Phillip Lee (politician)

Phillip James Lee (born 28 September 1970) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bracknell since winning the seat at the 2010 general election.

Phillip Lee was born and raised in Buckinghamshire, England, and went to his local grammar school, Sir William Borlase's Grammar School. Lee studied Human Biology and Biological Anthropology at King's College London and Keble College, Oxford, where his research interests included the psychodynamics of anti-Semitism; the psychology of the child sex offender; the influence of the pre-natal environment on adult disease; and infertility clinic outcomes.

He went on to study medicine at Imperial College London and qualified as a doctor in 1999. He has worked in hospitals across the Thames Valley, including Wexham Park Hospital, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Wycombe General Hospital, St Mark's (Maidenhead) and Heatherwood Hospital as well as at St Mary's Hospital, London. Lee qualified as a general practitioner (GP) in 2004 and continues to practise locally part-time.

Lee's roots are working class and branches of his family come from County Durham, Buckinghamshire and Gorseinon near Swansea, where Lee's great-grandfather was a coal miner. His grandfather served as a tail gunner in a Handley Page Halifax bomber during the Second World War and later worked in the local Hoover factory and as a painter-decorator. Lee's father and brother run local small businesses.

Lee's political career began in local politics. He joined the Conservatives in Beaconsfield in 1992, becoming a member of its Executive Board in 1997 and its deputy chairman in 2005. Lee ran successfully for the local council in 2001. In the 2005 general election, he campaigned as the party's candidate for what was the safe Labour seat of Blaenau Gwent in South Wales. After being appointed a priority national candidate on the party's first A-List in 2006, Lee was elected in an open primary in 2009 to be the candidate to represent the local seat of Bracknell in Berkshire at the 2010 general election. The seven-person short-list also included prominent Conservative commentator Iain Dale, and Rory Stewart. At the 2010 general election, Lee retained the seat for his party with a majority of 15,704 votes.

Lee's parliamentary interests include:

Energy. He serves as a member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee and has been at the forefront of questioning UK energy companies' price hikes. Lee has called for energy efficiency to be the primary target of the UK Government's policy and supports increasing energy security with more nuclear power and an interconnector with Norway. He has drawn attention to the limited potential of free markets in the energy sector and called for cooperative ways of retailing and distributing electricity and gas.

• Health. Lee warned in 2011 that the National Health Service as currently configured would not meet future demand for healthcare and has campaigned for healthcare services in the United Kingdom and funding to be reconfigured. His 2012 publication "The Royal Thames Valley Hospital – a Vision of a Sustainable Healthcare Plan" is a comprehensive proposal for improving clinical outcomes while building capacity to meet future healthcare demand across the Thames Valley. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, who is also a Thames Valley MP, gave the plan her support at a public meeting in January 2013. Lee sparked controversy in 2013 when he called for individuals, not the state, to bear responsibility for their lifestyle choices, and again in 2014 when he called for migrants to be screened for blood-borne viruses, including Hepatitis B and HIV, to protect public health in the United Kingdom. He proposed introducing individual healthcare statements in a Ten Minute Rule Bill in 2012. In 2014, Lee stood for election as Chairman of the Health Select Committee, coming a close second.
• Foreign affairs. Lee has served as Vice Chair of the Conservative Middle East Council since 2010. He has argued for a comprehensive approach to foreign policy, pointing out that energy policy should be an important element in foreign and defence policies. In 2012, he warned of rising threats from China's domestic vulnerabilities. He regularly participates in the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung's exchange programme with members of the German Bundestag and has called for a closer relationship with Germany. He voted against military action in Syria in 2013 as he believed there needed to be a more thought-through strategy towards Syria and the wider region before the United Kingdom involved itself. In July 2014, he argued for a strong response to the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on Europe's border and for Britain's role in the world to be redefined saying, "I fear that because of our level of debt and of dependence, and our complete absence of any vision or leadership, we are being less of a country than we should be and most certainly less of a country than the globe desperately needs.".
• Science, technology and space. Lee is Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Space Committee. Lee was also a member of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology in the 2010–2015 Parliament. He has long campaigned for a British space port and supported Reaction Engines' breakthrough in aerospace technology with its SABRE. His 2011 Adjournment debate on microgravity spurred £60m state investment into the European Space Agency's ELIPS programme. This funding played a significant part in the European Space Agency's decision to grant Timothy Peake a place in space. Lee was a Member of the Administration Committee from July 2010 to December 2012 and sits on the Parliamentary Medical Panel. He has driven improvements to mental health services for parliamentarians. Lee served as Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Environment Group (2010–2013).

Lee's voting record is loyal and he has rarely rebelled against the Conservative whip and has not voted against anything in the Conservative's manifesto. However, he did not support the UK Government's High Speed 2 project which he said is of the past and not of the future, profligate and not a priority for infrastructure investment. Neither did he support the UK Government's proposals for House of Lords reform or military action in Syria in 2013. Lee abstained over Same-sex marriage legislation, noting that Parliament's role should be limited to legislating for equal civil union while calling on the Church to find a way to recognise same-sex relationships.

In his constituency of Bracknell, Lee has campaigned for better services and facilities. He called for improved health service outcomes and in 2012 launched a plan to achieve this which would consolidate acute healthcare in a new, regional centre of excellence and deliver a greater proportion of care in the community – including through the recently opened Bracknell Urgent Care Centre. He has lobbied for better transport links into, and across, the region and South West Trains is now increasing passenger rail capacity from Bracknell. Lee supports expanding London Heathrow Airport and has endorsed the Heathrow Hub proposal to extend capacity alongside the extension of Crossrail to Reading. Lee lobbied BT Group to improve the delivery of superfast broadband and coverage across the constituency is now almost 90%.

Lee has spoken on the importance of MPs being "in touch". In his constituency, he reports annually to all constituents, holds quarterly public 'Question and Answer' open meetings as well as issuing monthly e-newsletters.

Lee was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.

Lee is a keen sportsman. He has played competitive football, and followed Queens Park Rangers F.C. since the age of six. He attended the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan, 2004 UEFA European Championships in Portugal and 2006 World Cup in Germany. He has played competitive rugby union for Marlow Rugby Union Football Club and was a member of Oxford University RFC and has also played cricket for the 'Old Grumblers'. Lee plays for the Conservative Party's Parliamentary football team and is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Boxing.

Lee combines his medical background and interest in international development as a Member of Colalife's Virtual Advisory Board. The organisation uses Coca-Cola's distribution networks to get essential medication to mothers and newborn babies to tackle the biggest cause of infant mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa – dehydration because of diarrhoea.