Matthew James Offord (born 3 September 1969) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

in North London from

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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 ...

. He was previously a member of the

Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa The Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) is an international parliamentary association that is strictly non-partisan, founded by European parliamentarians in 1984. In cooperation with African parliaments, AWEPA works to s ...

Governing Council.

Early life and education

Offord was born on 3 September 1969 in

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in East Hampshire, England, near the source of the northern branch of the River Wey. It had a population of 19,425 at the 2021 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone' ...

, England to Christopher and Hilda Offord. His father was a builder. He attended Amery Hill School and then studied Geography at

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 ...

. He worked as a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

political analyst. Offord also obtained a master's degree in Environment, Culture and Society from

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

in 2000, and a PhD in Geography from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Political career

Offord stood as the Conservative candidate for Barnsley East and Mexborough in the 2001 general election. He came third in the seat behind the incumbent Labour MP

Jeffrey Ennis Jeffrey Ennis (born 13 November 1952) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley East and Mexborough from 1996 to 2010, having been first elected at the Barnsley East by-election in 1996. Early ...

and the Liberal Democrat candidate. The following year, he was elected as a councillor for Hendon ward on the

Barnet London Borough Council Barnet London Borough Council, also known as Barnet Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Barnet in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority cont ...

. Offord was re-elected in 2006 and became the deputy leader of the council. In 2010, he was elected as MP for Hendon by a majority of 106 votes. The seat had previously been held by Labour MP

Andrew Dismore Andrew Hartley Dismore (born 2 September 1954) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who was the Member of the London Assembly for Barnet and Camden (London Assembly constituency), Barnet and Camden from 2012 London Assembly electio ...

since 1997. The following year, he was one of 81 Conservative MPs who rebelled against the government by voting for a referendum on the UK's membership of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Offord was one of 136 Conservative MPs to vote against the

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Background Civil partnerships were Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, introduce ...

which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. He voted against the Act as he felt that marriage should only between a man and a woman and that it could eventually lead to the legalisation of

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

. He was also one of 21 MPs to vote against

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

-inclusive sex and relationship education from primary school. He was re-elected in the 2015 and 2017 general election. In parliament, he has been a member of the

Environmental Audit Select Committee The Environmental Audit Select Committee is a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine ho ...

since December 2012. He is an officer of the

Conservative Friends of Israel Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening control over business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as ...

. Offord supported

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

in the

2016 UK EU membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...

. He is a member of the

European Research Group The European Research Group (ERG) is a research support group and caucus of Eurosceptic Conservative Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom. In a ''Financial Times'' article in 2020, the journalist Sebastian Payne described the ERG as " ...

. Offord voted for then Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

's Brexit withdrawal agreement in March 2019. He also voted against any referendum on a Brexit withdrawal agreement in the indicative votes on 27 March. He supported

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

's bid to become Conservative Party leader in 2019, and after he became prime minister voted for his Brexit withdrawal agreement in October. In August 2022, Offord supported

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

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 (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of ...

and Boris Johnson in the

October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election The October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Liz Truss's announcement that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, amid an economic and political crisis. In t ...

. In March 2023, Offord was one of 22 Conservative MPs that voted against the

Windsor Framework The Windsor Framework is a post-Brexit legal agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom which adjusts the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Framework was announced on 27 February 2023, formally adopted by both pa ...

. He announced in May 2023 that he would stand down at the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a lan ...

, which was called for July 4, 2024.

Personal life

Offord married Claire Michelle Rowles in 2010. She was a Conservative councillor for the Hungerford & Kintbury ward on

West Berkshire Council West Berkshire Council is the local authority of West Berkshire in Berkshire, England. The council was created in 1974 as Newbury District Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1998. The district was renamed West Berkshire on 1 Ap ...

and former solicitor. He is a Christian.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Offord, Matthew 1969 births Living people Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Alumni of King's College London Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Barnet UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Conservative Party (UK) councillors Alumni of Lancaster University British Eurosceptics