Adam Afriyie
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Chairman of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
In office
16 November 2010 – 3 May 2017
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
Shadow Minister for Science and Innovation
In office
3 July 2007 – 6 May 2010
LeaderDavid Cameron
Member of Parliament
for Windsor
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded byMichael Trend
Majority20,079 (37.3%)
Personal details
Born (1965-08-04) 4 August 1965
Wimbledon, London, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materWye College
ProfessionBusinessman
WebsiteOfficial website
Profile

Adam Mensah Osei Afriyie (born 4 August 1965)[1] is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Windsor since 2005. He is a member of the Conservative Party.[2][3]

Early life

The son of a Ghanaian father and England based mother, Afriyie was born in Wimbledon, London, and grew up on a council estate in Peckham, attending the local Oliver Goldsmith Primary School.[4] He was educated at Addey and Stanhope School in New Cross, and earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Wye College in 1987.[5][1]

Afriyie has seven half-siblings and one brother. He said of his upbringing: "I never knew my father until I was much older and my mother, Gwen, brought us up alone. She was my rock, the gel at the centre of my life, although her tumultuous relationships with different men made for a constant state of flux at the boundaries of our family."[4]

Business career

Afriyie was chairman of Connect Support Services, an IT support company he set up in 1993. The company went into liquidation in 2017 and was sold by administrators. The company owed £1.8 million in taxes to HMRC.[6] He owned two thirds of DeHavilland, a political monitoring company, which was sold to publishers Emap in 2005 for £18 million.[7] He was also a regional finalist in the 2003 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.[8]

He was a governor of the Museum of London, appointed by Tony Blair,[8] a trustee of the Museum in Docklands (part of the Museum of London)[9] and, from 2003 to 2005, a director of Policy Exchange, a centre right think tank.[8]

Afriyie was a stakeholder of Axonn Media (originally called Adfero, an asset remaining from the sale of DeHavilland[6]), a content marketing business which produces content for clients. The company incorporated brands such as Content Plus, NewsReach, DirectNews and ReelContent. Axonn turned over £9.4m in 2011, and made a pre tax profit of £1.3m. Afriyie was the largest shareholder of the firm, and he and his fellow directors split dividends of £2.2m in 2010 and 2011.[7] The company went into liquidation in 2019, owing HMRC taxes of £492,000. Axonn was sold for £39,000, its annual turnover having fallen by over £7 million since 2013.[6]

Afriyie became board chairman of Elite Growth, a medical cannabis firm, in 2021.[10]

Following a 2021 court petition from HMRC, Afriyie was declared bankrupt in December 2022, owing around £1 million in taxes and £700,000 to Barclays bank.[11][6]

Political career

Afriyie at a Policy Exchange meeting, October 2013

A member of the Conservative Party since 1990,[12] Afriyie in 1999 worked for Jeffrey Archer on his unsuccessful campaign to be the first directly elected Mayor of London.[7]

Afriyie was selected as parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Windsor in October 2003. He was first elected at the 2005 general election, with an increased share of the vote (49.5%) and a swing to the Conservatives of 1.2%.

He is the Conservative Party's first black MP, although he said in an interview with the Evening Standard that he considers himself not as black but "post-racial".[4] He made his maiden speech on 23 May 2005.[13] In the election of 2010, Afriyie was re elected, with an increased share of the vote (60.8%) and a swing to the Conservatives of 11.4%.

In Parliament, he was a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee from 2005, until its abolition in July 2007, and has since been a member of the Children, Schools and Families select committee. Since 2010, he has been the President of the Conservative Technology Forum. He was the chair of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology between 2010 and 2017.[14]

Afriyie voted against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, citing his fear for religious freedom, and also that he thought that straight civil partnerships should be allowed, but the Bill did not include this.[15]

In November 2013, Afriyie proposed an amendment to the European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013–14, to force an early vote for an early referendum on membership of the European Union, against the express wishes of his party.[16] He continued to advocate an early referendum after his rebel amendment was easily defeated in the House of Commons with just 6% of the vote, citing public support for such a move.[17][18]

In December 2014, Afriyie with six other Conservative MPs voted against the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill, which would require all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.[19] He was mooted as a possible candidate for a challenge to David Cameron for leadership of the Conservative Party, but there was little support within the party for a leadership challenge or Afriyie as a potential candidate.[16][20]

Afriyie supported Leave in the 2016 referendum, saying that "Brexit would make the UK 'safer as a nation' and 'economically more prosperous'."[21] He continued to advocate on behalf of Brexit in Parliament in subsequent years.[22]

He is a steering committee member of the COVID Recovery Group, a group of Conservative MPs who opposed the UK government's December 2020 lockdown.[23] According to The Telegraph's Christopher Hope the anti-lockdown group would be seen in Westminster as an "echo" of the Brexiteer European Research Group (ERG) of MPs, and a response by backbench Conservatives to Nigel Farage's anti-lockdown Reform UK party.[23]

In November 2021, HMRC filed a petition for bankruptcy against Afriyie. In the past a declaration of bankruptcy would have led to his disqualification as an MP,[24] but that now only happens if a Bankruptcy Restriction Order, imposed in cases of malfeasance or culpability, is issued.[25][24] During May 2022 the Insolvency and Companies Court adjourned the petition for three months to give him time to realise funds.[26] He was declared bankrupt in December 2022, owing around £1 million in taxes to HMRC and £700,000 to Barclays bank.[11]

In May 2022, the House of Commons standards body reprimanded Afriyie for failing to register his role as board chairman of Elite Growth, a cannabis distribution company. Afriyie had tried to get the Commons registry staff to retrospectively alter the records to make it to appear as if he had registered his role at the firm. Three years before, in 2019, the Commons standards commissioner reprimanded the MP for failing to declare income from letting his Windsor house through Airbnb for £2,000 a night.[27]

In July 2022, Afriyie announced he will not seek re-election at the next general election.[28]

Personal life

In May 2004, Adam and Romi Afriyie won a libel case against The Mail on Sunday over a published article, "What IDS's Mr Perfect didn't tell Tory bosses".[29] The article was called a "hatchet job" by Darcus Howe in the New Statesman.[30] In August 2005 he married his second and current wife Tracy-Jane (née Newell),[31] a barrister and former wife of Kit Malthouse, then deputy leader of Westminster City Council.[32]

In February 2013, Afriyie's wealth was estimated at £13 million to £100 million.[7][33] As of 2013, Afriyie owned a large house in Westminster, as well as "The Priory" in Old Windsor.[7][34]

In November 2021, HMRC submitted a petition to the high court to have Afriyie declared bankrupt for unpaid taxes. The MP intended to defend himself in court over the petition.[6] On 13 December 2022, Afriyie was declared bankrupt at the High Court of Justice: he owed around £1 million in taxes to HMRC and £700,000 to Barclays bank.[11][35]

References

  1. 1 2 "Afriyie, Adam, (born 4 Aug. 1965), MP (C) Windsor, since 2005". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u45711. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Adam Afriyie MP, Windsor". They Work for You. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  3. ↑ "Adam Afriyie MP". BBC. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 David Cohen (8 February 2010). "Adam Afriyie: From Peckham council house to shadow minister". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "Adam Afriyie, MP". Operation Black Vote. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Adam Afriyie: rising Tory star's business past comes under scrutiny". The Guardian. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Booth, Robert (31 January 2013). "Adam Afriyie profile: before any plot, there was always a word farm". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 "INSIGHT PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Adam Afriyie MP, Shadow Minister of State for Innovation and Science". www.prweek.com. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  9. ↑ Inspiring London: Museum of London Annual Report 2004/05 (PDF) (Report). Museum of London. 2005. p. 58. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  10. ↑ Cotton, Barney (22 October 2021). "Conservative MP Adam Afriyie MP joins leading healthcare firm Elite Growth as Board Chairman - Business Leader News". Business Leader. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 "Conservative MP Adam Afriyie declared bankrupt". BBC News. 13 December 2022. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "Adam Afriyie, Member of Parliament for Windsor". Conservative Party. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014.
  13. ↑ "Commons Debates - previous sessions". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 1 April 1996. col. 461–465. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 23 May 2005 (Pt 18)". Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ↑ "POST Board". Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "Tory MP Adam Afriyie: I voted against the same-sex marriage bill because it does not represent true equality". Pink News. 7 February 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  16. 1 2 Afriyie, Adam. "The Man who would be king". The Economist. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  17. ↑ Mason, Rowena (22 November 2013). "MPs reject early EU referendum". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  18. ↑ Afriyie, Adam (22 November 2013). "My amendment was defeated, but a 2014 referendum would still have been the best approach". Conservative Home. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Equal Pay: Seven male Tory MPs vote against bill to make big companies reveal gender pay gap". The Independent. 16 December 2014. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  20. ↑ Watt, Nicholas (31 January 2013). "Adam Afriyie, super-rich backbencher, startles MPs with 'PM-in-waiting' bid". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  21. ↑ Pro-Leave MP makes case for UK exit from EU | CNN, 20 May 2016, retrieved 23 June 2023
  22. ↑ Langford, Eleanor (9 April 2023). "'Not the stellar force it used to be': How the pro-Brexit Tory MPs of the ERG lost their mojo". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  23. 1 2 Hope, Christopher (10 November 2020). "Tory lockdown rebels unite to form Covid Recovery Group". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  24. 1 2 Stewart, Heather; Mason, Rowena (8 November 2021). "Tory MP faces bankruptcy over unpaid taxes". Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  25. ↑ "Enterprise Act 2002". Act No. c. 40 Part 10 Section 266 of 2002. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) "Enterprise Act 2002". Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  26. ↑ "Tory MP facing bankruptcy proceedings given time to raise money". Royal Borough Observer. 3 May 2022. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  27. ↑ Greenwood, George; Midolo, Emanuele (5 May 2022). "Adam Afriyie 'too slow' to declare job with cannabis firm". The Times. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  28. ↑ "Windsor MP Adam Afriyie to stand down at next general election". BBC News. 22 July 2022. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  29. ↑ "Adam and Romi Afriyie win libel claim against Mail on Sunday". Carter Ruck. 7 May 2004. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  30. ↑ "Darcus Howe is proved absolutely right on black Tories". New Statesman. 20 October 2003. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  31. ↑ "Adam Afriyie MP". Parliamentary Record. Archived from the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  32. ↑ "ConservativeHome Saturday 20 August 2005". Conservative Home. 20 August 2005. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  33. ↑ Roberts, Scott (7 February 2013). "Tory MP Adam Afriyie: I voted against the same-sex marriage bill because it does not represent true equality". Pink News. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013.
  34. ↑ "The Priory, Old Windsor, Berkshire". Berkshire History. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  35. ↑ "Individual Insolvency Register - Home". Insolvency Direct. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
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