Bob Blackman

Politics has always been an important part of life for Bob Blackman, the Conservative MP for Harrow East. Born in 1956, and educated at Preston Manor High School, Blackman studied at the University of Liverpool where he was voted in as president of the Liverpool University Students’ Union. After graduating, he carried out several roles for BT, becoming regulatory compliance manager before leaving in 2010 when he was elected to parliament. Blackman was a councillor for the Preston Ward of Brent Council for 24 years, serving as both deputy leader and leader during that time. He was also leader of the Brent Conservatives for 20 years, stepping down to fight the election campaign for the Harrow East seat in 2010, having previously contested seats unsuccessfully in the 1992, 1997 and 2005 general elections. It was a case of fourth time lucky: Blackman won with 44.7 per cent of the vote, overturning a Labour majority. In the 2017-2019 parliament he served on the Procedure Committee, the Backbench Business Committee and the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee and has been one of two executive secretaries of the 1922 Committee since 2015. He supported the Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum and is a member of the eurosceptic European Research Group. He was re-elected at the 2019 general election with a much-increased majority of 8,170.