Rob Butler is the Conservative candidate for Aylesbury at the General Election on 4th July 2024. He was first elected as the local MP following the General Election on 12 December, 2019, and served until the Dissolution of Parliament on 30th May 2024.
Rob was born at the Royal Bucks Hospital in Aylesbury, and home for the earliest part of his life was on Bedgrove. His family then moved to a small village near Bicester, so Rob knows the local area well, both town and country, and understands the issues that matter here: the need for vibrant high streets and thriving villages, for good roads, accessible healthcare and the preservation of the countryside.
Rob’s professional life began as a TV news presenter and reporter – first at the BBC then at Channel 5. From 2005 until his election he was self-employed as a communications consultant, working with large and small companies and organisations around the world.
Rob firmly believes in public service and has had a number of roles in the community: governor of primary and secondary schools, a prison monitor and a magistrate. He was a board member of the Youth Justice Board, a non-executive director of HM Prison and Probation Service and member of the Sentencing Council.
After his election in 2019, Rob focused on the issues that matter most to local residents and businesses - standing up to HS2, development that is backed by the right infrastructure, a safe and sustainable town centre and tackling Anti-Social Behaviour, supporting our local NHS, protecting the environment, giving children a brilliant start in life and backing the Buckinghamshire economy, especially small firms.
Between 2020 and 2022, Rob was a member of the Justice Select Committee. He has also sat on the parliamentary committees scrutinising legislation covering everything from terrorism to veterans’ pensions, from the theft of rural machinery to the future of the media. He successfully introduced a Private Member’s Bill to expand drug-testing for ex-prisoners in Approved Premises.
Rob is a member of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme for Strategic Command, having previously participated in the RAF and Royal Navy schemes.
In December 2023, Rob was appointed the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Morocco.
Rob was awarded the OBE for public and political service as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and as the Member of Parliament for Aylesbury.