37 Facts About Tobias Ellwood

Lieutenant Colonel Tobias Martin Ellwood was born on 12 August 1966 and is a former British Conservative Party politician and soldier who served as the Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East from 2005 to 2024.

Tobias Ellwood chaired the Defence Select Committee from 2020 to 2023, and was Minister for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel at the Ministry of Defence from 2017 to 2019.

Tobias Ellwood transferred to the Army Reserve and has gone on to reach the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 77th Brigade.

Tobias Ellwood was born on 12 August 1966 in New York to British parents, Ellwood was educated at schools in Bonn and Vienna, where he attended the fee-paying Vienna International School.

Tobias Ellwood attended Loughborough University from 1985 to 1990, and became a sabbatical officer at Loughborough Students' Union.

Tobias Ellwood graduated with a bachelor's degree and later attended the Cass Business School at City University from 1997 to 1998 where he received a Master of Business Administration degree.

Tobias Ellwood was elected chairman of the Hertfordshire South West Conservative Association for a year in 1998.

Tobias Ellwood was elected as a councillor on Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire in 1999.

Tobias Ellwood was selected to contest the safe Conservative seat of Bournemouth East to succeed David Atkinson.

Tobias Ellwood was criticised in the press after reportedly describing Liverpudlian landlords taking over pubs in his constituency as "criminals" in 2009; Ellwood said the comments had been taken out of context.

In October 2013, Tobias Ellwood was appointed PPS to Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

On 15 July 2014, Tobias Ellwood was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Africa and FCO Services.

Tobias Ellwood has been appointed a Member of the Parliamentary Delegation to the NATO Assembly, 2014 and Parliamentary Advisor to the Prime Minister for the 2014 NATO Summit.

In 2011, Tobias Ellwood served on the Special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill which became the Armed Forces Act 2011.

Tobias Ellwood was a member of the Public Bill Committee for the Defence Reform Act 2014.

Tobias Ellwood later stated that the leave result should nevertheless be respected and that the government should not try to reverse this decision.

On 22 March 2017, during a terrorist attack on Parliament, Tobias Ellwood gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and CPR to police officer Keith Palmer, who later died of his injuries.

Tobias Ellwood was called a "hero" by those at Westminster and the press, as photos surfaced of him with blood on his face while he crouched over the body of the dying police officer.

Consequently, Tobias Ellwood received a lot of praise on social media for his actions, as well as being promised an appointment to the Privy Council for his response in the attack.

In November 2018, George Papadopoulos accused Tobias Ellwood of spying on the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump and passing on information to US intelligence, a claim which Tobias Ellwood denied.

Tobias Ellwood did not stand in the 2019 leadership election, but instead endorsed Matt Hancock, then subsequently Rory Stewart.

In December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tobias Ellwood urged the government not to relax the rules governing social mixing over the Christmas period, then attended a Christmas party at the Cavalry and Guards Club in London with 26 other people.

On 19 July 2022 Tobias Ellwood lost the Conservative whip for failing to support the government in a vote of confidence the day before.

Tobias Ellwood was in Moldova to meet the President, Maia Sandu, and was unable to travel back.

Tobias Ellwood was initially not eligible to vote in the remaining MP rounds of the Conservative Party leadership election but, as a Conservative Party member, could vote in the final round.

Tobias Ellwood was granted a "momentary return of the whip" so he could vote in the final MP round.

On 4 September 2022, Tobias Ellwood published an article on Politics Home appealing to colleagues to move closer to the political centre ground.

In July 2023, Tobias Ellwood called on both the Conservatives and Labour to speak in favour of the idea that the United Kingdom needed to rejoin the Single Market to secure its economic prosperity.

On 17 July 2023 Tobias Ellwood published a video statement praising Taliban rule in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan for "vastly improving" the security of the country, introducing agricultural reforms, and promoting solar energy, while urging engagement with the Taliban to avoid Afghanistan becoming a "Chinese vassal".

Several days after publishing the video Tobias Ellwood apologised for his "poor communications" and said " I'm very, very sorry that my reflection of my visit could have been much better worded and have been taken out of context".

In September 2018, Tobias Ellwood announced that he had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel as a reservist in the 77th Brigade, based at Denison Barracks, Hermitage, Berkshire, a psychological operations unit responsible for 'non-lethal' warfare which disseminates government-friendly podcasts and videos.

In July 2005, Tobias Ellwood married Hannah Ryan, a corporate lawyer.

In June 2009, Tobias Ellwood was attacked by a group of youths after confronting them for playing football in the street.

The gang threw stones at him and Tobias Ellwood was punched in the head.

Tobias Ellwood expressed relief that the youth was not sent to jail.

In July 2022, whilst driving, Tobias Ellwood allegedly ran over a cat in his home neighbourhood, then failed to stop.

Tobias Ellwood claimed to have been unaware that he had run over the cat.