Ben Wallace: biography

Ben Wallace is a British politician and has been Conservative Member of Parliament for Wyre and Preston North since the 2010 General Election. He had previously served as an MP Lancaster and Wyre, and also as a Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament. This article outlines Wallace's early years and education, his political career in Scotland and in England, and his achievements in the field.

Begginings

Early Years and Education
Ben Wallace was born in Farnborough, in the London Borough of Bromley, on
15 May 1970. He attended Millfield School in Street, a small village in Somerset. Military Career
After attending the British Army's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Wallace joined up with the army's Scots' Guards in 1991. He served in tours in Central America and as an Intelligence Officer in Northern Ireland, before leaving the military in 1998.

Career

Scottish Parliament
Ben Wallace was elected Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland in the inaugural Scottish elections of May 1999. He became the Tories' Shadow Health spokesman in Scotland, and served on the Health Select Committee. He resigned from his seat in May 2003. In between parliaments
Having left the Scottish parliament, Wallace took two years out of politics to work for QinetiQ, a British national defense laboratory. He was employed as the organization's Overseas Director in the Security & Intelligence Division between 2003-2005. Westminster
In May 2005 Wallace stood for the UK parliamentary seat of Lancaster and Wyre, as a Conservative candidate. The seat was one of the Conservatives' top 10 target seats to take from the Labour government in that particular election. Electoral borders were redrawn for the 2010 election, with Wallace standing for the newly created Wyre and Preston North, winning by a comfortable majority.

Achievements

Builiding Large Constituency Majority
When Wallace decided to stand for Lancaster and Wyre in 2005, the seat had a very narrow Labour majority of 481. His campaign saw a 4.50% swing in the vote to the Conservatives, meaning Wallace was elected with a majority of 4171. Parliamentary appointments
In his first term (2005-2010) as Westminster MP, Wallace was appointed into several notable positions. He was the Shadow Minister of State for Scotland and Chair of the British–Iran Parliamentary Group. Following re-election in
May 2010, Wallace became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Kenneth Clarke, the Lord Chancellor. Media Recognition
In recognition of his work in making MP's expenses more transparent, Wallace was awarded the 2008 Spectator/Threadneedle Campaigner of the Year award.