Jump to content

Jamie Wallis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people with similar names, seeJames Wallis.

Jamie Wallis
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
forBridgend
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byMadeleine Moon
Succeeded byChris Elmore
Personal details
Born(1984-06-02)2 June 1984(age 40)
Bettws,Bridgend,Wales
Political partyConservative
EducationBrynteg School
Alma mater

Jamie Hamilton Wallis(born 2 June 1984)[1][2]is a BritishConservative Partypolitician who served asMember of Parliament(MP) forBridgendin Wales from the2019 general election[3]until 2024, for only one parliamentary term. Wallis defeated the incumbentLabourMPMadeleine Moon,who had represented the constituency since 2005.

He has been described in some media reports as the first openlytransgenderMP in theHouse of Commonsand the first transgender member ofParliament,following his statement in March 2022 that "I’m trans. Or to be more accurate, I want to be".[4][5]

Wallis has been convicted of several driving offences and his business dealings have come under scrutiny.

Early life and education

[edit]

Wallis was born in Bettws and attended St Robert's Catholic School inAberkenfig,St Clare's SchoolinPorthcawlandBrynteg SchoolinBridgend.[6]He then read chemistry atChrist Church, Oxford,graduating in 2006 with an upper second class degree.[7]In 2014, he was awarded a doctorate inastrobiologyfromCardiff University,having studied evidence forcometary panspermia,under the supervision ofChandra Wickramasinghe.[8][9]

Career before politics

[edit]

Wallis is one of the owners of a company called Fields Holdings Limited, the parent company of Action Direct (UK) Limited, a formerclaims management companyof which Wallis was a director in 2011[10]when theMinistry of Justicebanned it from taking on any further employment claims work, following an investigation into the company's conduct. He remained a director until February 2012.[11][12]

In July 2010, aFreedom of Informationrequest (2417) was made toBridgend County Borough Councilasking how many complaints or referrals toTrading Standardshad been made about companies linked to him. According to the FoI response, Trading Standards had received 137 complaints about Action Direct (UK) Ltd, 166 about Fields Data Recovery Ltd, 151 about Quickie Divorce Ltd, 26 about Rapid Data Recovery Ltd, seven about Field Associates Ltd and 12 about Injunction Direct UK. The response also listed enforcement visits by Trading Standards against several of Wallis' companies. In January 2020, after being elected to Parliament, Wallis threatened to take legal action against the council over the matter under the Freedom of Information Act.[13]In January 2022, the council stated that it had heard nothing from his lawyer since then.[14]

Political career

[edit]

Wallis was a member ofPencoedtown council,representing the Hendre ward, until 2018, when he was disqualified for non-attendance. He later stated that he had resigned from the council by letter, but the council had not received the letter.[15]He said that his reason for resigning was that he had relocated toCowbridge,where he joined the town council.[16]

Before he was elected as MP forBridgendin 2019, he had stood unsuccessfully inOgmorein the2017 United Kingdom general electionandOgmorein the2016 National Assembly for Wales election.At the2019 general electionhe defeated incumbentLabourMPMadeleine Moon,who had represented Bridgend since 2005.

An investigation byBuzzFeedin January 2020 found that Wallis had been a co-owner of a 'sugar daddy' dating website, "which offered students financial relationships with wealthy 'sponsors'". Although Wallis initially denied links to the company, Buzzfeed found that he had been a director and shareholder of the site's parent company.[17]The Labour MPJess Phillipscalled for Wallis to have the Conservative party whip removed.[18][19]Since the 2019 election, Wallis has quit as director of at least seven companies.[20]

On the day of the second ballot of MPs in theJuly 2022 Conservative Party leadership election,Wallis said that he was backing the campaign ofPenny Mordaunt.[21]Wallis later called for party leader and prime ministerLiz Trussto resign, citing her failure to challenge anti-transgender rhetoric in the election.[22]

In October 2023, Wallis stated that he would not seek re-election to the Bridgend constituency at the next general election, but may seek an alternative constituency outside Wales.[23]

Personal life

[edit]

At the time of the December 2019 general election, Wallis was married and had two daughters, then aged six and three.[24][25]

On 30 March 2022, Walliscame outastransgender,becoming the first openly transgender MP in theHouse of Commons.[4][26]Wallis has stated that he will continue to use he/him pronouns "for the time being".[5]He said an individual hadouted himto his father and attempted toblackmailWallis in April 2020; Wallis said the individual was prosecuted, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months imprisonment.[27]

Criminal convictions

[edit]

In February 2022, Wallis was fined £270 and received three points on hisdriving licenceafter pleading guilty to an offence in August 2021 of"failure to comply with solid white line road markings"on theA48.[28]

On 28 November 2021, Wallis was arrested on suspicion of driving while unfit after a car collided with a lamppost inLlanblethian,Vale of Glamorgan.[29]On 30 March 2022, he said that he had "fled the scene" of the car collision due to having a form ofpost-traumatic stress disorderafter being raped in September 2021.[30]In April 2022, Wallis was charged with failing to stop following a road traffic collision, failure to report a road traffic collision, careless driving and leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position.[31]In May he pleaded not guilty to the offences.[32]On 11 July 2022 Wallis was found guilty of failing to stop and report an accident, leaving his car in a dangerous position, but cleared of driving without due care and attention. The court heard that Wallis was wearing "a black leather PVC miniskirt, tights, dark shoes and a pearl necklace" when he fled the scene of the crash, and that police "forced entry into the Wallis' family home address which was described as a 'mansion' and 'absolutely colossal', out of concern for the MP".[33]Wallis said he was frightened of a group of people who came to help him. He was picked up by his father and fell asleep at home without reporting the crash to police.[34]Wallis was fined £2,500 and disqualified from driving for six months. District Judge Tan Ikram said he "didn't find the defendant credible".[33]Following the conviction, the Conservative Party said it "will not be taking any further action".[34]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Jamie Wallis".Who Can I Vote For?.Archived fromthe originalon 2 January 2020.Retrieved19 January2019.
  2. ^Brunskill, Ian (2020).The Times Guide to the House of Commons 2019.Glasgow: Times Books. p. 390.ISBN978-0-00-839258-1.OCLC1129682574.
  3. ^"Election 2019 - Bridgend".BBC News.Archived fromthe originalon 1 December 2019.Retrieved13 December2019.
  4. ^ab"Jamie Wallis MP comes out as trans and speaks of rape ordeal".BBC News.30 March 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 30 March 2022.Retrieved30 March2022.
  5. ^abJamie Wallis (30 March 2022)."Follow-up statement from Jamie Wallis MP".Archived fromthe originalon 30 March 2022.Retrieved30 March2022.
  6. ^Bolter, Abby (17 May 2017)."General Election 2017: Who are the candidates standing in Ogmore?".WalesOnline.Archived fromthe originalon 4 August 2020.Retrieved26 April2020.
  7. ^Christ Church, Oxford (2007).Christ Church 2006.Oxford: Christ Church, Oxford. p. 133.
  8. ^Evidence of panspermia: from astronomy to meteorites(Thesis). 2014.EThOSuk.bl.ethos.620115
  9. ^"The New Boys and Girls No. 5: Jamie Wallis".Private Eye(1516): 12. 21 February 2020.
  10. ^"ACTION DIRECT (UK) LIMITED".Companies House. Archived fromthe originalon 11 June 2020.Retrieved11 June2020.
  11. ^Shipton, Martin (10 January 2020)."Bridgend Conservative MP's companies prompted more than 800 complaints to trading standards, says council".WalesOnline.Archived fromthe originalon 30 July 2020.Retrieved11 June2020.
  12. ^"Ministry of Justice 'prevents Welsh claims firm from taking new clients'".WalesOnline.30 September 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 11 June 2020.Retrieved11 June2020.
  13. ^Irwin, Philip (16 January 2020)."New MP threatens legal action against council".Cowbridge Today.Archived fromthe originalon 19 July 2021.Retrieved21 January2020.
    -Wickham, Alex; Nardelli, Alberto (9 January 2020)."A New Tory MP's Companies Were Subject To Hundreds Of Trading Standards Complaints".BuzzFeed News.Archived fromthe originalon 17 June 2020.Retrieved11 June2020.
  14. ^Shipton, Martin (31 January 2022)."No action taken yet on council's FOI figures".Western Mail.Retrieved2 August2022– via PressReader.
  15. ^Elizabeth Bradfield (3 December 2019)."Bridgend Conservative election candidate was kicked off town council for not going to meetings".WalesOnline.Archived fromthe originalon 13 January 2020.Retrieved21 January2020.
  16. ^Daniel Bond (16 December 2019)."Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs".The House.Archived fromthe originalon 16 December 2019.Retrieved21 January2020.
  17. ^Wickham, Alex (13 January 2020)."A New Tory MP Claimed He Wasn't Involved With A" Sugar Daddy "Service His Website Promoted. He Actually Co-Owned It".BuzzFeed News.Archived fromthe originalon 13 January 2020.Retrieved13 January2020.
  18. ^Duffy, Nick (11 January 2020)."Jess Phillips urges Tories to suspend new MP linked to 'sugar daddy' website".i.Archived fromthe originalon 12 January 2020.Retrieved13 January2020.
  19. ^"Call for whip to be removed from new Tory MP".BBC News.11 January 2020. Archived fromthe originalon 13 January 2020.Retrieved13 January2020.
  20. ^Shipton, Martin (10 January 2020)."New Tory MP's firms had 800 complaints to trading standards, says council".WalesOnline.Archived fromthe originalon 13 January 2020.Retrieved13 January2020.
  21. ^Nishan Sampreeth ChilkurionTwitter,14 July 2022
    -"Full list: Tory endorsements for next leader".The Spectator.16 July 2022.Retrieved18 July2022.
  22. ^Smith, Reiss (16 October 2022)."Tory MP Jamie Wallis demands Liz Truss quit over budget fiasco and calls out anti-trans 'hostility'".PinkNews.Retrieved16 October2022.
  23. ^"Conservative MP seeking new seat for next election".BBC News. 22 October 2023.Retrieved10 January2023.
  24. ^Mosalski, Ruth; Bradfield, Elizabeth (13 December 2019)."Conservatives win Bridgend from Labour in huge election upset".WalesOnline.Archived fromthe originalon 31 March 2022.Retrieved31 March2022.
  25. ^"Conservative candidates selected for Ogmore".The Cowbridge GEM.Archived fromthe originalon 28 April 2022.Retrieved31 March2022.
  26. ^"Statement from Jamie Wallis MP – 30th March 2022".Jamie Wallis MP.30 March 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 30 March 2022.Retrieved30 March2022.
  27. ^Parekh, Marcus; Penna, Dominic (30 March 2022)."Jamie Wallis MP comes out as trans and reveals he was a victim of rape".The Telegraph.ISSN0307-1235.Archived fromthe originalon 30 March 2022.Retrieved30 March2022.
  28. ^"Bridgend MP Jamie Wallis fined after car hit lamppost".BBC News.15 February 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 15 February 2022.Retrieved11 October2022.
  29. ^"Bridgend MP arrested on suspicion of driving while unfit".BBC News.19 December 2021. Archived fromthe originalon 19 December 2021.Retrieved19 December2021.
  30. ^"Jamie Wallis MP comes out as trans and speaks of rape ordeal".BBC News.30 March 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 30 March 2022.Retrieved30 March2022.
  31. ^"Jamie Wallis: Bridgend MP charged over car crash".BBC News.28 April 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 28 April 2022.Retrieved28 April2022.
  32. ^"Jamie Wallis: Bridgend Tory MP denies traffic offences".BBC News.10 May 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 28 June 2022.Retrieved24 June2022.
  33. ^ab"Jamie Wallis: MP found guilty of driving offences".BBC Wales.11 July 2022.Retrieved11 July2022.
  34. ^abMorris, Steven (11 July 2022)."Tory MP Jamie Wallis banned from driving for failing to stop after crash".
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toJamie Wallis.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of parliament
forBridgend
2019–2024 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jamie_Wallis&oldid=1234297345"