James Duddridge
James Philip Duddridge (born 26 August 1971) is a British Conservative politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
He has served as a government whip, and before entering politics he worked as a merchant banker.
Early life
Born in Bristol, Duddridge was educated at Crestwood School, Huddersfield High School and The Blue School, Wells. He read Government at the University of Essex, graduating with a 2:2 in 1993.
Duddridge served as Chairman of the Wells Young Conservatives from 1989 until 1991, and was elected Chairman of Essex University's Conservative Association in 1990. In 1991, Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin appointed him as a researcher.
Professional career
After graduating in 1993, Duddridge embarked upon a retail and merchant banking career with Barclays until 2005. The company posted him to Africa with the Bank of Swaziland between 1995 and 1996, before he went on to be sales director for Banque Belgolaise in Ivory Coast until 1998. Duddridge returned to the UK in 1998 as Barclays national sales manager, and was seconded as service delivery director by Barclays Bank of Botswana in 2001. He was also a consultant and director of YouGov from 2000, remaining in both positions until his election as an MP in 2005.
