Chris Heaton-Harris | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 6 September 2022 – 5 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Liz Truss Rishi Sunak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Shailesh Vara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Hilary Benn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Whip of the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 8 February 2022 – 6 September 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Mark Spencer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Wendy Morton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Member of Parliament for Daventry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Tim Boswell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Stuart Andrew | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of the European Parliament for East Midlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 1 May 1999 – 4 June 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Position established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Emma McClarkin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Christopher Heaton-Harris 28 November 1967 Epsom, Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Wolverhampton Polytechnic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christopher Heaton-Harris (born 28 November 1967) is a British former politician who served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from September 2022 to July 2024, and as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from February to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Daventry from 2010 to 2024.
Born in Epsom, Heaton-Harris attended Tiffin School. He went on to study at Wolverhampton Polytechnic, before working in his family business. He was elected to the European Parliament as MEP for the East Midlands in 1999, and was the Chief Whip of the Conservatives there from 2001 to 2004. He was reelected in the 2004 election before standing down in 2009. After two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, Heaton-Harris was elected as MP for Daventry in the 2010 general election. He was reelected in both the 2015 and 2017 general election. On the backbenches, he was Chair of the European Research Group from 2010 to 2016.
Heaton-Harris joined the government frontbench in 2017 under Prime Minister Theresa May as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, before serving as Comptroller of the Household Deputy Leader of the House of Commons from January to July 2018. Under May, he later served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2018 to 2019. Under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he served as Minister of State for Transport from 2019 to 2021 and as Minister of State for Europe from 2021 to 2022. In February 2022, he was appointed to the Cabinet as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, and was sworn in as a privy counsellor. After Liz Truss became Prime Minister, Heaton-Harris was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; an office he continued in under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. After serving in parliament for 14 years, Heaton-Harris stood down at the 2024 general election.