I was born in 1970 into a modest family.  My dad was a hard-working career civil servant in the Ministry of Defence and my mum a housewife who worked part-time to help make ends meet.   I grew up in a warm and loving home with lots of laughter for which I have to thank them both.

After a brief stint in the Army, I read law at Oxford before being called to the Bar.  In 2009, I was made a Queen's Counsel - one of the youngest in the country - and the following year I was also appointed by the Queen as a Crown Court Recorder.

I joined the Conservative Party in 1988 and spent two decades pushing leaflets through letterboxes and working hard for local communities before being selected to fight the Sleaford & North Hykeham seat in 2009 in an open primary process open to every voter in the constituency. On 6th May 2010, I was returned to Parliament by the electors of the constituency with a majority just shy of 20,000.

When I'm not at Westminster, I enjoy village life back in the constituency, meeting the people who put me in Parliament and listening to the views they want me to put across on behalf of our community.  I enjoy getting muddy with the kids and the dog and, of course, sampling the best pub food in the country.