Sir Gavin Alexander Williamson CBE (born 25 June 1976) is a British politician who most recently served as Minister of State without Portfolio from 25 October to 8 November 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Staffordshire since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, Williamson previously served in Theresa May's Cabinet as Government Chief Whip from 2016 to 2017, Secretary of State for Defence from 2017 to 2019, and as Secretary of State for Education under Boris Johnson from 2019 to 2021. Williamson was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, and was educated at Raincliffe School, Scarborough Sixth Form College and the University of Bradford. He was chair of a Conservative student body from 1997 to 1998. He served on the North Yorkshire County Council from 2001 to 2005. In the 2005 general election, he stood to become MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, without success. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)