| Bim Afolami | |
| Office1: | Member of Parliament for Hitchin and Harpenden |
| Term Start1: | 8 June 2017 |
| Term End1: | 30 May 2024[1] |
| Predecessor1: | Peter Lilley |
| Successor1: | Constituency abolished |
| Birth Name: | Abimbola Afolami |
| Birth Place: | Crowthorne, Berkshire, England |
| Spouse: | Henrietta (née Jackson-Stops)[2] |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Children: | 3 |
| Education: | Eton College |
| Alma Mater: | University College, Oxford (BA) |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Profession: | Solicitor, Banker |
| Office: | Economic Secretary to the Treasury |
| Primeminister: | Rishi Sunak |
| Predecessor: | Andrew Griffith |
| Successor: | Tulip Siddiq |
| Term Start: | 13 November 2023 |
| Term End: | 5 July 2024 |
Abimbola "Bim" Afolami (; born 11 February 1986) is a British Conservative Party politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hitchin and Harpenden in Hertfordshire from the 2017 general election until 2024. He was the Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2023 to 2024.[3]
Afolami was born and brought up in Crowthorne, Berkshire. His father Samuel[4] is a Nigerian consultant doctor in the NHS, who moved to the UK in his early twenties.
Afolami was educated at Bishopsgate School, a prep school in Egham, Surrey, and at Eton College, an all-boys independent boarding school in Berkshire. He was Berkshire county champion several times in both the 400m and triple jump as a schoolboy, and also competed at national level. He reached the final of the national English schools athletics championships finals in 2002 in the triple jump.[5] He attended University College, Oxford, where he read modern history. While at Oxford, he was librarian of the Oxford Union Society and played football for the university team.[6] [7]
He previously was a supporter of the Labour Party.[8]
Before he became an MP, Afolami worked as a corporate lawyer at Freshfields,[9] Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and then as a senior executive at HSBC.[10] [11]
Afolami was the Conservative Party candidate for Lewisham Deptford at the 2015 general election, where he finished in second place with 7,056 votes. Afolami voted "Remain" in the 2016 referendum on EU membership.[12] He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Hitchin and Harpenden constituency in 2017 following the announcement that the sitting Conservative MP, Peter Lilley, was to stand down.[13] Afolami has described Winston Churchill as his "biggest hero".[14]
In 2018, Afolami was named one of the Franco-British Council's Young Leaders.[15] In January that year, it was reported that Afolami had claimed £2,000 in expenses for subscription to the European Research Group.[16] In April, Afolami was a member of the delegation to Beijing for the tenth Anniversary Leadership Forum, led by David Lidington. The Forum, entitled "Partners for Progress: Strengthening the UK-China relationship in the Golden Era", aimed to discuss practical cooperation between the UK and China.[17]
It was announced in May 2018 that Afolami would be one of 14 members of the Conservative Reform Group, a group of centrist Conservative MPs.[18] At the end of 2018, Afolami joined the Steering Committee of the Constitution Reform Group,[19] a cross-party pressure group chaired by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, which supports the Act of Union Bill 2018,[20] a private member's bill introduced by Lord Lisvane in the House of Lords on 9 October 2018.
In September 2018, Afolami was appointed parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Transport.[21] In December, Afolami announced his support for Theresa May's Brexit deal.[22] In February 2019, Afolami was appointed PPS to the Secretary of State for International Development,[23] followed by his appointment as PPS to the Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss. He was subsequently appointed as PPS to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Thérèse Coffey. In April 2021, a private member's bill introduced by Afolami, the British Library Board (Power to Borrow) Act 2021, gained royal assent.[24]
Afolami was appointed in September 2021 as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss.[25] [26] In November 2021 he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Nadine Dorries, and served in this role until his appointment as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Youth in February 2022.[27]
Afolami served as Chair of PRASEG, the all-party parliamentary group on Renewable and Sustainable energy, until November 2023, when he resigned on being appointed as Economic Secretary to the treasury.[28] Afolami was also the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Credit Unions[29] and a Commissioner for the Financial Inclusion Commission,[30] a financial inclusion campaign group.
He is active in supporting charities and other voluntary groups. He is patron of Harpenden Spotlight on Africa[31] a charity working in health and education in rural Uganda. He is also patron of GRIT (Growing Resilience in Teens)[32] and Tilehouse Counselling,[33] two mental health charities in his constituency. Afolami also sits on the advisory board of the Social Market Foundation[34] and on the Programme Committee of the Ditchley Foundation.[35]
On 5 July 2022, whilst being interviewed live on television, Afolami resigned from his role as Vice Chair of the Conservative Party, owing to recent scandals in government under Boris Johnson.[36]
In March 2023, Afolami announced that he would be contesting the new Hitchin constituency at the 2024 general election, following the 2023 review of constituency boundaries.[37]
In May 2023, Afolami was asked to repay two £80 driving fines dating from December 2021, which he had claimed on his parliamentary expenses.[38]
Afolami contested the changed Hitchin constituency at the 2024 general election, but lost the seat to Alistair Strathern of the Labour Party.[39]
In November 2023, Afolami was appointed as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister – the mid level ministerial role responsible for financial services. He is the youngest person ever appointed to the latter role. His appointment was widely welcomed by leading City figures due to his experience in the financial services industry both before entering parliament and whilst on the backbenches.[40]