Chris Heaton-Harris was re-elected as the Conservative MP for Daventry in 2010, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 26,080.
The Daventry constituency is located on the western side of Northamptonshire, to the north of Northampton itself, and includes the towns of Daventry, Earls Barton, and Brixworth. This area of England has voted Conservative ever since the Second World War, doing so comfortably even in the Labour landslide year of 1997. Some 59% of the electorate here backed Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.
Heaton-Harris was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in September 2022.
A Boris Johnson loyality, he served as government chief whip in the last months of the Johnson government, doing so between February and September 2022.
He previously served as Minister of State for Europe in 2019, and as the Minister of State for Transport between 2019 and 2021. He also served as the Under Secretary of State at the Department for Leaving the European Union between 2018 and 2019; and served in the government whips office between 2016 and 2019.
Born in 1967, Heaton-Harris joined his family wholesale fruit and vegetable company based in New Covent Garden Market after leaving school. He later ran the business.
Heaton-Harris then served as the Conservative MEP for the East Midlands Region of the UK from June 1999 – June 2009. He held various positions in the European Parliament including that of Chief Whip of the British Conservatives from 2001-2004. When in Brussels, he was chairman of the EU Sports Platform, which provided a voice for sports governing bodies and individual teams in Brussels.
A strong euro sceptic who supported Leave in the 2016 EU Referendum, Heaton-Harris was formerly Chairman of the European Research Group of Conservative MPs. On the right of the Conservative Party he supports smaller government.
He backed Andrea Leadsom and then Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative Party Leadership election. He supports localism, and has previously authored a publication on ‘Direct Democracy’.
Heaton-Harris is married with two children. He is a qualified football referee.
Email: chris.heatonharris.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.heatonharris.org.uk
Twitter: @chhcalling
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/chhcalling
