Daniel Alan Byles (born 24 June 1974) is a former British politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

North Warwickshire North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in Warwickshire, England. The borough includes the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and Coleshill, and the large villages of Hartshill, Kingsbury, Ma ...

from 2010 to 2015.

Background

Byles was born in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, but spent his early childhood as an

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

before returning to England at age nine to the Cotswold market town of

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswolds in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 201 ...

. Helped by a government funded scholarship, the

Assisted Places Scheme The Assisted Places Scheme was established in the UK by the Conservative government in 1980. Children who were eligible were provided with free or subsidised places to fee-charging independent schools - based on the child's results in the schoo ...

, Byles attended

Warwick School Warwick School is a British Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent school (UK), independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school) for boys, in the market town of Warwick, in Warwickshire, England. Known as ...

. He attended the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

from 1993 to 1996, where he earned a 2.1 BA Joint Honours in Economics and Management Studies, becoming the first member of his family to attend university. In 2007 he was awarded an MA in creative writing from

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

Military career

Following university, Byles attended Commissioning Course 963 at 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 ...

. Initially commissioned into

The Light Infantry The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Bri ...

Byles later accepted a Regular Commission with the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

as a Medical Support Officer.

Adventures and expeditions

Atlantic rowing race 1997

In 1995 Byles and his mother Janice Meek rowed from Tenerife to Barbados; it took 100 days, 18 hours and 57 minutes. In rowing across the Atlantic, the pair became the first mother and son team to row any ocean.

Charities and organisations

In October 2008, Byles became the main sponsor of the Bedworth United F.C. Youth Team, in order to support community youth projects involving sport. In December 2013, Byles was made a President of The Better Planet Education. for his work in Parliament on environmental and energy issues.

Political career

In 2007, Byles stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Leicester City Council in Stoneygate ward. On 8 March 2007, Byles was selected as the Conservative Party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the

constituency at the 2010 general election. He was selected at an

open primary Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

. Byles was elected by 54 votes at the election on 6 May 2010 after defeating the incumbent MP Mike O'Brien, and served as Member of Parliament in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

until May 2015. He had the smallest majority of all Conservative Members of Parliament during the 2010–2015 Parliament. He 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 ...

in the Commons on Thursday 3 June 2010 when he spoke about Nicholas Chamberlaine, the Atherstone Ball Game, and his intention to campaign for better rehabilitation and mental health care for military veterans and reservists. In July 2014 Byles announced that he would not stand at the next election as "it was time to pursue new challenges."

Guinness world records

In 2006 Byles and his mother Janice Meek were belatedly awarded a Guinness World Record certificate for being the first mother and son team to row any ocean in 1997/8.

References

External links

Daniel Byles’ website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byles, Daniel 1974 births Living people English explorers English male rowers Ocean rowers People educated at Warwick School Royal Army Medical Corps officers English mountain climbers Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of Nottingham Trent University UK MPs 2010–2015 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society