Brought up and educated in Surrey, Jeremy’s first sporting interest was cross-country running at school. He now prefers to indulge in some latin dancing – lambada is his favourite.
He lives in his constituency of South West Surrey, which has a thriving cultural life and has just become the base for the University for the Creative Arts. One of the reasons he is so enthusiastic about the culture, media and sport role is that he knows what a difference those things make locally, with superb arts organisations like the Maltings in Farnham, and vibrant events such as the Godalming Music Festival and the Haslemere Festival proving how the arts can bring people together and make life better for everyone.
Jeremy’s business background includes setting up his own educational publishing business, Hotcourses. The company, which employs over 230 people, has become the UK's largest publisher of guides and websites to help people find the right school, college, university or course. As a former publisher, he understands the challenges faced by the UK’s arts and creative industries and knows first hand how vital they are for the UK’s economy.
Jeremy is a strong believer that all parts of the Culture, Media and Sport brief play a key role in the quality of life agenda. His top priority is to ensure the Olympic Games in London in 2012 will provide a lasting sporting legacy without taking much needed funds away from grassroots sport.
POSITIONS HELD:
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MP for South West Surrey, May 2005 -
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Shadow Minister for Disabled People, Dec 2005 - July 2007
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Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, July 2007 - May 2010
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Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, May 2010 -
PROUDEST POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENT:
Working with local campaigners to save the Royal Surrey County Hospital’s A&E department from closure. A 6,000-strong rally, packed public meetings and a candle-lit vigil at Parliament all forced the local Primary Care Trust to keep the area’s vital resource open.
INTERESTS OUTSIDE OF POLITICS:
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Theatre
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Classical music
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Africa
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Latin dancing