Guy Opperman

Guy Opperman is the parliamentary under-secretary of state for pensions and financial inclusion, appointed in 2017. He was called to the bar in 1989 and spent 20 years as a barrister. He later received a Pro Bono Hero award in 2009 for his work on preventing hospital closures. In 1995, he was elected as a councillor for Kennet on Wiltshire Council. He first stood for election to parliament at the 1997 general election, unsuccessfully contesting Swindon North. He stood for a second time in 2005, this time contesting Caernarfon but came in fourth place. In 2010, he finally became an MP, but just a year later, Opperman suffered from a brain tumour, collapsing in the House of Commons. “I often joke that the budget nearly killed me,” he later said. The event has inspired his charitable work, which has raised tens of thousands of pounds for worthy causes – including the hospital that treated him. In 2012, he became parliamentary private secretary to Mark Harper, the then immigration minister. After being re-elected in the 2015 general election, he became an assistant whip, a post he held until Theresa May became prime minister.