Biog

Shailesh was first elected Member of Parliament for North West Cambridgeshire in May 2005 and re-elected in 2010.

During 2005-6, Shailesh was a member of the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and in 2006 he served on the Standing Committee of the Companies Bill, scrutinising the largest Bill ever to go through Parliament. Moreover, during 2006 he was Joint Secretary of the Conservative Backbench Group on Foreign affairs.
Shailesh has regularly asked questions of Ministers on a range of subjects. The questions he has asked, and the government’s responses, can be viewed by clicking on the relevant section in the menu above. He has also spoken in Parliamentary debates on a wide range of subjects – from tackling anti-social behaviour to better scrutiny of EU legislation, and from care for dementia sufferers to reform of the House of Commons.

In 2006 Shailesh introduced a Private Member’s Bill to extend the age range for women to have compulsory breast cancer screening from the present 50-70 to the 45-75 age range. The government did not allow the Bill to progress at the time but subsequently followed his lead and moved part-way to meeting the aspirations he pressed for.

Shailesh then introduced another Private Member’s Bill in 2007 to give greater protection to householders who sought to defend themselves and their property from intruders in their homes. Again, the government did not allow the Bill to progress but Shailesh is still pressing for the change in legislation, a call being supported at a national level by the Conservative Party.

From Nov 2006 he served as Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, speaking for the Conservative Party on Parliamentary matters from the Commons Front Bench and following the 2010 General Election he served as a Government Whip until September 2012.

In North West Cambridgeshire

Since 2005 Shailesh has helped many people who have approached him about problems they have had with personal matters or about problems they have had with various authorities. Whether these requests have come via post, email, phone or in person at one of his regular surgeries, he has always tried his best to assist. Shailesh has also been keen to receive people’s views and has invited more than 25,000 local residents to coffee mornings so he could hear their opinions on local or national issues.

As well as helping individuals, Shailesh has campaigned on matters that benefit the whole community. He successfully persuaded BT to introduce broadband in the Hamptons, worked with others to ensure Hinchingbrooke Hospital’s survival and was instrumental in achieving the installation of speed cameras along the Forty Foot Road, which should help save lives on that dangerous accident hotspot. Shailesh also presented three petitions to the Prime Minister, in conjunction with local residents. The first concerned saving Hinchingbrooke Hospital, the second protested against the 82% increase in car parking charges at Peterborough Rail Station by GNER and the third campaigned against cuts to our local post office network.

Personal

Shailesh was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and Brunel University and qualified as a solicitor. He has worked in the City and the West End of London, as well as in Hong Kong. He is married with two children.

Prior to entering Parliament, Shailesh held various posts in the Conservative Party including being a Vice-Chairman of the Party during 2001-2005. Apart from his Shadow Ministerial brief, Shailesh holds a range of other responsibilities. These include being Joint-Vice Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Trafficking of Women and Children, Treasurer of the BBC All Party Parliamentary Group and Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of Conservative Lawyers.