Tom Pursglove

Thomas Christopher John Pursglove (born 5 November 1988)^[1] is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Minister from September 2021 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Corby from May 2015 until 2024 when he was defeated.^[2]

Pursglove has previously served as Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Minister of State for Immigration, and Minister of State for Crime and Policing.^[3][4][5] Aged 26 at the time of his election, he was the youngest Conservative MP of the 2015–17 Parliament.

Early life and career

Pursglove was born in Kettering on 5 November 1988, and grew up in Wellingborough. He was educated at Sir Christopher Hatton School, a state comprehensive school in Wellingborough, and graduated from Queen Mary University of London in 2010 with a politics degree.^[6]

In 2007, at the age of 18, Pursglove became the youngest councillor in the country when he was elected for Croyland Ward on Wellingborough Borough Council. The election saw the Conservative Party extend their dominance in Wellingborough, winning 30 of the 36 posts available. Pursglove was re-elected in 2011, but did not stand again in 2015.^[7]

In addition to his role as a councillor, Pursglove worked as a parliamentary assistant to the Conservative MP for Daventry Chris Heaton-Harris and worked with the Conservative MP for Wellingborough Peter Bone. Prior to being elected as an MP, Pursglove was deputy chairman of the Wellingborough Conservative Association.^[8]

Parliamentary career

Pursglove was elected as MP for Corby at the 2015 general election with 42.8% of the vote and a majority of 2,412.^[9] He won back for the Conservatives a seat that had been lost to Labour in a 2012 by-election after the former Conservative MP Louise Mensch stood down.^[10]

In July 2016, following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister, Pursglove was appointed as parliamentary private secretary to Robert Goodwill, the Minister of State for Immigration at the Home Office.

Pursglove was re-elected at the 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 49.2% and an increased majority of 2,690 votes.^[11]

In February 2018, following the announcement that Northamptonshire County Council had brought in a section 114 notice, putting it in special measures following a crisis in its finances, Pursglove was one of seven local MPs who released a statement arguing that the problems with the authority were down to mismanagement from the Conservative councillors who led it rather than funding cuts from the Conservative Government. They further argued that government commissioners should take over the running of the council.^[12]

On 27 July 2018, following Ben Bradley's resignation over disagreements with the government's policy on Brexit, Pursglove was selected to replace him as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Youth. In February 2019, fellow Conservative MP Nigel Huddleston replaced Pursglove in the role following his resignation over the approach of the party towards Brexit.^[13]

In August 2019, Pursglove was appointed as an assistant government whip in the first Johnson ministry.^[14]

Pursglove was re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 55.2% and an increased majority of 10,268 votes.^[15]

In September 2021, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Immigration, Compliance and Courts during the cabinet reshuffle, a role held jointly between the Home Office and Ministry of Justice.^[16]

In October 2022, following the resignation of Liz Truss as Prime Minister, Pursglove announced that he would be supporting previous Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the subsequent leadership election.^[17]

In October 2023, Pursglove was reported to have been campaigning with Peter Bone, who had been suspended from the House of Commons and had had the Conservative whip suspended.^[18] Following criticism by the Labour Party about this, the Prime Minister's spokesman said that Rishi Sunak had confidence in Pursglove.^[19] In the general election of 2024 he was defeated by the Labour party candidate.

Political views

Criticism of the European Union

Pursglove was one of the founders of Grassroots Out, an organisation which advocated United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union. The organisation was led by politicians from a range of political parties, including fellow Conservative MP Peter Bone and Labour MP Kate Hoey. In February 2016 it was announced that Pursglove and fellow Conservative MP Peter Bone would be speakers at the UKIP Spring Conference. Although rare for representatives of rival political parties to appear at such events, they argued any role they had there would be as representatives of the Grassroots Out group.^[20]

In April 2016, Pursglove was criticised for taking payments of £21,750 from the Grassroots Out campaign, of which he was chief executive, which some fellow campaigners argued should have been donated to further campaigning. However, he argued his work had "keep costs to a minimum, allowing us to spend the maximum amount on campaigning", rather than hiring outside expertise.^[21] In May 2016, he stated that, given the choice, he would ultimately prefer to see Britain leave the EU than his party secure another majority at the next general election, but also said that he was a 'loyal Conservative' and had no desire to defect to UKIP.^[22]

The environment

In 2015, Pursglove expressed scepticism about human influence on climate change and advocated abolishing the Department of Energy and Climate Change.^[23] Also in 2015, Pursglove questioned public spending on reducing carbon emissions in the UK on the grounds that countries such as China produce more emissions and therefore needed to take more action.^[24]

Post-parliamentary career

Following his defeat at the 2024 general election, Pursglove co-founded, and has worked as a Director, at public affairs consultancy Ascalane Partners.^[25]

Notes

1. ^ As Minister of State for Immigration from September to October 2022.
2. ^ As Minister of State for Immigration.
3. ^ As Minister of State for Migration and Citizenship
4. ^ Jointly with the Ministry of justice.
5. ^ Jointly with the Home Office.

References

1. ^ "Tom Pursglove, Conservative Party candidate to be MP for Corby – YourNextMP.com". Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
2. ^ "Corby parliamentary constituency - Election 2015 - BBC News". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
3. ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
4. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
5. ^ "Minister of State (Minister for Migration) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
6. ^ "Tom Pursglove". www.votepursglove.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
7. ^ "Wellingborough Council Election Results 1973-2011". Plymouth University. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
8. ^ Sophie Mcintyre (9 May 2015). "General election 2015: Seven new MPs that you should know about". The Independent. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
9. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived 17 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
10. ^ Whelan, Michael (8 May 2015). "GENERAL ELECTION 2015: Conservative candidate pays tribute to former Labour MP after winning his Corby seat". Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
11. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived 17 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. ^ "Northamptonshire MPs call for county council takeover". BBC News. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
13. ^ Cowburn, Ashley (12 February 2019). "Conservatives appoint 48-year-old MP as youth spokesman". The Independent. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
14. ^ Ward, Sarah (5 August 2019). "New government role for Corby MP will stop him taking part in parliamentary debate". Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019.
15. ^ "Declaration of Results UKPE 2019". Corby.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
16. ^ "Ministerial appointments: September 2021". 16 September 2021.
17. ^ "Who is backing Boris Johnson in the Conservative leadership race?". ITV News. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
18. ^ Adu, Aletha (29 October 2023). "Minister seen campaigning with suspended former Tory MP Peter Bone". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
19. ^ "Peter Bone: PM has confidence in minister who campaigned with suspended MP". BBC News. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
20. ^ Mason, Rowena & Ward, Megan (17 February 2016). "Two Conservative MPs scheduled to speak at Ukip spring conference". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
21. ^ "Arron Banks anger at Peter Bone and Tom Pursglove payments". BBC News. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
22. ^ "Tom Pursglove interview: I woke up aged 13 and knew I wanted to be a politician". Total Politics. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
23. ^ "Tom Pursglove: Tory's Youngest MP On Louise Mensch, Loving Margaret Thatcher and Why Roger Moore Was The Best Bond". Huffington Post. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
24. ^ "Tory MP Tom Pursglove On Winning Back Trust After Louise Mensch And Why Roger Moore Was The Best Bond". HuffPost UK. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
25. ^ Crowther, Zoe (6 July 2025). "One Year After The General Election: Where Are Former MPs Now?". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 21 April 2026.