Lee Rowley

Born in Chesterfield, Lee Rowley helped at his father’s milkman business six days a week for 20 years. He later worked in financial services for Barclays and Santander: an experience that he has said would benefit all MPs. Aged 26, Rowley became a councillor on Westminster City Council, where his financial expertise proved particularly valuable as he handled eight-figure budgets and agreed a £600k settlement with a parking services provider for the area. Rowley’s first unsuccessful attempt to enter parliament was an ambitious bid against Labour veteran Dennis Skinner in Bolsover in 2010. In 2015, he stood for North East Derbyshire, again unsuccessfully. However, in 2017, with a popular pledge to oppose housing developments and fracking proposals, Rowley became an MP. Rowley is a self-described “committed Leaver”, and lambasted Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement in the Commons as a “failure of ambition”. He has also expressed concern at the sidelining of other important issues due to Brexit. Rowley joined the Statutory Instruments Committee and later the Public Accounts Committee. Rowley also chaired the APPG on the impact of shale gas. In 2020, he became deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.