James Heappey was first elected as Conservative MP for Wells in 2015, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 9,991.
The constituency of Wells is found in the north of Somerset and includes the cathedral city of Wells, and the coastal town of Burnham on Sea. Glastonbury home to its famous Tor and annual music festival, and the Cheddar Gorge are both found within this seat. It has a history of being a tightly fought Liberal Democrat and Conservative marginal, and was gained back by the Conservatives from the Lib Dems in 2015.
- Heappey was appointed Minister of State for Defence (Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans) by Liz Truss in September 2022. He attends cabinet.
- Heappey served as the Minister for Defence Procurement between 2019 and 2022 He has been particualrly active on radio and TV during the war in Ukraine.
Heappey supported Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election and served as his Parliamentary Private Secretary in late 2019. He has said he wants Boris Johnson to lead the conservatives into the next general election.
Born in 1981, Heappey was educated at Birmingham University before joining the army. Having trained at Sandhurst, Heappey had a ten year career in the Riffles, the successor to the Somerset Light Infantry. He reached the rank of Major and served on operations in Kabul in 2005, Northern Ireland in 2006, Basra in 2007 and Sangin in Helmand Province in 2009, as well as working in the Ministry of Defence in London.
Heappey is married with two children. He enjoys rugby, and golf and used to compete in swimming and rowing.
Email: james.heappey.mp@parliament.uk
Party: Conservative
Personal Website: http://www.jamesheappey.org.uk/
Westminster Address: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Westminster Tel: 020 7219 4289
Twitter: twitter.com/JSHeappey
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jheappey?fref=ts
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/james-heappey/48/b2a/896
