Elizabeth Rebecca Scott Harris (born 22 December 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected at the 2010 general election as 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

Castle Point Castle Point is a local government district with borough status in south Essex, east of central London. The borough comprises the towns and villages of Canvey Island, Hadleigh, South Benfleet, and Thundersley. The borough council is situated at ...

. She is the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of t ...

Education

Harris was born in

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch. The town is situated west ...

and was educated at the Hampshire independent boarding school

Bedales Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventio ...

. She earned her degree from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

(BSc).

Business career

Harris spent most of her working life with Phillimore & Co. publishers, working in warehousing as a delivery driver and Sales Rep. Working her way through the ranks of the company she eventually joined the Board as Marketing Director.

Political career

Harris was a

Conservative head office The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and man ...

campaign co-ordinator during 2000-2001 and Conservative North West London area officer during 2007–2008. She was elected as MP for Castle Point in 2010 with a majority of 7,632. She was re-elected in 2015 with an increased majority, and then again in 2017 with a substantially increased majority. In 2012, Harris was named by Conservative Home as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions. She was a member of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and has championed the Daylight Saving Bill which, had it passed, would have moved Britain onto

Central European Time Central European Time (CET) is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries. CE ...

. On 20 January 2012, the legislation ran out of time to progress, meaning that the United Kingdom would remain on

Western European Time Western European Time (WET, UTC±00:00) is a time zone covering parts of western Europe and consists of countries using UTC±00:00 (also known as Greenwich Mean Time, shortly called GMT). It is one of the three standard time zones in the Europea ...

. Prior to the EU 2016 referendum Harris stated the intention to campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. Harris and her entourage recorded video footage of allegedly speeding motorbikers and handed them to the police, after spotting them whilst canvassing for the 2015 general election. Local residents had complained of the street being used for road racing. Harris was appointed as the

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 ...

to the

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

Theresa Villiers Theresa Anne Villiers (born 5 March 1968) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005. A member of the ...

on 28 May 2015. Harris was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the newly appointed Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid MP in July 2016. Prior to the General Election in May 2015, Harris was named as the Member of Parliament with the 4th highest voting record in the country.

References

External links

Rebecca Harris MP
Conservative Party profile
Castle Point Conservatives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Rebecca 1967 births Living people People educated at Bedales School Alumni of the London School of Economics Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies 21st-century British women politicians UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present 21st-century English women 21st-century English people