1. Simon Anthony Hart was born on 15 August 1963 and is a British Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire from 2010 to 2024.
22 Facts About Simon Hart
1. 2.
Simon Hart served as the Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from October 2022 to July 2024.
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Simon Hart previously served as Secretary of State for Wales in the Johnson government from 2019 to 2022.
4.
In December 2019, during the formation of the second Johnson ministry, Simon Hart was promoted to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Wales, succeeding Alun Cairns who had resigned from the position the previous month.
5.
Simon Hart stood for the new seat of Caerfyrddin in the 2024 general election, but lost.
6.
Simon Hart was born on 15 August 1963 in Wolverhampton and grew up in the Cotswolds.
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Simon Hart was privately educated at Radley College before attending the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.
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Simon Hart worked as a chartered surveyor in Carmarthen and Haverfordwest and served with the Territorial Army for five years in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.
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Simon Hart was Master and Huntsman of the South Pembrokeshire Hunt from 1988 to 1999.
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Simon Hart was director of the Campaign for Hunting from 1999 to 2003.
11.
Simon Hart was the chief executive of the Countryside Alliance from 2003 to 2010, and later its chairman from 2015 to 2019.
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Simon Hart is an outspoken supporter of fox hunting and the badger cull.
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In January 2013, Simon Hart said the RSPCA's legal role needs more oversight given its "political and commercial activities" in a critique of the charity's role lobbying against fox hunting.
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Simon Hart actively campaigned in May 2013 to overturn the 2004 Hunting Bill and assist the National Farmers Union of England and Wales.
15.
Simon Hart helped form and lead the Brexit Delivery Group, a group of 51 MPs who argued for a negotiated exit from the EU.
16.
In June 2017 Simon Hart faced questions over breaches of the code of conduct and was being investigated over an alleged breach of paragraph 15.
17.
Simon Hart replaced fellow Conservative Oliver Dowden and stood down as Chairman of the Countryside Alliance.
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Simon Hart has served on the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, Welsh Affairs Select Committee, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Commons Select Committee on Standards and Commons Select Committee of Privileges.
19.
In June 2024, Simon Hart was selected as the Conservative candidate for Caerfyddin at the 2024 general election.
20.
On 6 July 2022, Simon Hart resigned from government in the wake of widespread criticism of Boris Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal, following the earlier resignations of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
21.
Simon Hart was appointed Chief Whip of the Conservative Party by Rishi Sunak on 25 October 2022.
22.
On 11 April 2025, Simon Hart was awarded a peerage in Rishi Sunak's Resignation Peerages List.