanogly as Member of Parliament (MP) for

. At the 2024 general election, he was elected as the next MP for Huntingdon with 18,257 votes and a majority of 1,499 over the second-placed Labour candidate. In November 2023, Obese-Jecty claimed that the mascot of a University Challenge team, a blue octopus soft toy, was an antisemitic symbol. He said its appearance was “disgraceful” and that “antisemitism is fast becoming normalised”. A Conservative peer who made similar claims later apologised and paid “significant damages” to one of the team’s contestants. Obese-Jecty gave his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 22 July 2024, during the King's Speech debate on the Economy, Welfare and Public Services. In the 2024 Conservative leadership election, he endorsed Kemi Badenoch.

Electoral history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obese-Jecty, Ben Living people UK MPs 2024–present Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Black British MPs Duke of Wellington's Regiment officers Yorkshire Regiment officers 1979 births British Army personnel of the Iraq War English people of Ghanaian descent Politicians from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames