James Gray was elected as the Conservative MP for North Wiltshire in 1997, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 17,626.
The rural constituency of North Wiltshire covers the north western corner of Wiltshire to the west of Swindon, and includes the towns of Royal Wootton Basset, Crickdale, Malmesbury and Calne. This constituency had some tightly fought battles between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in the early Twenty First Century.
In 2001, the BBC’s now Health correspondent, Hugh Pym, came within 3,878 votes of gaining it for the Liberal Democrats. An affluent part of England in which three quarters of residents own their own homes, this has become a far safer Conservative seat since 2010.
James Gray was born in 1954 and was educated at Glasgow University and Oxford University.
Before becoming an MP, Gray worked for the shipping firm P&O as a ship broker at the Baltic Exchange. He is a Freeman of the City of London.
Having served as a Special Advisor to the Conservative Environment Secretaries Michael Howard and John Gummer in the 1980s, he also worked in lobbying for the public affairs consultancy, Westminster Strategy.
Gray previously served in the Territorial Army for seven years.
Gray briefly served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland in 2005, but resigned after making comments questioning the need for the Scottish Parliament. Positioned on the right of the Conservative Party, he supported Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum, and has opposed LGBT relationship education in schools.
James Gray is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Armed Forces. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Polo; Armenia.
He is married and according to the Register of Members Interests, employs his wife as a Diary Secretary and Executive Assistant.
Gray has written a number of books including Poles Apart (2014), Who Takes Britain to War? (2016), and most recently ‘Full English Brexit’ (2018).
Email: jamesgraymp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.jamesgray.org/
Twitter: @jamesgraymp
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jamesgraymp
