Lee Scott: biography

Biography of Lee Scott, British politician and Conservative Member of Parliament for Ilford North.

Introduction

Lee Scott was born on 6 April 1956 in West Ham's area of London's East end in a British-Jewish family. He was educated at Clark's College Ilford and subsequently at London College of Distributive Trades.

Begginings

Scott spent much of his pre-political career throughout the 1970s and 1980s working for major firms, including Toshiba and NKR, as a Sales executive. In 1988 he made the move into politics, being appointed Campaign Director for the United Jewish Israel Appeal, a position he retained for 10 years, before going on to become a Conservative councillor for the London Borough of Redbridge.

Career & Achievements

Lee Scott's first attempt at gaining election into the House of Commons was in 2001, where he unsuccessfully stood as Conservative candidate for Wavney, in Suffolk. He ran again in 2005, winning Ilford North from Labour's Linda Perham with a majority of 1653. He was re-elected to the same seat in 2010 with a majority of 5404. Prior to his 2010 re-election, he had served as a member of the Transport Select Committee, and from June to December 2010 as an aide to the Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond MP. Scott is particularly noted for his pro-Israeli sympathies, and is an officer of the Conservative friends of Israel group. He has also been noted for being a consistent and vocal opponent in parliament of smoking in public places, and voted for legislation enacting the banning of it. He is however perhaps best renowned for raising awareness about autism in parliament. In 2007 both he and autism campaigner Ivan Corea met with then Prime Minister Tony Blair to further discuss the illness after Scott had raised the issue with Blair in a sitting of Prime Minister's Questions. This led to the UK Autism foundation nominating Scott for the ePolitix Disability Champion Award in 2008 in recognition of his efforts. He resigned his position as aide to Phillip Hammond in December 2010 having chosen to abstain from the Government's Higher Tuition Fees Bill.