John Glen was selected to fight the Salisbury seat at an Open Primary attended by over 450 people at Salisbury Playhouse on the 31st of January 2010.

John was a Magistrate (JP) at Horseferry Road, Westminster from 2006 to 2012 and retains a strong interest in the law and justice. He has worked as a mentor to students at City University; he has been a Trustee of a National Youth Charity and a Governor of an inner city comprehensive school. He now serves as an Associate Governor at Wyvern College in Salisbury.

2010 – 2015 Parliament

In his first term in Parliament, John spent two and a half years on the Defence Select Committee, scrutinising UK defence policy. Whilst on the Committee, he paid particular attention to the Armed Forces Covenant and mental health, two issues he remains deeply interested in.  In September 2012, he was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and acted as the Minister’s ‘eyes and ears’ on the backbenches of Parliament. In 2014, he was appointed to the No 10 Policy Board, with responsibility for home affairs and constitutional reform – a key issue in the wake of the Scottish Independence Referendum.

John was active in a number of All Party Parliamentary Groups: he chaired the APPG on Global Uncertainties and was Vice Chair of the high profile APPG on Hunger and Food Poverty. This resulted in the publication of a report at the end of 2014, and John continues to work on issues related to food poverty as a Trustee of Feeding Britain.

Also in 2014, he undertook a course with the Royal College of Defence Studies alongside serving officers to deepen his understanding of defence policy at a national and international level. He also simultaneously studied for a Masters degree in International Security and Strategy at King’s College London, which he graduated from with distinction.

2015 Parliament

John was returned as the Member of Parliament for Salisbury in the 2015 General Election with a significantly increased majority. He was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Business Secretary, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP and served on the Work and Pensions Select Committee until September 2016.

Following the formation of Theresa May’s Government, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Philip Hammond.

In the constituency, John helped found the South Wiltshire Economic Task Group (SWETG) to help drive growth in Salisbury and South Wiltshire.