Tom Pursglove was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Corby & East Northamptonshire in May 2015 and was subsequently re-elected at the General Elections of June 2017 and December 2019.
Tom grew up in nearby Wellingborough, well known in and around Corby & East Northamptonshire as a result of his political activity and sporting interests – he swam competitively and still plays the very rare game of cricket, as an ECB-qualified umpire has long officiated local women’s and men’s league matches. A keen runner, he has run the London Marathon three times for local charities and was the Chairman of the Running APPG in Parliament.
First elected to serve the Croyland Ward on the Borough Council of Wellingborough in 2007 at the age of 18 – the youngest councillor in the country at that time – and as the former Deputy Chairman Political of the Wellingborough Conservative Association and selected as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate in April 2013, fought for improvements to local infrastructure, against unwanted overdevelopment in our rural communities, and for the Rushden Lakes development – all successful campaigns, working closely alongside local people.
Comprehensively educated at Sir Christopher Hatton School in Wellingborough he received a degree from Queen Mary College, University of London, and went on to work as a Parliamentary Assistant to the Rt. Hon Chris Heaton Harris MP.
Tom is from a policing family and has a keen interest in policing policy and has been a consistent advocate for greater support for the police and boosting officer numbers on the frontline – campaigning hard both on funding, but also in terms of health and well-being support for officers, having been a leading advocate for the Government to commit to a ‘Policing Covenant’, which it now duly has.
When Tom was first selected as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, he launched the ‘Listening to Corby & East Northamptonshire Campaign’ which seeks to find out what issues matter most to local people, so that he can best reflect and champion local views and concerns to policymakers both locally and nationally. In the time that Tom has served as the local Member of Parliament, he has been committed to working hard on behalf of all local people, regardless of how they vote, and the ‘Listening Campaign’ has remained integral to the work he has done as the Member of Parliament for Corby & East Northamptonshire ever since.
When the Rt. Hon Theresa May MP became Prime Minister in July 2016, Tom served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Immigration at the Home Office, the Rt. Hon Robert Goodwill MP, and following the 2017 General Election, was appointed as the PPS to the Rt. Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, the Secretary of State for International Trade & President of the Board of Trade. In June 2018, Tom was appointed as PPS to the Rt. Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department, and in July 2018, was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Youth.
Following the election of the Rt. Hon Boris Johnson MP as Leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister in July 2019, Tom was appointed an Assistant Government Whip – a role he fulfilled for over two years before being promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice & Tackling Illegal Migration at both the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice in the September 2021 reshuffle. From July to September 2022, he served as Minister of State for Crime and Policing at the Home Office.
Upon the election of the Rt. Hon Liz Truss MP as Prime Minister, Tom remained at the Home Office, but as Minister of State for Immigration. He served in this position until the election of the Rt. Hon Rishi Sunak MP as Prime Minister in October 2022, when he was appointed as Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work at the Department for Work and Pensions – a role he continues to fulfill in addition to his constituency duties.
Tom has always worked tirelessly to be Corby & East Northamptonshire’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Corby & East Northamptonshire and is proud to actively represent the area where he grew up in Parliament.