Chris Grayling MP
Member of Parliament for Epsom and Ewell
About Chris
Chris has been MP for Epsom and Ewell since the 2001 General Election and has become an active local MP, involved in several important campaigns including the battle to secure the future of Epsom Hospital. He is also Chairman of Epsom and District Victim Support, President of the Ewell and Stoneleigh Chamber of Trade and a member of Epsom Rotary. He lives in the constituency with his wife Sue and their two children.
Chris has been a member of the Shadow Cabinet since the General Election in May 2005, serving as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons under Michael Howard, and then Shadow Secretary of State for Transport under David Cameron. Since July 2007, he has been Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. In the last Parliament, he served as Shadow Higher and Further Education Minister and was also Conservative spokesman on Nutrition, Obesity and Complimentary Healthcare. Prior to that he spent a brief period in the Opposition Whip's Office. For his first eighteen months at Westminster, he was also a member of the influential Transport Select Committee.
Born in 1962, Chris grew up in Buckinghamshire. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe before going to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, to read history. After university, he joined the BBC's News Training Scheme, and worked as a producer on BBC News and Channel Four's programme Business Daily.
After a few years in television production, he decided to move to the business side of the media industry, and ran a number of small and medium-sized production businesses before moving to become a director in the Employee Communication practice at international communications firm Burson Marsteller. He ended his time there as the firm's European Marketing Director.
Chris has written several books, including a history of the Bridgwater Canal, Anglo-American relations, and life in England after the First World War. For relaxation, he enjoys antiques, travel, and watching cricket when he has the chance.
Chris first became active in local politics when living in Wimbledon, South London, and became both an officer in the Wimbledon Conservative Association and a Conservative councillor on the London Borough of Merton. He fought the marginal seat of Warrington South in the 1997 general election
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