Quick Facts
AriesBiography
Gareth Andrew Bacon (born 7 April 1972) is a British Conservative politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Orpington since 2019.
Early life and career
Bacon was born in Hong Kong, and studied at St. Mary's and St. Joseph's School in Sidcup, then at University of Kent at Canterbury where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in Politics and Government in 1996, followed by a Master of Arts degree in European Studies in 1997. He worked as head of the public sector division of Martin Ward Anderson from 2004.
Political career
Gareth Bacon joined the Conservative Party in 1987. Prior to Bacon's election as the Member of Parliament for Orpington, he had a long career in local government, serving as a London Assembly Member since 2008 and as a local councillor since 1998.
Following his election as a Member of Parliament, Bacon announced he would stand down from Bexley Council and the London Assembly ahead of May's local elections.[1] Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the English local elections were postponed for a year. [2]
Member of Parliament
On 8 November 2019, Gareth Bacon was selected by Orpington Conservatives to be their candidate for the upcoming General Election after incumbent Jo Johnson chose not to seek reelection. He was selected from a field of 130 candidates.
On 12 December 2019, Gareth Bacon was elected as the Member of Parliament for Orpington. He was elected with the highest Conservative vote share since 1955, winning the seat with 30,882 (63.4%) votes, a majority of 22,378.
Gareth Bacon made his maiden speech in Parliament on 5 February 2020. He became a member of the influential House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on 2 March 2020.
Member of the London Assembly
In the 2008 London Assembly election, Gareth Bacon was elected as the third Conservative London-wide Assembly Member. In 2012, he was ranked second on the Conservative party top-up list and went on to be re-elected to the London Assembly.
In September 2015, Gareth Bacon was selected to be the Conservative candidate for the London Assembly constituency of Bexley & Bromley. At the following election he was duly elected to the London Assembly with 87,460 votes (46.1%) and a majority of 41,699. In October 2015, he succeeded Andrew Boff as the Leader of the GLA Conservative Group at City Hall.
In the London Assembly, Gareth Bacon was Chairman of the London Assembly's Budget and Performance Committee, Chairman of the Budget Monitoring Sub-Committee, and Vice-Chairman of the Oversight Committee.
Bexley Council
Gareth Bacon is a long-standing councillor of Bexley Council, representing Sidcup West from 1998 to 2002, and then Longlands ward since 2002.
After the Conservatives won control of Bexley Council in 2006, Bacon served as the Cabinet Member for the Environment (2006 - 2014). In 2012, his portfolio was widened to include the Public Realm.
Bacon steered through an enhanced recycling service in Bexley, which produced a 20% increase in the level of recycling in the borough in the first year and ensured that Bexley retained its position as the leading borough for recycling in London, breaking through the 50% barrier for the first time and avoiding an increase of £2 million in costs for waste disposal.
In June 2010, Gareth Bacon was appointed by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to serve on the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority.
Bacon was elected Deputy Leader of Bexley Council in 2014, a position he left in January 2015 after Boris Johnson appointed him as Chairman of the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority.
In October 2017, Bacon was listed by Iain Dale at Number 97 in the '100 most influential on the Right', on the website ConservativeHome.