Robert Butler (born 19 June 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

from

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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 served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation between September and October 2022.

Early life and education

Robert Butler was born in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. His earliest years were spent in

Bedgrove Bedgrove is one of the housing estates of the town of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, though it takes its name from a farm and hamlet that stood in the area until the area was cleared for building in the late 1950s. At the time it was built it was ...

, until his family moved to

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-west of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre � ...

. He attended the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

, where he studied French and Economics.

Early career

Butler's career began as a TV presenter at the

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 ...

and later Channel 5, where he presented that channel's lunchtime news from its launch in 1997 until the end of 2004. In 2005, he founded a communication and lobbying consultancy, which worked with large and small companies around the world, such as the private healthcare company Bupa. In 2010, he joined the lobbying firm Pagefield at its launch, as an associate partner and was still listed as a specialist partner in their senior advisory team at the time of the 2019 election. During that time Pagefield worked with many clients including tobacco giants

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is a multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. Marlboro is PMI’s most recognized brand, but in the last quarter of 2023, Iqos generated the greatest revenue. Philip Mor ...

, arms manufacturer and systems advisors

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

, and the

government of Azerbaijan The politics of Azerbaijan take place in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian system where elections are not free and fair, political opponents are repressed, civil rights are limited, human rights in Azerbaijan, human rights abuses are widespread ...

, while its sister company Pagefield Global Counsel provides public relations services to clients such as the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

in relation to the

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sa ...

. Prior to his election to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, Butler was also a director of His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service.

Parliamentary career

At the 2019 general election, Butler was elected as MP for his hometown of

with 54% of the vote and a majority of 17,373. While never opposing it in votes or other action, Butler has criticised the

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which has been under construction in England since 2019. The line's planned route is between Handsacre – in southern Staffordshire – and London, with a branch to Birmingham. HS2 is to be Britain ...

project in words, calling it an "unwanted and ludicrously expensive railway". Butler has served on the

Justice Select Committee The Justice Select Committee of the United Kingdom is a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons which scrutinizes the policy, administration, and spending of the Ministr ...

since March 2020 and is a member of the

Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme The Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme (AFPS) offers Members of Parliament and Peers experience of the United Kingdom's armed forces. The Scheme runs annually and gives an insight into military life for all three Armed Services, Royal Navy, Army ...

for 2020 to 2022. On 13 June 2022, Butler was appointed Parliamentary private secretary to

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 ...

, the Foreign Secretary. He resigned from this position on 7 July 2022 amid the

July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis In early July 2022, 62 of the United Kingdom's 179 List of government ministers of the United Kingdom, government ministers, parliamentary private secretaries, Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy, trade envoys, and Chairman of the Conservative Party, ...

Honours

Butler was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) on 29 December 2023 in Truss's resignation honours list.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Rob 1967 births British broadcaster-politicians Living people UK MPs 2019–2024 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Aylesbury People from Bicester British television presenters Alumni of the University of Sheffield Officers of the Order of the British Empire