Michael James Tomlinson-Mynors (born 1 October 1977) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Countering Illegal Migration since December 2023. A member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, he 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 bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Mid Dorset and North Poole Mid Dorset and North Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Michael Tomlinson, a Conservative. Boundaries 1997–2010: The District of Purbeck wards of Bere Regis, Lytchett Matravers, ...

since the 2015 general election. He previously served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from September 2022 to December 2023 and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from July to September 2022.

Early life

Tomlinson was born in

Wokingham Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell. History Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may als ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

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

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

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

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

before obtaining a Postgraduate Diploma in Law at the

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

. 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 exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

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 ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

legal work and led mediation training sessions in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

as part of the

'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

in March 2013. He had previously been the campaign manager for the constituency in the 2010 United Kingdom general election, 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 "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

in the

2016 Brexit referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

as he felt that it would restore the country's sovereignty. Tomlinson was a member of the

European Scrutiny Committee The European Scrutiny Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Following Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in January 2020 and the end of the transition period on 31 December 202 ...

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

between 2016 and 2018. At the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

, 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 A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

(PPS) at the

Department of International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

in July 2017 and was promoted to PPS to the Secretary of State, Penny Mordaunt, in January 2018. He was appointed PPS to

Dominic Raab Dominic Rennie Raab (; born 25 February 1974) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice, and Lord Chancellor since October 2022, having previously served from 2021 to ...

, 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 national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' on 16 November 2018, in which he expressed reservations about the then Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; 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 in David Cameron's cab ...

'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 Solicitor General for England and Wales by

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

and in October 2022 he was reappointed by

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 (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...

. On 4 November 2022, he was appointed

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. On 7 December 2023, Tomlinson was appointed as the Minister of State for Illegal Migration. He was sworn into the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 9 February 2024, entitling him to the style ''

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

'' for life.

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 Treago Castle is a fortified manor house in the parish of St Weonards, Herefordshire, England (). Built c. 1500, it was recorded as a Grade I listed building on 30 April 1986—based on its extant medieval architecture, quadrangle courtyard l ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

. Frances works 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 Sarah and Clare, 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 e ...

while on a gap year in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, 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–present Herefordshire cricketers Solicitors General for England and Wales Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom