Name: William Henry Croft QC MP (goes by Will)
Avatar: Ryan Gosling
Age: 40 (Born November 13, 1979)
Sex: Male
Ethnicity: White British
Marital Status: Married to Gabriella Croft, two children ages 13 and 11
Party: Conservative
Primary Tribe: Free Market
Secondary Tribes: Cornerstone, Red Tories
Brexit Position: Leave
Constituency: Bexleyheath and Crayford
Year Elected: 2010
Education:
Hugh Myddleton Primary School (1984-1992)
Eton College, King's Scholarship Recipient (1992-1997)
Oxford University, (1997-2000)
Chairman of the Oxford University Conservative Association (1999-2000)
Called to the Bar at Middle Temple (2000-2002)
Career:
Solicitor at Allen & Overy (2002-2004)
Partner at Allen & Overy (2004-2006)
Solicitor and Senior Counsel, Government Legal Department (2006-2010)
Appointed to the Queen's Counsel (2009)
Political Career:
Member of Parliament for Bexleyheath and Crayford (2010 - )
Member of the European Scrutiny Committee (2010 - 2016)
Member of the Home Affairs Select Committee (2010 - 2017)
Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee (2013 - 2016)
Chairman of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union (2016 - )
Minister of State for Security (2017 - 2019)
(Full narrative bio will be uploaded in a following post later this evening - April 25, 2021)
William Croft QC MP
-
Will Frost
- Conservative MP
- Posts: 285
- Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 3:22 pm
- Constituency: Tatton
- XP: 6
- Trait(s): None
- Discord username: Croft
William Croft QC MP
Will Frost MP
-
Will Frost
- Conservative MP
- Posts: 285
- Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 3:22 pm
- Constituency: Tatton
- XP: 6
- Trait(s): None
- Discord username: Croft
Re: William Croft QC MP
Character Bio
William (Will) Henry Croft was born in 1979 to David and Susanne Croft in Strabane, Northern Ireland. The Crofts had lived in Ireland for generations, and Croft has currently living relatives on both sides of the border. David Croft was a police officer, working for the RUC, and Susanne Croft was a substitute teacher and stay at home mother. In 1981, shortly after Croft's second birthday, both of his parents were killed in an IRA terrorist attack while attending a pot luck dinner for spouses of RUC officers. After the death of his parents William was adopted by his aunt and uncle, who had moved to London some years earlier, renting an apartment in the city's Islington neighborhood.
William made the best out of his difficult situation, in great part because of how loving and supportive his aunt and uncle were. Excelling in academics from an early age, William was singled out as a bright pupil while attending a comprehensive primary school near his home in Islington. His aunt and uncle offered him their full support, helping him study and encouraging William to apply for available scholarships at some of Britain's more prestigious private schools. When he was 13, Croft successfully applied for Eton College's King's Scholarship, winning one of 14 places at the college for disadvantaged youth. Croft earned high marks at Eton, taking an interest in politics and becoming one of the college's head boys.
After graduating from Eton, Croft won a place at Oxford where he read Law. While there he developed his passion for international rights law and terrorism law, deciding early on he would want to go into this practice area upon graduating. He was also elected chairman of the Oxford University Conservative Association, cutting his political teeth and becoming a major fixture of on-campus politics. Upon graduating, Croft was called to the bar at Middle Temple in London. He moved to the city, and while studying for the bar and completing his pupilage he met his wife Gabriella, who was alos attending Middle Temple. The two completed their pupilage the same year, moving into a small flat in Islington near William's aunt and uncle.
In 2002, William Croft received his first job as a professional solicit working for the London-based law firm Allen & Overy. While there, Mr. Croft specialized in anti-terrorism law and international trade and customs law. Within two years of working at the firm he made partner, taking the lead on a number of the firm's major cases. When the Blair Administration hired Allen & Overy to consult on a case the government was involved in,A v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Croft was appointed to serve as the firm's lead solicitor on the case. Making a number of connection with solicitors working for the Government, Croft was approached by the Attorney General's office to join the Government Legal Department as a Solicitor and Senior Counsel. He took the job in 2006, and represented the Government in a number of cases relating to terrorism and international law, including the landmark case heard before the House of Lords, R v. Jones.
After a number of years working for the Government Legal Department, Croft reconnected with some of his friends from university who were now either working for the Conservative Party or heavily involved David Cameron's 2010 general election strategy. Having distinguished himself an effective solicitor, evidenced by Croft's appointment to the Queen's Counsel at a very young age, his friends suggested he consider running to fill the open seat of Bexleyheath and Crawford. He did so, and receiving the blessing and support of the outgoing MP, ran an effective and hyper-localized campaign and won the safe seat handedly. A long-time Euroskeptic, Croft made his maiden speech in the House in a debate on the need to renegotiate Britain's membership of the European Union to win back more powers for Parliament. He was appointed to the House of Commons Committee on European Scrutiny and the Home Affairs Select Committee. In 2013, he was elected the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee.
Croft was re-elected to his seat in the 2015 general election, and while originally considered for a Junior Minister role, was allegedly passed up for promotion because of his heavily Euroskeptic views. During the EU Referendum, Croft campaigned heavily in favor of Leave, touring the country with MPs like Priti Patel and Jacob Reese-Mogg on behalf of the campaign. Croft was considered an effective campaigner, relentlessly attacking the Remain campaign's "Project Fear," and famously defending the Leave campaign's more incendiary arguments on EU immigration into the United Kingdom. After Theresa May's leadership election victory, Croft was appointed as Minister of State for Security, working in the Home Office. While in the role he worked with the current Home Secretary to respond to the aftermath of the 2017 terrorist attacks, working with the Government to beef up the country's security apparatus and anti-terrorism policies.
Throughout the Brexit negotiations he was an outspoken advocate of a hard Brexit, supporting the Prime Minister's negotiation strategy but routinely vocalizing his belief that no deal would be better than a deal that kept Britain within the Customs Union. When the first deal was presented to the House of Commons, Croft begrudgingly decided to resign from the Government in order to vote against the deal. Citing his concerns over the EU's ability to perpetually employ the backstop, Croft railed against the deal and said that Parliament in good conscience could not support a deal that would continue to give the European Union significant control over Britain's future. He voted against the second deal as well, arguing that the assurances from Brussels did not represent a meaningful legal change to the deal itself. Finally, after May's renegotiations and serious debate amongst Conservative MPs and Brexit rebels, Croft decided to vote in favor of the final deal arguing that it most accurately represented what the British people had voted for in 2016.
William (Will) Henry Croft was born in 1979 to David and Susanne Croft in Strabane, Northern Ireland. The Crofts had lived in Ireland for generations, and Croft has currently living relatives on both sides of the border. David Croft was a police officer, working for the RUC, and Susanne Croft was a substitute teacher and stay at home mother. In 1981, shortly after Croft's second birthday, both of his parents were killed in an IRA terrorist attack while attending a pot luck dinner for spouses of RUC officers. After the death of his parents William was adopted by his aunt and uncle, who had moved to London some years earlier, renting an apartment in the city's Islington neighborhood.
William made the best out of his difficult situation, in great part because of how loving and supportive his aunt and uncle were. Excelling in academics from an early age, William was singled out as a bright pupil while attending a comprehensive primary school near his home in Islington. His aunt and uncle offered him their full support, helping him study and encouraging William to apply for available scholarships at some of Britain's more prestigious private schools. When he was 13, Croft successfully applied for Eton College's King's Scholarship, winning one of 14 places at the college for disadvantaged youth. Croft earned high marks at Eton, taking an interest in politics and becoming one of the college's head boys.
After graduating from Eton, Croft won a place at Oxford where he read Law. While there he developed his passion for international rights law and terrorism law, deciding early on he would want to go into this practice area upon graduating. He was also elected chairman of the Oxford University Conservative Association, cutting his political teeth and becoming a major fixture of on-campus politics. Upon graduating, Croft was called to the bar at Middle Temple in London. He moved to the city, and while studying for the bar and completing his pupilage he met his wife Gabriella, who was alos attending Middle Temple. The two completed their pupilage the same year, moving into a small flat in Islington near William's aunt and uncle.
In 2002, William Croft received his first job as a professional solicit working for the London-based law firm Allen & Overy. While there, Mr. Croft specialized in anti-terrorism law and international trade and customs law. Within two years of working at the firm he made partner, taking the lead on a number of the firm's major cases. When the Blair Administration hired Allen & Overy to consult on a case the government was involved in,A v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Croft was appointed to serve as the firm's lead solicitor on the case. Making a number of connection with solicitors working for the Government, Croft was approached by the Attorney General's office to join the Government Legal Department as a Solicitor and Senior Counsel. He took the job in 2006, and represented the Government in a number of cases relating to terrorism and international law, including the landmark case heard before the House of Lords, R v. Jones.
After a number of years working for the Government Legal Department, Croft reconnected with some of his friends from university who were now either working for the Conservative Party or heavily involved David Cameron's 2010 general election strategy. Having distinguished himself an effective solicitor, evidenced by Croft's appointment to the Queen's Counsel at a very young age, his friends suggested he consider running to fill the open seat of Bexleyheath and Crawford. He did so, and receiving the blessing and support of the outgoing MP, ran an effective and hyper-localized campaign and won the safe seat handedly. A long-time Euroskeptic, Croft made his maiden speech in the House in a debate on the need to renegotiate Britain's membership of the European Union to win back more powers for Parliament. He was appointed to the House of Commons Committee on European Scrutiny and the Home Affairs Select Committee. In 2013, he was elected the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee.
Croft was re-elected to his seat in the 2015 general election, and while originally considered for a Junior Minister role, was allegedly passed up for promotion because of his heavily Euroskeptic views. During the EU Referendum, Croft campaigned heavily in favor of Leave, touring the country with MPs like Priti Patel and Jacob Reese-Mogg on behalf of the campaign. Croft was considered an effective campaigner, relentlessly attacking the Remain campaign's "Project Fear," and famously defending the Leave campaign's more incendiary arguments on EU immigration into the United Kingdom. After Theresa May's leadership election victory, Croft was appointed as Minister of State for Security, working in the Home Office. While in the role he worked with the current Home Secretary to respond to the aftermath of the 2017 terrorist attacks, working with the Government to beef up the country's security apparatus and anti-terrorism policies.
Throughout the Brexit negotiations he was an outspoken advocate of a hard Brexit, supporting the Prime Minister's negotiation strategy but routinely vocalizing his belief that no deal would be better than a deal that kept Britain within the Customs Union. When the first deal was presented to the House of Commons, Croft begrudgingly decided to resign from the Government in order to vote against the deal. Citing his concerns over the EU's ability to perpetually employ the backstop, Croft railed against the deal and said that Parliament in good conscience could not support a deal that would continue to give the European Union significant control over Britain's future. He voted against the second deal as well, arguing that the assurances from Brussels did not represent a meaningful legal change to the deal itself. Finally, after May's renegotiations and serious debate amongst Conservative MPs and Brexit rebels, Croft decided to vote in favor of the final deal arguing that it most accurately represented what the British people had voted for in 2016.
Will Frost MP