Andrew_Bowie_(politician)

Andrew Bowie (politician)

Andrew Bowie (politician)

Scottish politician (born 1987)

Andrew Campbell Bowie (born 28 May 1987) is a Scottish politician who has been the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine since the 2017 general election.[2][3] He has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nuclear and Networks since February 2023.[lower-alpha 1][4]

Quick Facts MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nuclear and Renewables ...

Early life and education

Andrew Bowie was born in Arbroath and educated at Inverurie Academy in Aberdeenshire.[5] While studying at Inverurie Academy, Bowie was chosen to join the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, playing the violin.[6] After leaving school, he joined the Royal Navy and attended Britannia Royal Naval College before serving as an officer, remaining on the rank of Sub-Lieutenant.

After leaving the navy, Bowie studied History and Politics at the University of Aberdeen, where he was a member of the Aberdeen University Royal Naval Unit and where he was elected Chairman of the University of Aberdeen Conservative and Unionist Association for the 2012/13 academic year.[7]

Political career

After graduating from the University of Aberdeen, Bowie was employed as a Military Projects Coordinator for the Westhill-based diving equipment supplier Divex. Bowie left Divex in January 2014 to assume a post as the North Scotland Campaign Manager for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, and was seconded to the Better Together campaign for the duration of the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum.

Following the referendum, Bowie transitioned to parliamentary politics by serving as a senior advisor to the Conservative MEP Ian Duncan. In 2016, following the Scottish Parliament election, 2016, Bowie was hired as office manager to Liam Kerr MSP, who was elected as the Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP for the North East Scotland region.[7] In 2016, while working for Kerr, he was forced to apologise to a female SNP councillor to whom he accidentally sent an offensive email.[8][9]

Parliamentary career

At the snap 2017 general election, Bowie was elected to Parliament as MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine with 47.9% of the vote and a majority of 7,950.[10][11][12]

From October 2017 until June 2018, he was a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

In February 2018, Bowie was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport under Matt Hancock, and later under Jeremy Wright.[13]

In December 2018, he was promoted to Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister by Theresa May until her resignation in July 2019.[14]

In July 2019, Bowie was appointed as one of six Vice-Chairmen of the Conservative Party and is responsible for the Young Conservatives.[15]

Bowie was re-elected as MP for West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine at the 2019 general election with a decreased vote share of 42.7% and a decreased majority of 843 votes.[16][17][18][19]

In November 2021, Bowie announced he would resign as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party once a replacement was selected, soon after the forced resignation of Owen Paterson from the party, giving the reason "to focus on representing my constituents in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine".[20][21]

He is an advocate of the Down Syndrome Bill, which would recognise people with Down syndrome as a specific minority group.[22]

Personal life

He is married to Madeleine Clarke.

References

  1. As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nuclear and Networks until January 2024
  1. [1]
    "Bowie joins RNR". The Times. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  2. [2]
    "Andrew Bowie MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  3. [3]
    Davidson, Peter (9 June 2017). "Bowie says 'people have spoken' after landslide win in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine". Evening Express. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  4. [4]
    "Andrew Bowie MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  5. [5]
    "Bowie, Andrew". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 February 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. [6]
    PoliticsHome.com (1 July 2019). "Unparliamentary Language: Andrew Bowie". PoliticsHome.com. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  7. [7]
    "Who are Scotland's new MPs?". BBC News. 9 June 2017.
  8. [8]
    "Tory chief apologises after "flipping woman" email". 26 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  9. [9]
    "SNP councillor reported to standards watchdog over suggestion Andrew Bowie should be 'dangled' from a bridge". Press and Journal. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  10. [10]
    "Results" (PDF). www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  11. [11]
    "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  12. [12]
    "UK Parliamentary Election Results - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine" (PDF).
  13. [13]
    McKiernan, Jennifer. "First Scottish Conservative promoted to leave the back benches is Andrew Bowie". Press and Journal. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  14. [14]
    Robertson, Kirsten (31 December 2018). "Aberdeenshire MP promoted to prestigious government role". Press and Journal. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  15. [15]
    "The Party's new line-up of Deputy and Vice Chairmen". Conservative Home. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  16. [16]
    wpengine (13 December 2019). "General Election 2019 - Tories keep hold of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine by just 843 votes". Forres Local. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  17. [17]
    "General Election 2019". Aberdeenshire Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  18. [18]
    "Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  19. [19]
    "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  20. [20]
    Allegretti, Aubrey (10 November 2021). "Tory party vice-chair Andrew Bowie resigns in protest over sleaze". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  21. [21]
    Rodger, Hannah (10 November 2021). "Tory MP Andrew Bowie quits as vice chair of the Conservative party". The Herald. Scotland. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  22. [22]
    "MP voices support for Down Syndrome Bill". Grampian Online. 24 November 2021. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
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