Chris Grayling became the Conservative MP for Epsom and Ewell in 2001, being re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 17,873.
Epsom and Ewell is a safe Conservative seat on the northern border of Surrey and Greater London. A large proportion of the population commute from here to work in central London every day. Home ownership levels and average incomes are well above the national average. The Epsom horse racing track, the venue for the Derby each year, is found in this constituency.
Grayling served in the Cabinet as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice between 2012 and 2015; as Leader of the House of Commons between 2015 and 2016; and as Secretary of State for Transport between 2016 and 2019.
Despite being in the Cabinet, Grayling backed Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum. He supported Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.
Born in 1962, Chris Grayling grew up in Buckinghamshire and was educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
After university, Grayling joined the BBC’s News Training Scheme, and worked as a producer for BBC News, and then on Channel Four’s programme, Business Daily. He later worked in television production, and as European Marketing Director for the communications agency, Burston Marsteller.
Before entering Parliament in 2001, he was a councillor on the London Borough of Merton between 1998 and 2002.
Outside of Politics, Grayling is a Manchester United Fan. He is married with a son and a daughter. He employs his wife Sue, as an Office Manager.
Since leaving the Cabinet he has worked as a Strategic Adviser to Hutchison Ports. He is a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery.
Grayling has written several books, including on the history of the Bridgwater Canal, Anglo-American relations, and life in England after the First World War.
He is the Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Formula One and International Conservation.
Email: chris.grayling.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.chrisgrayling.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommonsLeader
Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/Chris.Grayling.MP
