Danny Kruger

Daniel Rayne Kruger[3] MBE (born 23 October 1974) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Devizes since the 2019 general election. He is the son of writer and property developer Rayne Kruger, and restaurateur and television presenter Prue Leith. His early education was at Eton College, Kruger subsequently studied history at the University of Edinburgh and University of Oxford.

Danny Kruger

MBE MP
Member of Parliament
for Devizes
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byClaire Perry O'Neill
Majority23,993 (47.1%)
Personal details
Born
Daniel Rayne Kruger

(1974-10-23) 23 October 1974[1]
Westminster, London[2]
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Parents
EducationEton College
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
University of Oxford

After university, he worked at the think tank, Centre for Policy Studies, and then became a policy adviser for the Conservative Party. Kruger became then leader David Cameron's chief speechwriter in 2006. He left this role two years later to work full-time at a youth crime prevention charity that he had co-founded called Only Connect. For his charitable work, Kruger received an MBE in 2017. In August 2019, he became Prime Minister Boris Johnson's political secretary.

Early life and career

Kruger was born in Westminster to South African parents, writer and property developer Rayne Kruger, and restaurateur and television presenter Prue Leith.[4][5] He was privately educated at Eton College.[6] Kruger studied history at the University of Edinburgh.[7] While at the university, he was the editor of the magazine Intercourse, which had a controversial issue featuring three naked students and an advertisement for a massage parlour.[6][8] He obtained a doctorate in history from the University of Oxford in 2000.[7]

After university, he became the director of research at the centre-right think tank Centre for Policy Studies in 2001.[9] Kruger worked as a policy adviser in the Conservative Party's Policy Unit from 2003 to 2005.[10] During this time, he was credited with contributing to then Conservative Party Leader Iain Duncan Smith's speech at the 2003 Conservative Party Conference.[11] In 2005, Kruger became the chief leader writer of The Daily Telegraph.[10]

Kruger was selected as the Conservative candidate for Sedgefield in the 2005 general election.[12][13] He was forced to drop out of the contest after The Guardian quoted him stating the party had planned "to introduce a period of creative destruction in the public services".[14][15] Kruger left his position at The Daily Telegraph to become the chief speechwriter to then Conservative Party Leader David Cameron in 2006.[6] He wrote Cameron's 2006 address to the think-tank Centre for Social Justice, which was later dubbed the "hug-a-hoodie" speech, and was noted as a call to re-brand the party with compassionate conservatism at its core.[16][17]

He co-founded the London-based youth crime prevention charity, Only Connect, in 2006[18][19] and in 2008 left his position as Cameron's chief speechwriter to work full-time for the charity.[20] In 2015, the charity was acquired by Catch22 but continued to operate independently with its own brand.[21] He also founded the charity West London Zone, which aims to provide support to at-risk youth.[22] Kruger was made an MBE for services to charity in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours.[23] In the same year, he voiced his support for the legalisation of cannabis.[24]

Kruger supported Brexit in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum.[25] He was a senior fellow at the pro-Brexit think-tank Legatum Institute, which he left in 2018 to become an adviser at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.[7][26] In August 2019, Kruger became the political secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.[27]

Parliamentary career

Kruger was selected as the Conservative candidate for Devizes on 9 November 2019.[28] The constituency's incumbent Conservative MP, Claire Perry O'Neill, had previously announced that she would be standing down at the next election to become the president of the 2020 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and spend more time with her family;[29] she was later fired from that role by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 31 January 2020 for unspecified reasons.[30] Kruger was elected as MP for Devizes in the 2019 general election, with a majority of 23,993 (47.1%).[31] He made his maiden speech on 29 January 2020, in which he called for a return to Christian values.[32][33]

In May 2020 he tweeted extensively in support of the apparent breach of the lockdown spirit by Dominic Cummings and Mary Wakefield, describing them as "old friends".[34]

Personal life

Kruger is married to Emma, a former teacher. They are both co-founders of the charity Only Connect.[35][36] He is an evangelical Christian.[37]

gollark: Well, the obvious solution is lies.
gollark: It doesn't generate them?
gollark: ???
gollark: !identicon "Undergo spontaneous tetrational apiogenesis"
gollark: !identicon Bee you

References
  1. "Members' Names Data Platform query". parliament.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  2. England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007
  3. "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  4. "Boris Johnson aide chosen as Tory candidate". BBC News. 10 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  5. "Rayne Kruger". The Daily Telegraph. 9 January 2003. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  6. "Cameron's inner circle". The Daily Telegraph. 1 October 2006. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  7. "Aspects of Conservatism: Danny Kruger – The Country We Want to Be". Blavatnik School of Government. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  8. "Focus: Reservoir toffs". The Sunday Times. 8 October 2006.(subscription required)
  9. "Danny Kruger". Centre for London. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  10. "What's Right Now: Conservative essays on the role of civil society , markets, and the state" (PDF). The Social Market Foundation. October 2005. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  11. "Was this the week the Quiet Man lost the plot?". The Daily Telegraph. 12 October 2003. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  12. "Tory candidate quits over remark". BBC News. 15 March 2005. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  13. "Tories pick Iraq veteran to take on Blair". The Guardian. 23 March 2005. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  14. Toynbee, Polly (11 March 2005). "A mission to destroy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  15. "The men behind the Cameron effect". The Guardian. 30 September 2006. Archived from the original on 25 September 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  16. Townsend, Mark (10 August 2013). "David Cameron's vision has been lost, says author of 'hug a hoodie' speech". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  17. "David Cameron and hug-a-hoodie phrase history". BBC News. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  18. "Our history". Only Connect. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  19. Ricketts, Andy. "Charity founder Danny Kruger among the voluntary sector figures to have been elected to parliament". Third Sector. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  20. Kruger, Danny (25 June 2008). "I wrote 'hug a hoodie' and I'm proud of it". The Spectator. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  21. Ritchie, Matt (13 October 2015). "Catch22 acquires Only Connect". Charity Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  22. Preston, Rob (1 August 2019). "DCMS civil society adviser moves to Number 10". Civil Society. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  23. "Members of the Order of the British Empire" (PDF). gov.uk. p. 95. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  24. Kruger, Danny (11 March 2017). "Make drugs dull: legalising cannabis the Canadian way". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  25. Kruger, Danny (3 February 2020). "Danny Kruger: 'Leaving the EU is about more than Global Britain. It is a response to the call of home.'". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  26. Weakley, Kirsty (20 March 2018). "DCMS appoints charity founder to work on civil society strategy". Civil Society. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  27. Mason, Rowena (5 August 2019). "Boris Johnson ushers in radical new era of special advisers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  28. Pantall, Amy (9 November 2019). "Danny Kruger announced as new Devizes Conservative parliamentary candidate after Claire Perry steps down". Gazette & Herald. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  29. Moore, Joanne (6 September 2019). "Devizes MP's reason for not standing at next election". Gazette and Herald. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  30. Rayner, Gordon; Sheridan, Danielle (31 January 2020). "Claire Perry O'Neill sacked from role as president of COP26 UN Climate Change Conference". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  31. "Devizes". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  32. "Policing and Crime". parliament.uk. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  33. "MP urges Britain to return to its Christian heritage". Christian Institute. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  34. Paessler, Benjamin (26 May 2020). "John Glen, Danny Kruger respond to Dominic Cummings allegations". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  35. "Our people". Only Connect. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  36. "Aide who wrote Cameron's hug-a-hoodie speech is attacked... by a hoodie". London Evening Standard. 3 July 2008. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  37. Aaronovitch, David (5 February 2020). "Tory fantasists want to turn back the clock". The Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.(subscription required)
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Claire Perry O'Neill		 Member of Parliament for Devizes
2019–present		 Incumbent
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