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Aidan Burley
Aidan Burley[2] (born 22 January 1979) is a British businessman, entrepreneur and former British politician. He was Conservative Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase between 2010 and 2015. Early lifeBurley was born in Auckland, New Zealand and migrated with his parents to the United Kingdom a few months later.[3] He was educated at West House School, a private school in Birmingham, King Edward's School, Birmingham, where he stood and won as a Conservative in 1997 in the school's mock election[4] and St John’s College, Oxford University. BusinessBurley co-founded online e-commerce subscription business Friction Free Shaving, known as the woman’s analogue to Dollar Shave Club, which he set up in 2015 after leaving Parliament.[5][6] As CEO Burley initiated and led a crowdfunding investment round on Seedrs in March 2016 raising £150,522 from 121 investors and later a VC round in April 2017 led by Athene Capital with £1.25m being invested from Northern & Shell Ventures owned by British publisher and businessman Richard Desmond. Burley exited the business via an MBO in 2023.[7] Friction Free Shaving was also the first company in the world to depict a woman really shaving her legs and underarms in a TV advert.[8][9] The ad was devised to end the 'taboo' of refusing to show women shaving real body hair in advertising.[10] Subsequently, US shave and body brand Billie released a campaign video of women proudly showing off their body hair before being acquired by Edgewell Personal Care for $310 million.[11] In 2021 Burley joined WorldPR, a global Public Relations consultancy, where he works as Chief of Staff to the Chairman, Patrick Robertson, Founder of the Bruges Group. CareerBurley was a management consultant for Accenture and later Hedra/Mouchel, working on contracts with the Home Office and the National Health Service.[citation needed] During this period, he also worked for Conservative MPs Philip Hammond and Nick Herbert when they were shadow ministers, and he was elected a Conservative councillor in 2006 for the Fulham Broadway ward of Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council.[4] Parliamentary careerBurley was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase in the 2010 general election with a majority. of 3,195[12] achieving the largest swing of the election from Labour to the Conservatives, 14.01%.[13] Burley was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2010 to 2011. Between 12 January 2011 and 17 December 2011 he was Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Transport: firstly Philip Hammond, and later Justine Greening.[14] He is a supporter of the Free Enterprise Group.[15] Burley was named by ConservativeHome as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.[16] In 2014, Burley, along with six other Conservative Party MPs, voted against the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill, which would require all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.[17] Political fundingIt was reported in 2014 that the Cannock Chase Conservative Association had received £28,927 since 2010, and that Burley had received corporate donations from Japan Tobacco International and JCB Research; he had also received a donation from Conservative Friends of Israel. He also received £3,600 in remunerations from Clever Together LLP for work he did in 2012.[18] ControversiesIn December 2011, it was reported that Burley attended a stag party in Val Thorens, France, where the groom wore a fancy dress Nazi uniform and made a salute.[19] Following this event, he expressed regret over the incident.[20] Subsequently, Prime Minister David Cameron removed him from his parliamentary role due to additional allegations.[21][22] An internal review by the Conservative Party concluded that, although Burley's actions were offensive, they did not demonstrate racism or anti-Semitism.[23] But in February 2014, Burley announced he would not seek reelection in 2015.[24] During the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, Burley criticized the event on Twitter for being overly left-leaning,[25] later clarifying his comments were about its presentation.[26][27] His remarks were criticized, including by fellow Conservative MP Gavin Barwell, who disapproved of his views.[28][29] Burley also expressed concerns about the ceremony's overtly political content, writing "Bring back Shakespeare, Red Arrows and the Stones" on Twitter/X. References
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