Sam Gyimah

Samuel Phillip Gyimah (born 10 August 1976)^[1] is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Surrey at the 2010 general election.^[2]

In July 2014, after serving as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (September 2012) and a Government Whip (October 2013), Gyimah was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Childcare and Education^[3] and Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for the Constitution).^[4]

Early life

Gyimah was born in Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, in southern England. He was educated at Achimota School in Ghana and later Freman College,^[5] a state school in Hertfordshire, followed by Somerville College at the University of Oxford, where he read Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and where he was elected President of the Oxford Union.^[1]

Life and career

On graduation, Gyimah joined Goldman Sachs as an investment banker, leaving the company in 2003 to set up his own businesses in the recruitment and internet sectors.^[1] In 2005, he was awarded the Real Business/CBI Entrepreneur of the Future award.^[6]

Parliamentary career

In September 2005 Gyimah edited a report by the Bow Group, a Conservative think tank, entitled From the Ashes: the future of the Conservative Party.^[7] He was subsequently elected chairman of the Bow Group from 2006 to 2007.^[1][8] Gyimah stood unsuccessfully for election in Kilburn ward in the Camden Council election, 2006.^[9]

In December 2009, Gyimah placed third in the Gosport primary election to succeed Peter Viggers, losing to Caroline Dinenage.

Elected as the MP for East Surrey at the 2010 general election,^[2] Gyimah made his maiden speech on 29 July 2010.^[10] Gyimah has previously been a member of the International Development Select Committee, having stated an interest in harnessing the private sector towards achieving international development goals.^[11] Gyimah has also been active in debates on education and employment, as well as a number of local campaigns to protect the greenbelt in Surrey.^[11]

In 2011 Gyimah produced a report with think-tank NESTA, Beyond the Banks, in support of non-bank alternatives for businesses seeking finance. He was the first MP to call for credit easing as a means of accelerating Britain's economic recovery.^[12]

Gyimah was appointed as a Government Whip in October 2013, having previously been Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Prime Minister since the 2012 reshuffle.^[13]

Personal life

Gyimah has been a volunteer and fundraiser for Crisis, the Down's Syndrome Association and St. Catherine's Hospice in Surrey. He has served as school governor of an inner London school, on the board of a housing association and on the development board of Somerville College. He is a Vice-President of the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy (NCYPE) in Lingfield.^[1] Gyimah is married to Dr Nicky Black, a New Zealander with whom he has one son.^[14]

References

External links

• Sam Gyimah MP official constituency website
• Sam Gyimah on Twitter
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live