Andrew Griffiths (politician)

Andrew James Griffiths (born 19 October 1970) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Burton from 2010 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he was succeeded by his estranged wife, Kate Griffiths.

This article is about the MP for Burton. For the MP for Arundel and South Downs, see Andrew Griffith.

Andrew Griffiths
Official portrait, 2017
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility
In office
9 January 2018 – 13 July 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byMargot James
Succeeded byKelly Tolhurst
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
17 July 2016 – 9 January 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byMel Stride
Succeeded byNigel Adams
Member of Parliament
for Burton
In office
6 May 2010 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byJanet Dean
Succeeded byKate Griffiths
Personal details
Born (1970-10-19) 19 October 1970
Dudley, Staffordshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2013; sep. 2018)​
Children1
OccupationPolitician
Websiteandrewgriffithsmp.com

During his parliamentary career, Griffiths was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from January 2018 until his resignation in July 2018 after the Sunday Mirror reported that he had sent up to 2,000 sexually explicit text messages to two female constituents. In December 2021 the Court of Appeal allowed the release of a Family Court judgement that said Griffiths had raped his wife.[1]

Early life and career

Andrew Griffiths was born on 19 October 1970 in Dudley, Staffordshire to Robert and Harriet Griffiths (née Du'Rose). He attended Bramford Primary School and High Arcal School. He is the youngest of their five children. His father was a local councillor for 34 years and Mayor of Dudley in 1982.[2][3][4] After finishing secondary school, Griffiths joined the family engineering business. He then worked for the Leeds Permanent Building Society.[5]

In 1999, Griffiths began to work for the West Midlands MEP team in the European Parliament in Brussels, before being appointed adviser on farming. He worked for the European Agricultural Spokesman Neil Parish MEP. Griffiths stood as a Conservative council candidate on three separate occasions, but was not elected. He first contested the safe Labour seat of Dudley North at the 2001 general election, coming in 6,800 votes behind Labour's Ross Cranston.[6] Griffiths unsuccessfully stood as a Conservative candidate at the 2004 European Parliament election in the West Midlands constituency.[7][8]

After the election, he became chief of staff to MP Theresa May.[9] In 2006, he moved to work for the Culture, Media and Sport team, working as chief of staff to Hugo Swire.[4] After Swire was removed as part of a cabinet reshuffle, Griffiths became chief of staff to Eric Pickles, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and remained Pickles' chief of staff when he became the Conservative Party chairman.[4][10] He was a member of the A-List and was selected as a parliamentary candidate for Burton in November 2006.[11]

Parliamentary career

Griffiths was elected at the 2010 general election for Burton, regaining the seat for the Conservatives for the first time since 1997 when it was held by Ivan Lawrence from 1974. Griffiths was re-elected at the 2015 general election.[12] He served as secretary of the All-party parliamentary group (APPG) for the Misuse of Drugs and Alcohol, additional general secretary of the APPG for Kashmir, and vice-chairman of the APPG for Home Education. He was chairman of the APPG for Beer for five years and campaigned against increased taxes on beer (the beer duty escalator). He was a member of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee between 2010 and 2013.

Griffiths did not join fellow local Conservative MPs Andrew Bridgen and Heather Wheeler in campaigning for the return of passenger rail services on the Burton to Leicester railway line via the Ivanhoe Line.[13] However, he did campaign for improvements to be made to Burton Station.[14]

In February 2015, Griffiths was awarded Parliamentarian of the Year by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in recognition of his role in campaigning for the reduction of tax increases on beer. The award sparked controversy from some CAMRA campaigners due to Griffiths' opposition to other CAMRA campaigns on increasing planning controls on public houses to prevent their loss, and for opposing reform to the controversial system of "beer ties" which oblige landlords to pay higher prices to the chain owners (pubcos) for their beer supplies.[15]

Griffths supported the UK remaining within the EU in the 2016 EU membership referendum.[16]

Following Theresa May becoming Prime Minister in July 2016, Griffiths was appointed as a junior government whip with the title of lord commissioner of HM Treasury[17] on 17 July 2016.

During Jeremy Corbyn's response to the November 2017 Budget on 22 November 2017, Griffiths heckled him over his comments on the lack of adequate Government funding for care homes. Labour MPs accused Griffiths of ageism and abusive language for shouting that Corbyn belonged in a care home.[18] Griffiths denied this, instead suggesting that he was responding to Corbyn's statement "there are elderly people in need of help," and that he said: "That's you!"[19] Corbyn responded with the comment: "The uncaring, uncouth attitude of certain members of parliament needs to be called out".[19]

He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility in 2018.

On 12 February 2018, Griffiths received media coverage after he was interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live to promote shared parental leave and said that he would not be able to take it himself when his own baby was due to be born later that year, saying, "Unfortunately, as a minister, I'm not allowed... Ministers are not allowed to take shared parental leave." The presenter, Emma Barnett, said: "Hang on a minute, back up a second, you’ve just come on the radio to promote Shared Parental Leave and you’re in a job where the rules could be changed because you are the rule-makers, where you’re not allowed to take Shared Parental Leave?" "That’s right," responded Griffiths. "How can you say that without laughing?" asked Barnett. Griffiths said his main concern was for other parents to take advantage of the system.[20]

In March 2018, Griffiths was criticised by opposition MPs for blocking an SNP proposal for a bill that would secure the national minimum wage for those working on a "trial period" basis. It was revealed that Griffiths had previously advertised for an unpaid intern position in his own office. In response, Griffiths admitted he had used unpaid interns, but argued that the bill was not needed because existing law was already adequate in this area.[21]

Griffiths did not stand at the 2019 general election after party members did not reselect him.[22] His estranged wife Kate was selected as the Conservative candidate and succeeded him as the MP for his constituency Burton.[23]

Sexual misconduct allegations

On 14 July 2018, the Sunday Mirror reported that Griffiths had sent up to 2,000 sexually explicit texts in a three-week period to two of his female constituents. In response to this, he resigned from his ministerial position and he was suspended by the Conservative Party.[9][24][25] He had previously been accused of inappropriate touching and bullying of a Conservative borough councillor and the bullying of the leader of another council as well as his former campaign manager.[26][27]

In November 2018, during an interview with The Sunday Times, Griffiths claimed that he had planned to kill himself after the sexual misconduct allegations came to light. During the same interview, Griffiths said that the texts that he had sent to the women were "the result of my mental breakdown" following a "battle with my own mental health". He disclosed that he had a long history of mental health problems resulting from being allegedly abused at the age of eight by a fifteen-year-old boy.[28][29] On 12 December 2018, Griffiths had the Conservative whip restored, ending his suspension from the party.[30][31] His reinstation was widely criticised for being announced hours before a confidence vote in Conservative leader Theresa May, making Griffiths eligible to participate.[30][32]

On 8 September 2019, Griffiths was cleared of breaching the House of Commons' code of conduct by the parliamentary standards watchdog as it could not find any evidence that he sent messages while carrying out parliamentary activities.[33]

Personal life

Griffiths married Kate Kniveton in 2013,[34] the two have one daughter born in April 2018.[35] They separated in 2018 and subsequently divorced.[36][37]

In 2019 Griffiths brought a Family Court case seeking improved visitation rights to his daughter.[38] Kate Griffiths objected and testified that her husband had subjected her to repeated rape and physical and sexual abuse.[38] In November 2020 the judge accepted her testimony and ruled in her favour.[38] (This was a civil case where the burden of proof is on balance of probabilities, as opposed to a criminal case where a guilty verdict would require no reasonable doubt.[38])

Family Court cases are usually secret, but Kate Griffiths waived her right to anonymity and in December 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that public interest was served by making an exception.[38]

References
  1. Tickle, Louise. "A finding of rape". Tortoise. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. Griffiths, Andrew James. UK Who's Who. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U251152. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. "Winter 2015/16" (PDF). Sedgley Journal. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  4. Perrett, Michelle (20 May 2012). "The Big Interview: Andrew Griffiths MP, chair All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group". The Morning Advertiser. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  5. Nugent, Helen (12 May 2018). "Interview: Andrew Griffiths". Journal of Trading Standards. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  6. "Dudley North". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  7. "Andrew Griffiths". politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  8. "European Election: West Midlands Result". BBC News. 14 June 2014. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  9. "Minister resigns over texts to women". BBC News. 14 July 2018. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  10. "Shadow Cabinet: Who's Who". BBC News. 9 September 2009. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  11. "Where are the original A-Listers now? The 27 who have been selected for target seats". 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  12. "BBC News – Election 2015 – Constituency – Burton". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  13. "New Calls to Reopen Railway Line". Burton Mail. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  14. "Improvements to 'hideous' Burton station edge a step closer as politicians and rail bosses join forces". Burton Mail. 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  15. "Uproar after Andrew Griffithd MP handed CAMRA Award". Morning Advertiser. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  16. Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  17. "Andrew Griffiths on Twitter". Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  18. Forrester, Kate (23 November 2017). "Labour MPs Reveal Alleged Budget Jibe By Tory Whip Who Said Jeremy Corbyn 'Should Be In Care'". Huff Post. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  19. Price, Rob (22 November 2017). "Jeremy Corbyn angrily tears into Tory MP for allegedly joking he should be 'in a care home'". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  20. "Minister promoting shared parental leave says he can't take shared leave". Guardian. 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  21. "Andrew Griffiths MP comes under fire for unpaid intern job advert during debate". Burton Mail. 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  22. Kreft, Helen (12 November 2019). "Shock result at dramatic Tory meeting to decide future of Andrew Griffiths in Burton". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
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  24. "MP Andrew Griffiths quits ministerial post after "sex texts" to female constituents are revealed". telegraph.co.uk. 14 July 2018. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  25. Walker, Peter (11 October 2018). "Suspended Tory MP seeks early resolution to explicit texts inquiry". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  26. Halliday, Josh (17 July 2018). "Andrew Griffiths was made minister despite 'touching' allegations". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  27. Halliday, Josh (21 July 2018). "May under pressure over Andrew Griffiths bullying allegations". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  28. Wheeler, Caroline (4 November 2018). "Andrew Griffiths interview: mental breakdown drove MP to send 'shameful' sex texts". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  29. Halliday, Josh (4 November 2018). "Tory MP who sexted women says he was having manic episode". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  30. Syal, Rajeev (12 December 2018). "Tories reinstate MPs suspended over sex allegations for confidence vote". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018 – via www.theguardian.com.
  31. "Conservatives restore whip to MPs suspended over claims of sexual misconduct so they can take part in Theresa May no-confidence vote". The Independent. 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  32. Rayner, Gordon; Maidment, Jack; Yorke, Harry; Graham, Chris; Horton, Helena (12 December 2018). "Theresa May no confidence vote result: Prime Minister survives but 117 Tory MPs go against her". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  33. "Tory MP cleared of wrongdoing for sending explicit texts". The Guardian. 8 September 2019. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  34. "Burton Bulletin" (PDF). Rotary International. p. 8.
  35. Pridding, Beth (17 April 2018). "'She's our little miracle' - Andrew Griffiths and wife Kate welcome their first baby into the world". Staffordshire Live. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  36. "General election 2019: Kate Griffiths selected as Burton Tory candidate". BBC News. 13 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  37. "Ex-Tory minister Andrew Griffiths found to have raped wife". BBC News. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  38. Tickle, Louise (10 December 2021). "Griffiths v Griffiths". Tortoise. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
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