Simon Kirby

For the British computational linguist, see Simon M. Kirby.

Simon Kirby MP
File:Simon Kirby MP.jpg
Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Des Turner
Majority	690 (1.5%)
Personal details
Born	(1964-12-22) December 22, 1964 Hastings, Sussex, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Kirby
Children	6
Alma mater	Open University London School of Economics
Website	www.simonkirby.org

Simon Gerard Kirby (born East Sussex, 22 December 1964), also known as Simon Radford-Kirby, is an English entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Kemptown since 2010.

Early Life and Career

Kirby was born in Hastings, Sussex in 1964. He attended Chantry Infants School, Sandown Primary School and Hastings Grammar School. He has a BSc(Hons) degree in Mathematical Modelling from the Open University and studied Operational Research at the London School of Economics.

Kirby established a number of successful businesses in a variety of industries in the Brighton area, including playing a part in establishing Surf 107, Brighton's independent radio station (later renamed Juice 107.2). He worked with Martin Webb to found the Webb Kirby (later C-Side) pub, restaurant and nightclub chain in the city. He has been a school governor at a number of schools.

Political career

Kirby was elected as a councillor in 1992 on Brighton and Hove City Council, later also serving on Mid Sussex District Council and East Sussex County Council, where he was cabinet member with responsibility for Economic Development. He stood down as a councillor in 2009 to concentrate on winning the parliamentary seat of Brighton Kemptown.

He was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Brighton, Kemptown in the May 2010 general election, with a majority of 1,328, gaining the seat from Labour.

He was listed as one of twenty Conservative MPs with "true grit" by the ConservativeHome website and has been recognised for his work on LGBT and animal welfare issues as well as taking a close interest in issues affecting the elderly. He has also recently received an award for being a local champion on his Twitter page, and was declared the most responsive MP in Sussex.

Following his election to Parliament, Mr Kirby became Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV/AIDS and served on the Business, Innovation and Skills and Administration Select Committees. Since becoming a Member of Parliament he has also become a patron of the Sussex Beacon, the Sussex ME society.

In 2012 he was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister for Sport and Tourism. In October 2013 he was promoted to PSS to the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In August 2014 Mr Kirby was promoted to the role of PPS to the Secretary of State for Health, the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP.

He retained his marginal seat in the May 2015 general election with a reduced majority of 690 votes, increasing his share of the vote by 2.7%.

Personal life

Simon is married to Elizabeth and has six children. He supports Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club and is an honorary Vice President of Whitehawk Football Club in his constituency.

External links

• Simon Kirby MP official constituency website
• Simon Kirby MP Conservative Party profile
• Kemptown Conservatives
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• Survey replies of political views at The Guardian

News articles

• The Argus election candidate information
• Kemptown Conservatives' announcement of his selection
• Notice of election to East Sussex County Council

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Des Turner	Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown 2010–present	Incumbent