Laura Rose Farris (née McNair-Wilson; born 13 June 1978) 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 has been 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 Newbury since the 2019 general election. Prior to her parliamentary career, she worked as a journalist and later as a barrister.

Early life

Farris was born and grew up in

Bucklebury Bucklebury is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, about north-east of Newbury and north of the A4 road. The parish has a population of 2,116, but the village is much smaller. Bucklebury Common, with an area of over , is on ...

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Dist ...

, England. Both her father

Michael McNair-Wilson Sir Robert Michael Conal McNair-Wilson (12 October 1930 – 28 March 1993) was a British Conservative Party politician and a Member of Parliament (MP). Early life McNair-Wilson was born on 12 October 1930. He attended Eton College before join ...

and uncle

Patrick McNair-Wilson Sir Patrick Michael Ernest David McNair-Wilson (born 28 May 1929) is a British former Conservative Member of Parliament and consultant. Early life and career McNair-Wilson is the son of Dr Robert McNair-Wilson. He was educated at Eton Colleg ...

were Conservative MPs. She studied philosophy, politics and economics at

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more forma ...

, graduating in 2000 with an upper second class degree. Farris worked as a journalist for

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

and

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

and also worked for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

when she was a United States Senator for New York. She qualified as a barrister in 2007, practising mainly in employment law. Farris was appointed to the panel of counsel operated by the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

in 2015.

Parliamentary career

Farris was selected as the Conservative candidate for Newbury on 10 November 2019. She had previously stood as a candidate in the safe Labour seat of Leyton and Wanstead in 2017. Farris was elected as MP with a majority of 16,047 in the 2019 general election. Her father represented the constituency between 1974 and 1992. She has been a member of the

Justice Select Committee The Justice Select Committee of the United Kingdom is a select committee of the House of Commons which scrutinizes the policy, administration, and spending of the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the committee examines the work of the Law Offi ...

since June 2021 and the Privileges Committee and the Standards Committee since March 2022. Farris was a member of the

Home Affairs Select Committee The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Departmental Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, le ...

from March 2020 to March 2022. She identifies as a

one-nation conservative One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a paternalistic form of British political conservatism. It advocates the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles within a political democ ...

. On 22 October 2021, Farris opposed a bill to prevent employers from firing employees and rehiring them on worse terms and conditions. She stated during the debate that the rules on fire and rehire needed to be tightened up, but the choice should be available as "an option of last resort" for companies facing insolvency. In November 2021, a man was convicted of sending a malicious communication to Farris in 2020 and given a suspended sentence. Farris endorsed

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, lastly as ...

in the

July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election The July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Boris Johnson's announcement on 7 July 2022 that he would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party after a series of political controversies. The leadership ele ...

Personal life

Farris is married to Henry Farris and they have two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farris, Laura Living people UK MPs 2019–present Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 21st-century British women politicians Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Berkshire People from Bucklebury Politicians from Berkshire 21st-century English women 21st-century English people 1978 births