Sir Simon Hugh McGuigan Burns was born on 6 September 1952 and is a British politician, who served as Member of Parliament for Chelmsford since being elected at the 1987 general election until the 2017 general election.
16 Facts About Simon Burns
2.
Simon Burns announced in January 2016 that he would not be standing at the next general election, reaffirmed when the 2017 general election was declared.
3.
From 1975 to 1980, Simon Burns was political adviser to Rt Hon Sally Oppenheim.
4.
Simon Burns has been active in domestic politics since 1970, when he was a founder member of the Rutland and Stamford Young Conservatives, having been founding chairman of Stamford School CPC.
5.
Simon Burns was sworn of the Privy Council in February 2011.
6.
Simon Burns was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.
7.
In 2013 Simon Burns voted against the Marriage Bill.
8.
At the 2005 general election, Simon Burns gained 22,946 votes and a majority of 9,620.
9.
At the 2010 general election, Simon Burns gained 25,207 votes, winning a majority over the Liberal Democrat candidate by 5,110.
10.
At the 2015 general election, Simon Burns gained 27,732 votes, winning the seat with a majority over Chris Vince, the Labour candidate, of 18,250.
11.
In 2007, Simon Burns persuaded the House of Commons Administration Committee, then being a member, that parliamentarians should have "priority access" to services within the Parliamentary Estate.
12.
The so-called "queue jumping rule" provoked cross-party opposition from Commons staff and other MPs but Simon Burns trenchantly defended the proposal.
13.
On 3 April 2008, Simon Burns was involved in a collision with a cyclist as he drove his 4x4 out of the Palace of Westminster gates into Parliament Square.
14.
In November 2011, Simon Burns compared members of the campaigning group 38 Degrees to zombies, which led to an open letter of complaint to Simon Burns with over 85,000 signatures.
15.
Simon Burns claimed this was because he was not allowed to read sensitive papers on the train, but his claim was immediately contradicted by the Cabinet Office, although it was conceded that reading Red box matters in such an environment was not advisable.
16.
Simon Burns was married to Emma Clifford from 1982 until their divorce in 2000; they have two children.