Michael James Tomlinson-Mynors (born 1 October 1977) is a British politician and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

who served in the Cabinet as Minister of State for Countering Illegal Migration from December 2023 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Dorset and North Poole from

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

to 2024. He previously served as

Solicitor General for England and Wales His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General for England and Wales ...

from September 2022 to December 2023 and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from July to September 2022.

Early life and career

Michael Tomlinson was born in

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

on 1 October 1977 and attended Hereford Cathedral School, a private school in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

. His father Howard was the headmaster of the school between 1987 and 2005. He studied history at

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 ...

before obtaining a Postgraduate Diploma in Law at the College of Law. Tomlinson was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 2002. He worked as a door tenant at 3 Paper Buildings (3PB) specialising in commercial, contract, and personal injury law. While working for 3PB, Tomlinson undertook

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

legal work and led mediation training sessions in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

as part of the Conservative Party's Umubano project. He was appointed to the Attorney General's Civil Panel Counsel in 2007 and served till 2012.

Parliamentary career

Tomlinson was selected as the Conservative candidate for Mid Dorset and North Poole in March 2013. He had previously been the campaign manager for the constituency in the 2010 general election. He was elected at the 2015 general election with 23,639 votes, a majority of 10,530 (22.6%). He made his maiden speech on 22 June 2015 during a debate on the Education and Adoption Bill. Tomlinson 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 Brexit referendum as he felt that it would restore the country's sovereignty. Tomlinson was a member of the European Scrutiny Committee between November 2016 and May 2017 and then again between October 2017 and November 2019. He was the deputy chair of the European Research Group between 2016 and 2018. At the 2017 general election, Tomlinson was re-elected with a majority of 15,339 and 59.2% of the vote and 14,898 (30.5%). Tomlinson was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) at the Department of International Development in July 2017 and was promoted to PPS to the Secretary of State,

Penny Mordaunt Dame Penelope Mary "Penny" Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons from 2022 until 2024. She was the Memb ...

, in January 2018. He was appointed PPS to Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on 13 November 2018. Two days later Raab resigned. Tomlinson wrote an article in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' on 16 November 2018, in which he expressed reservations about the 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 deal. At the 2019 general election, Tomlinson was again re-elected, winning a majority of 14,898 with 60.4% of the vote. In February 2020, Tomlinson was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury and then became Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in July 2022. In September 2022, he was appointed

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 ...

and in October 2022 he was reappointed by

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) 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 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

. On 4 November 2022, he was appointed

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. On 7 December 2023, Tomlinson was appointed as the Minister of State for Illegal Migration. He was sworn of the Privy Council on 21 February 2024, entitling him to the style ''

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...

'' for life. He was defeated by Vikki Slade at her fourth attempt in 2024. Since then he has returned to working as a barrister at 3PB.

Personal life

Tomlinson is married to Frances Mynors and they have three children. She is the daughter of Sir Richard Mynors, 2nd Baronet of Treago Castle in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

. Frances worked as his principal secretary in his parliamentary office. In 1997, he was selected to play for Herefordshire County Cricket Club in a Minor Counties Cricket Championship match against Dorset County Cricket Club. Tomlinson has two sisters and had one younger brother, Edward, who died in 2006 at the age of 24 of

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

while on a gap year in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon.

Notes

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlinson, Michael 1977 births Living people People educated at Hereford Cathedral School Alumni of King's College London British barristers English King's Counsel 21st-century King's Counsel Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 Herefordshire cricketers Solicitors general for England and Wales Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom