Dan Byles

Daniel Alan Byles FRGS (born 24 June 1974[1]) is a former British politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Warwickshire from 2010 to 2015.

Dan Byles
FRGS
Byles in 2013
Member of Parliament
for North Warwickshire
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded byMike O'Brien
Succeeded byCraig Tracey
Personal details
Born (1974-06-24) 24 June 1974
Hastings, East Sussex, England
Political partyConservative
Websitewww.danbyles.co.uk

Background
Warwick School

Byles was born in Hastings, East Sussex, but spent his early childhood as an expatriate in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia before returning to England at age nine to the Cotswold market town of Chipping Norton. Helped by a government funded scholarship, the Assisted Places Scheme, Byles attended Warwick School.

He attended the University of Leeds from 1993 to 1996, where he earned a 2.1 BA Joint Honours in Economics and Management Studies, becoming the first member of his family to attend university. In 2007 he was awarded an MA in creative writing from Nottingham Trent University.

Military career

Following university, Byles attended Commissioning Course 963 at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Initially commissioned into The Light Infantry Byles later accepted a Regular Commission with the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Medical Support Officer.

Adventures and expeditions

Atlantic rowing race 1997

In 1995 Byles and his mother Janice Meek rowed 3,044 nautical miles (5,637 km) from Tenerife to Barbados; it took 100 days, 18 hours and 57 minutes. In rowing across the Atlantic, the pair became the first mother and son team to row any ocean.[2]

Charities and organisations

In October 2008, Byles became the main sponsor of the Bedworth United F.C. Youth Team, in order to support community youth projects involving sport.[3]

In December 2013, Byles was made a President of The Young People's Trust for the Environment.[4] for his work in Parliament on environmental and energy issues.[5]

Political career
Byles during the Atlantic Rowing Race in 1997

In 2007, Byles stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Leicester City Council in Stoneygate ward.[6]

On 8 March 2007, Byles was selected as the Conservative Party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the North Warwickshire constituency at the 2010 general election. He was selected at an open primary.

Byles was elected by 54 votes at the election on 6 May 2010 after defeating the incumbent MP Mike O'Brien, and served as Member of Parliament in the House of Commons until May 2015. He had the smallest majority of all Conservative Members of Parliament during the 2010–2015 Parliament.

He gave his maiden speech in the Commons on Thursday 3 June 2010 when he spoke about Nicholas Chamberlaine, the Atherstone Ball Game, and his intention to campaign for better rehabilitation and mental health care for military veterans and reservists.[7]

In July 2014 Byles announced that he would not stand at the next election as "it was time to pursue new challenges."[8]

Guinness world records

In 2006 Byles and his mother Janice Meek were belatedly awarded a Guinness World Record certificate for being the first mother and son team to row any ocean in 1997/8.[2]

References
  1. "Dan Byles MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  2. "guinness records ocean rowing". Oceanrowing.com. 18 September 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  3. Steve Evans (29 October 2008). "News – North Warwickshire News – Dan up front with support". Coventry Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  4. "Our Team | Presidents, Trustees and Staff | Young People's Trust For the Environment". Ypte.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  5. "MP Dan Byles honoured for his work on energy and environmental issues". Tamworth Herald. 18 January 2014. Archived from the original on 23 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  6. "Detailed Results for Stoneygate ward". Leicester City Council. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  7. Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (3 June 2010). "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 3 Jun 2010 (pt 0016)". Publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. "Dan Byles MP Statement | Dan Byles MP". www.danbyles.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
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