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Mark Harper

Mark James Harper (born 26 February 1970) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Transport since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire from 2005 to 2024.

For the Guyanese cricketer, see Mark Harper (cricketer). For the American football player, see Mark Harper (American football).

Mark Harper

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Office abolished

Office established

15,869 (30.8%)

Mark James Harper

(1970-02-26) 26 February 1970
Swindon, Wiltshire, England

Margaret Harper

Harper was born in Swindon and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Brasenose College, Oxford. He was a chartered accountant before his election to Parliament. Under the coalition government of David Cameron he served as Parliamentary Secretary for Political and Constitutional Reform before being promoted to Minister of State for Immigration in the 2012 reshuffle. During his tenure at the Home Office, he devised a controversial campaign in which advertising vans told illegal migrants to "go home".[1] He resigned as Immigration Minister in February 2014, but quickly returned to government as Minister of State for Disabled People in the July 2014 reshuffle.


Harper was promoted to Cameron's cabinet as Chief Whip of the House of Commons following the 2015 general election; he served in the role for a year before being sacked by incoming Prime Minister Theresa May in 2016. Harper was a candidate for leader of the Conservative Party in the 2019 leadership contest, finishing ninth out of 10 candidates with 10 votes.[2] During the Johnson premiership, he was the chair of the COVID Recovery Group of Conservative MPs advocating for looser COVID-19 restrictions. After Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, Harper was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport.[3]

Early life and education[edit]

Harper was born and raised in Swindon, Wiltshire, where he had a working class upbringing, with his father a manual worker and his mother employed by a book club.[4] He was educated at Headlands Comprehensive School and Swindon College. He read philosophy, politics and economics at Brasenose College, Oxford where he studied under Professor Vernon Bogdanor.[5]

Early career[edit]

Upon graduation in 1991, Harper joined KPMG as an auditor. After qualifying as a chartered accountant, he joined Intel Corporation. In 2002, he left Intel to set up his own accountancy practice.[6][7]


Prior to entering Parliament, Harper was the treasurer of the Swindon Conservative Association and served as vice-chairman for a year in 1998.

Personal life[edit]

Harper is married to Margaret.[66] In 2015, he was sworn in as a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.[67] This gave him the Honorific Prefix "The Right Honourable" for Life.

official constituency website

Mark Harper MP

at the Conservative Party

Profile

at Hansard

Contributions in Parliament

at Public Whip

Voting record

at TheyWorkForYou

Record in Parliament

Forest of Dean Conservatives

. bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2011.

"Democracy Live – Your representatives – Mark Harper"