Greg Hands
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Gregory William "Greg" Hands (born 1965) British politician. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Hammersmith and Fulham.
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[edit] Early life & career
Greg Hands was born in New York City, United States of America and was educated widely before leaving Dr Challoner's Grammar School, Amersham in 1984 to attend Robinson College, Cambridge where he was awarded a first in modern history in 1989, he also served as the chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association.
He worked in banking in the City of London until 1997.
[edit] Early Political Career
He joined the Conservative Party whilst a student in Cambridge and was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in 1998, he became the leader of the Conservative group in 1999 and remained in that capacity until 2004. He stood down as councillor for the Town Ward in Fulham at the council election in 2006.
He has been a prison visitor at Wormwood Scrubs since 2002 and is a member of the Conservative Way Forward Executive. During his gap year he worked in a swimming pool in Berlin. He speaks German, French, Czech and Slovak. He and his wife Irina live in Fulham and he supports Fulham F.C.
[edit] Parliamentary Career
He was elected to the House of Commons at the 2005 General Election when he gained Hammersmith and Fulham from Labour with a majority of 5,029 votes. The sitting Labour MP, Iain Coleman retired due to ill health, and was replaced as the Labour candidate by Melanie Smallman. Hands made his maiden speech on May 26, 2005, in which he told of the fact that the BBC was the largest employer in his constituency and that Hammersmith Broadway was the busiest road interchange in Europe.[1] He is the treasurer of the all party Russia group.
The Labour Party has accused Greg Hands' campaign to save Charing Cross hospital from closure to be untrue and says that the campaign was used for election purposes to frighten vulnerable people. Health Minister, Jane Kennedy, has said, “Charing Cross will not close and Government are looking at ways to improve the local NHS for our community.” However local medical staff have confirmed Charing Cross is slowly closing down services and will greatly reduce the services it provides for residents.
Greg Hands recently was one of four MPs who rebelled against the Conservative Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill. He also recently held a Westminster Hall debate on the governments Home Improvement Packs which there is large opposition to.
