Adam Afriyie Explained

Adam Afriyie
Office2:Chairman of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
Term Start2:16 November 2010
Term End2:3 May 2017
Primeminister2:David Cameron
Theresa May
Office3:Shadow Minister for Science and Innovation
Term Start3:3 July 2007
Term End3:6 May 2010
Leader3:David Cameron
Office4:Member of Parliament
for Windsor
Term Start4:5 May 2005
Term End4:30 May 2024
Predecessor4:Michael Trend
Successor4:Jack Rankin
Birth Date:1965 8, df=yes
Birth Place:Wimbledon, London, England
Party:Conservative
Alma Mater:Wye College
Profession:Businessman
Website:
Profile

Adam Mensah Osei Afriyie (born 4 August 1965)[1] is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Windsor from 2005 to 2024. He is a member of the Conservative Party.[2] [3]

Early life and education

Adam Afriyie was born on 4 August 1965 in Wimbledon, London, the son of a Ghanaian father and English mother. He grew up on a council estate in Peckham, attending the local Oliver Goldsmith Primary School. He was educated at Addey and Stanhope School in New Cross, before earning a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Wye College in 1987.[4]

Afriyie has seven half-siblings and one brother. He said of his upbringing: "I never knew my father until I was much older and my mother, Gwen, brought us up alone. She was my rock, the gel at the centre of my life, although her tumultuous relationships with different men made for a constant state of flux at the boundaries of our family."

Business career

Afriyie was chairman of Connect Support Services, an IT support company he set up in 1993. The company went into liquidation in 2017 and was sold by administrators. The company owed £1.8 million in taxes to HMRC. He owned two thirds of DeHavilland, a political monitoring company, which was sold to publishers Emap in 2005 for £18 million. He was also a regional finalist in the 2003 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

A member of the Conservative Party since 1990,[5] Afriyie in 1999 worked for Jeffrey Archer on his unsuccessful campaign to be the first directly elected Mayor of London.

He was a governor of the Museum of London, appointed by Tony Blair,[6] a trustee of the Museum in Docklands (part of the Museum of London)[7] and, from 2003 to 2005, a director of Policy Exchange, a centre right think tank.[6]

Afriyie was a stakeholder of Axonn Media (originally called Adfero, an asset remaining from the sale of DeHavilland), a content marketing business which produces content for clients. The company incorporated brands such as Content Plus, NewsReach, DirectNews and ReelContent. Axonn turned over £9.4m in 2011, and made a pre tax profit of £1.3m. Afriyie was the largest shareholder of the firm, and he and his fellow directors split dividends of £2.2m in 2010 and 2011. The company went into liquidation in 2019, owing HMRC taxes of £492,000. Axonn was sold for £39,000, its annual turnover having fallen by over £7 million since 2013.

Afriyie became board chairman of Elite Growth, a medical cannabis firm, in 2021.[8]

Parliamentary career

At the 2005 general election, Afriyie was elected to Parliament as MP for Windsor with 49.5% of the vote and a majority of 10,292.[9] [10]

He is the Conservative Party's first black MP, although he said in an interview with the Evening Standard that he considers himself not as black but "post-racial".[11] He made his maiden speech on 23 May 2005.[12]

In Parliament, he was a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee from 2005, until its abolition in July 2007, and has since been a member of the Children, Schools and Families select committee. Since 2010, he has been the President of the Conservative Technology Forum. He was the chair of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology between 2010 and 2017.[13]

Afriyie was re-elected as MP for Windsor at the 2010 general election with an increased vote share of 60.8% and an increased majority of 19,054.[14]

In February 2013, Afriyie voted against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, citing his fear for religious freedom, and also that he thought that straight civil partnerships should be allowed, but the Bill did not include this.[15]

In November 2013, Afriyie proposed an amendment to the European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013–14, to force an early vote for an early referendum on membership of the European Union, against the express wishes of his party.[16] He continued to advocate an early referendum after his rebel amendment was easily defeated in the House of Commons with just 6% of the vote, citing public support for such a move.[17] [18]

In December 2014, Afriyie with six other Conservative MPs voted against the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill, which would require all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.[19]

He was mooted in early 2015 as a possible candidate for a challenge to David Cameron for leadership of the Conservative Party, but there was little support within the party for a leadership challenge or Afriyie as a potential candidate.[20]

At the 2015 general election, Afriyie was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 63.4% and an increased majority of 25,083.[21]

Afriyie supported Leave in the 2016 referendum, saying that "Brexit would make the UK 'safer as a nation' and 'economically more prosperous'." He continued to advocate on behalf of Brexit in Parliament in subsequent years.[22]

At the snap 2017 general election, Afriyie was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 64.4% and a decreased majority of 22,384.[23] He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 58.6% and a decreased majority of 20,079.[24]

He is a steering committee member of the COVID Recovery Group, a group of Conservative MPs who opposed the UK government's December 2020 lockdown.[25] According to The Telegraphs Christopher Hope the anti-lockdown group would be seen in Westminster as an "echo" of the Brexiteer European Research Group (ERG) of MPs, and a response by backbench Conservatives to Nigel Farage's anti-lockdown Reform UK party.[25]

In November 2021, HMRC filed a petition for bankruptcy against Afriyie. In the past a declaration of bankruptcy would have led to his disqualification as an MP,[26] but that now only happens if a Bankruptcy Restriction Order, imposed in cases of malfeasance or culpability, is issued.[27] [26] During May 2022 the Insolvency and Companies Court adjourned the petition for three months to give him time to realise funds.[28] The MP intended to defend himself in court over the petition.[29] He was declared bankrupt in December 2022, owing around £1 million in taxes to HMRC and £700,000 to Barclays bank.[30]

In May 2022, the House of Commons standards body reprimanded Afriyie for failing to register his role as board chairman of Elite Growth, a cannabis distribution company. Afriyie had tried to get the Commons registry staff to retrospectively alter the records to make it to appear as if he had registered his role at the firm. Three years before, in 2019, the Commons standards commissioner reprimanded the MP for failing to declare income from letting his Windsor house through Airbnb for £2,000 a night.[31]

In July 2022, Afriyie announced he will not seek re-election at the 2024 general election.[32]

Personal life

In May 2004, Adam and Romi Afriyie won a libel case against The Mail on Sunday over a published article, "What IDS's Mr Perfect didn't tell Tory bosses".[33] The article was called a "hatchet job" by Darcus Howe in the New Statesman.[34] In August 2005 he married his second and current wife Tracy-Jane (née Newell),[35] a barrister and former wife of Kit Malthouse, then deputy leader of Westminster City Council.[36]

In February 2013, prior to his bankruptcy case in 2019, Afriyie's wealth was estimated at £13 million to £100 million.[37] [38], Afriyie owned a house in Westminster, as well as "The Priory" in Old Windsor.[37] [39]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Afriyie, Adam, (born 4 Aug. 1965), MP (C) Windsor, since 2005 . subscription . WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO . 2007 . 15 April 2021 . en . 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u45711 . 11 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230111043550/https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-45711;jsessionid=100D50E4E08F073183B68E489F26D35D . live .
  2. Web site: Adam Afriyie MP, Windsor . 14 May 2010 . They Work for You. 2022-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20221216163056/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/11929/adam_afriyie/windsor.
  3. Web site: Adam Afriyie MP. https://web.archive.org/web/20141019150514/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/35516.stm . 19 October 2014. BBC.
  4. Web site: Adam Afriyie, MP. 2022-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20221216163904/https://www.obv.org.uk/our-communities/black-politicians/adam-afriyie-mp. Operation Black Vote.
  5. Web site: Adam Afriyie, Member of Parliament for Windsor . https://web.archive.org/web/20140516183935/http://www.conservatives.com/OurTeam/Members_of_Parliament/Afriyie_Adam.aspx . 16 May 2014 . Conservative Party.
  6. News: INSIGHT PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Adam Afriyie MP, Shadow Minister of State for Innovation and Science . 13 January 2023 . www.prweek.com . 18 June 2009 . en.
  7. 2005 . Inspiring London: Museum of London Annual Report 2004/05 . Museum of London . 58 . 13 January 2023.
  8. News: Cotton . Barney . Conservative MP Adam Afriyie MP joins leading healthcare firm Elite Growth as Board Chairman - Business Leader News . 13 January 2023 . Business Leader . 22 October 2021.
  9. Web site: Election Data 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054249/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2005ob.txt . 15 October 2011 . 18 October 2015 . Electoral Calculus.
  10. Web site: 12 October 2022 . Politicsresources.net – Official Web Site ✔ .
  11. News: David Cohen . 8 February 2010 . Adam Afriyie: From Peckham council house to shadow minister. 2022-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20221216163556/https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/adam-afriyie-from-peckham-council-house-to-shadow-minister-6735252.html. London Evening Standard . 27 January 2013.
  12. House of Commons . Commons Debates - previous sessions . 1 April 1996 . 461 . 465 . Web site: House of Commons Hansard Debates for 23 May 2005 (Pt 18) . 29 August 2017 . 19 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170819061734/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo050523/debtext/50523-18.htm . bot: unknown .
  13. Web site: POST Board . 25 November 2014 . 13 November 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141113100654/http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/bicameral/post/about-post/post-board/ . live .
  14. Web site: Election Data 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130726162034/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2010.txt . 26 July 2013 . 17 October 2015 . Electoral Calculus.
  15. Web site: 7 February 2013 . Tory MP Adam Afriyie: I voted against the same-sex marriage bill because it does not represent true equality . 11 October 2013 . 2022-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20221216165825/https://www.thepinknews.com/2013/02/07/tory-mp-adam-afriyie-i-voted-against-the-same-sex-marriage-bill-because-it-does-not-represent-true-equality/. Pink News.
  16. News: Afriyie . Adam . The Man who would be king . 17 March 2015 . The Economist . 2 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402160444/http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2013/10/adam-afriyie . live .
  17. News: Mason . Rowena . MPs reject early EU referendum . 17 March 2015 . The Guardian . 22 November 2013 . 2 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402130748/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/22/mps-rejects-early-europe-referendum . live .
  18. Web site: Afriyie . Adam . My amendment was defeated, but a 2014 referendum would still have been the best approach . Conservative Home . 22 November 2013 . 17 March 2015 . 2 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402135651/http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2013/11/from-adamafriyie-my-amendment-was-defeated-but-a-2014-referendum-would-still-have-been-the-best-approach.html . live .
  19. News: Equal Pay: Seven male Tory MPs vote against bill to make big companies reveal gender pay gap . https://web.archive.org/web/20141216170023/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/equal-pay-seven-male-tory-mps-vote-against-bill-to-make-big-companies-reveal-gender-pay-gap-9928964.html . 16 December 2014 . limited . live. The Independent . 16 December 2014. 18 April 2015.
  20. News: Watt . Nicholas . Adam Afriyie, super-rich backbencher, startles MPs with 'PM-in-waiting' bid . 17 March 2015 . The Guardian . 31 January 2013 . 2 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402142527/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jan/31/adam-afriyie-pm-in-waiting . live .
  21. Web site: Election Data 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151017112223/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt . 17 October 2015 . 17 October 2015 . Electoral Calculus.
  22. Web site: Langford . Eleanor . 2023-04-09 . 'Not the stellar force it used to be': How the pro-Brexit Tory MPs of the ERG lost their mojo . 2023-06-23 . inews.co.uk . en.
  23. News: Windsor parliamentary constituency – Election 2017 . BBC.
  24. News: Windsor Parliamentary constituency . 26 November 2019 . BBC News.
  25. News: Hope . Christopher . Tory lockdown rebels unite to form Covid Recovery Group . The Telegraph . 10 November 2020 . 2 December 2020 . 6 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201206072835/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/10/headache-pm-dozens-conservative-mps-set-covid-recovery-group/ . live .
  26. Web site: Stewart . Heather . Mason . Rowena . Tory MP faces bankruptcy over unpaid taxes . 8 November 2021 . Guardian . 8 November 2021 . 8 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211108200614/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/08/tory-mp-faces-bankruptcy-over-unpaid-taxes-and-may-have-to-step-down-adam-afriyie . live .
  27. Enterprise Act 2002 . legislation.gov.uk . 2002 . c. 40 Part 10 Section 266 . Web site: Enterprise Act 2002 . 8 November 2021 . 9 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211109002337/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/40/section/266 . bot: unknown .
  28. Web site: 3 May 2022 . Tory MP facing bankruptcy proceedings given time to raise money . 9 May 2022 . Royal Borough Observer . en . 3 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220503143026/https://www.windsorobserver.co.uk/news/20111175.adam-afriyie-facing-bankruptcy-proceedings-given-time-raise-money/ . live .
  29. News: Adam Afriyie: rising Tory star's business past comes under scrutiny. The Guardian. 11 November 2021. 13 December 2022.
  30. News: Conservative MP Adam Afriyie declared bankrupt. BBC News. 13 December 2022. 2022-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20221216184639/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63958964 . 13 December 2022.
  31. News: Greenwood . George . Midolo . Emanuele . Adam Afriyie 'too slow' to declare job with cannabis firm . 13 January 2023 . The Times . 5 May 2022 . en.
  32. News: Windsor MP Adam Afriyie to stand down at next general election. BBC News. 22 July 2022. 7 December 2022. 7 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207184452/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-62263994. live.
  33. Web site: Adam and Romi Afriyie win libel claim against Mail on Sunday . Carter Ruck. 7 May 2004. 11 October 2013. 2022-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20221216185921/https://www.carter-ruck.com/news/adam-afriyie/ .
  34. Darcus Howe is proved absolutely right on black Tories. New Statesman. 20 October 2003 . 22 May 2017.
  35. Web site: Adam Afriyie MP . https://web.archive.org/web/20110122081311/http://www.parliamentaryrecord.com/content/profiles/mp/Adam-Afriyie/Windsor/2 . dead . 22 January 2011 . Parliamentary Record. 27 January 2013 .
  36. News: ConservativeHome Saturday 20 August 2005. Conservative Home. 20 August 2005. 27 January 2013. 20 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130620033515/http://conservativehome.blogs.com/frontpage/2005/08/saturday_20th_a.html. live.
  37. News: Adam Afriyie profile: before any plot, there was always a word farm. 2022-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20221216165301/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jan/31/adam-afriyie-profile-tory-plot-rumours. The Guardian. 1 February 2013. Robert. Booth. 31 January 2013.
  38. Web site: Scott. Roberts. Tory MP Adam Afriyie: I voted against the same-sex marriage bill because it does not represent true equality. https://web.archive.org/web/20130209064239/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/02/07/tory-mp-adam-afriyie-i-voted-against-the-same-sex-marriage-bill-because-it-does-not-represent-true-equality/ . 9 February 2013 . Pink News. 7 February 2013.
  39. Web site: The Priory, Old Windsor, Berkshire. https://web.archive.org/web/20120905014640/http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/priory_old_windsor.html . 5 September 2012. Berkshire History. 9 May 2015.

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