24 Facts About Mark Harper

Mark Harper was a chartered accountant before his election to Parliament.

Mark Harper resigned as Immigration Minister in February 2014, but quickly returned to government as Minister of State for Disabled People in the July 2014 reshuffle.

Mark Harper was promoted to Cameron's cabinet as Chief Whip of the House of Commons following the 2015 general election; he served in the role for a year before being sacked by incoming Prime Minister Theresa May in 2016.

Mark Harper was a candidate for leader of the Conservative Party in the 2019 leadership contest, finishing ninth out of 10 candidates with 10 votes.

Mark Harper was born and raised in Swindon, Wiltshire, where he had a working-class upbringing: his father was a manual worker and his mother was employed by a book club.

Mark Harper was educated at Headlands Comprehensive School and Swindon College.

Mark Harper read philosophy, politics and economics at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he studied under Professor Vernon Bogdanor.

Mark Harper has sat on the Commons Administration Committee and briefly on the Work and Pensions Committee.

The scandal over MPs' expenses showed Mark Harper to be a frugal parliamentarian: his only significant expenses claim was for a brief period of temporary accommodation occupied on a short-term basis soon after being elected in 2005.

Mark Harper worked with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 that changed the voting system for electing MPs.

Mark Harper worked on the House of Lords Reform Bill, which set out to introduce a smaller second chamber consisting mostly of elected peers.

In October 2013, Mark Harper told MPs: "The advertising vans in particular were too much of a blunt instrument and will not be used again".

Mark Harper resigned as immigration minister on 8 February 2014, after he discovered that his self-employed cleaner did not have permission to work in the UK.

The ministerial reshuffle in July 2014 saw Mark Harper restored to office in the role of Minister of State for Disabled People at the Department for Work and Pensions.

In December 2014, Mark Harper attracted negative media attention after Steve Parry-Hearn, a prospective Labour parliamentary candidate, accused him of hypocrisy when he called for businesses to improve disabled access, even though his own high street constituency office was inaccessible to wheelchair users.

In January 2015, Mark Harper appeared before the Work and Pensions Select Committee to face questions over the problems with PIP.

Mark Harper was promoted to Chief Whip after the Conservative general election victory in May 2015.

Mark Harper said that Johnson was "no longer worthy" of remaining Prime Minister.

In June 2022, Mark Harper was re-selected as the Conservative candidate for Forest of Dean at the 2024 general election.

Mark Harper's appointment came amid a period of significant industrial action held by railway staff.

Mark Harper refused to negotiate with the unions, which led to a years-long standoff and rolling strikes.

In July 2023 the closure of almost all ticket offices at railway stations, making hundreds of staff redundant, was proposed after Mark Harper instructed train operators to cut costs.

In October 2023, Mark Harper spoke out against the governing Conservative Party's transportation policies, particularly anti-pollution charges on cars and low speed limits.

At the 2024 general election, the railway unions campaigned specifically against Mark Harper, aiming to dislodge him in favour of the Labour candidate Matt Bishop.