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Danny Kruger

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Not to be confused with Dunning–Kruger effect.

Danny Kruger
MBE MP
Official portrait, 2019
Shadow Minister for Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 July 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Member of Parliament
for East Wiltshire
Devizes (2019–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byClaire Perry O'Neill
Majority4,716 (10.0%)
Political Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
23 July 2019 – 12 December 2019
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byStephen Parkinson
Succeeded byBen Gascoigne
Personal details
Born
Daniel Rayne Kruger

(1974-10-23) 23 October 1974 (age 50)
Westminster, London[1]
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Children3[2]
Parents
RelativesSam Leith (cousin)[3]
EducationEton College
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
University of Oxford

Daniel Rayne Kruger[4] MBE (born 23 October 1974)[5] is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Wiltshire, previously Devizes, since 2019. He has been Shadow Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence since July 2024.[6]

The son of writer and property developer Rayne Kruger and restaurateur and television presenter Prue Leith, Kruger was educated at Eton College, subsequently studying history at the University of Edinburgh and University of Oxford. After university, he worked at the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, and then became a policy adviser for the Conservative Party.

Kruger became David Cameron's chief speechwriter in 2006, whilst Cameron was Leader of the Opposition. He left this role two years later to work full-time at a youth crime prevention charity that he had co-founded called Only Connect. For his charitable work, Kruger received an MBE in 2017. He was Prime Minister Boris Johnson's political secretary between August and December 2019.

Early life and career

[edit]

Daniel Kruger was born on 23 October 1974 in Westminster to South African parents, writer and property developer Rayne Kruger,[7] and restaurateur and television presenter Prue Leith.[8][9] He was privately educated at Eton College.[10] Kruger studied history at the University of Edinburgh.[11] While at the university, he was the editor of the magazine Intercourse, which had a controversial issue featuring three naked students and an advertisement for a massage parlour.[10][12] He obtained a doctorate in history from the University of Oxford in 2000.[11]

After university, he became the director of research at the centre-right think tank Centre for Policy Studies in 2001.[13] Kruger worked as a policy adviser in the Conservative Party's Policy Unit from 2003 to 2005.[14] During this time, he was credited with contributing to then Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith's speech at the 2003 Conservative Party Conference.[15] In 2005, Kruger became the chief leader writer of The Daily Telegraph.[14]

Kruger was selected as the Conservative candidate for Sedgefield at the 2005 general election, challenging Labour prime minister Tony Blair.[16][17] He was forced to drop out of the contest, however, after The Guardian quoted him stating that the party had planned "to introduce a period of creative destruction in the public services".[18][19] Kruger left his position at The Daily Telegraph to become the chief speechwriter to then Conservative Party leader David Cameron in 2006.[10] He wrote Cameron's 2006 address to the think tank Centre for Social Justice, which was later dubbed the "hug-a-hoodie" speech, and was noted as a call to re-brand the party with compassionate conservatism at its core.[20][21]

Kruger co-founded the London-based youth crime prevention charity Only Connect in 2006[22][23] and in 2008 left his position as Cameron's chief speechwriter to work full-time for the charity.[24] In 2015, the charity was acquired by Catch22 but continued to operate independently with its own brand.[25] He also founded the charity West London Zone, which aims to provide support to at-risk youth.[26] Kruger was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to charity in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours.[27] In the same year, he voiced his support for the legalisation of cannabis.[28]

Kruger supported Brexit in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum.[29] He was a senior fellow at the pro-Brexit think-tank Legatum Institute, which he left in 2018 to become an adviser at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.[11][30] In August 2019, Kruger became the political secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.[31]

Parliamentary career

[edit]
Danny Kruger in conversation with John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia, at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship in October 2023.

Kruger was selected as a parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Devizes, a safe seat for the Conservative Party, on 9 November 2019.[32] The constituency's incumbent Conservative MP, Claire Perry O'Neill, had previously announced that she would be standing down at the next election to become the president of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, and spend more time with her family.[33]

Kruger was elected as MP for Devizes at the 2019 general election with 63.1% of the vote and a majority of 23,993 over second-place Liberal Democrat candidate Jo Waltham.[34][35] After the election, he was replaced as political secretary to the PM by Benjamin Gascoigne, Baron Gascoigne.[36] He made his maiden speech on 29 January 2020, in which he called for a return to Christian values.[37][38]

In May 2020 he tweeted extensively in support of the apparent breach of lockdown by Dominic Cummings and Mary Wakefield, describing them as "old friends".[39]

In August 2020 Kruger was photographed breaching the rules on the mandatory wearing of masks on public transport. He apologised and stated that he "simply forgot", but also criticised the photographer for not asking him to put on a mask.[40] He has also referred to his dislike for "absurd masks" in an interview with local media.[41]

He was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in September 2021, serving under Secretary of State Michael Gove.[42]

In June 2022, Kruger supported Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the 2022 Conservative Party vote of confidence in his leadership, saying "I don't judge people's private morals, or rather I do but I oughtn't. I judge public conduct. And on that, I think we should be forgiving about minor slips".[43] In the same month, while speaking during a debate on the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States which resulted in the removal of pregnant women's constitutional right to abortion, he commented that he did not agree "that women have an absolute right to bodily autonomy" in relation to abortion as "in the case of abortion that right is qualified by the fact that another body is involved".[44]

On 6 July 2022, Kruger resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as part of a crisis in confidence in Johnson's leadership.[45] He endorsed Suella Braverman during the subsequent leadership election.[46]

In May 2023, at the National Conservatism Conference, Kruger commented in a speech that "the only basis for a safe and successful society" was marriage between men and women, that they should stick "together for the sake of the children", and that this should be recognised and rewarded.[47] He also bemoaned what he saw as "the radicalisation of a generation. In the name of a new ideology, a new religion – a mix of Marxism and narcissism and paganism, self-worship and nature-worship all wrapped up in revolution."[47] He defended his views on the Planet Normal podcast, arguing that "I do think that society has been built and can only really prosper if the basis of it is the principle that if you have children with somebody fit, the ideal is that you stick together with that person through the whole of your child's life.... but as I say there are many occasions where that is not possible."[48][49] Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman distanced himself from Kruger's remarks on the role of marriage in society.[50] Kruger also defended the use of the phrase "cultural Marxism" by fellow MP Miriam Cates at the same conference.[51]

In October 2023 Kruger claimed on Sky News that many asylum applicants to the UK were pretending to be gay to increase their chances of remaining.[52] No evidence has been produced to support this claim. Latest government figures show that the number of applicants citing sexuality has fallen in recent years, and the percentage of these in 2021 was about 1%.[53]

In November 2023 Kruger participated in the inaugural conference of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. In an interview there he said: "We can tolerate eccentric ideologues. What we can't tolerate is large numbers of people who hate the country that they live in".[54]

At the 2024 general election, Kruger was elected to Parliament as MP for East Wiltshire with 35.7% of the vote and a majority of 4,716.[55][56]

Political philosophy

[edit]

Kruger has said that his politics are best described as communitarianism.[57][58][59]

Personal life

[edit]

Kruger is married to Emma, a former teacher. When they met Emma was an evangelical Christian, and Kruger later converted to this.[60] They have three children.[59] They are both co-founders of the charity Only Connect.[61][62][63]

In 2020–2021 Kruger submitted the highest energy bill claim of any Westminster MP.[64]

Kruger was fined after his puppy caused a stampede when it chased a 200-strong herd of deer in London's Richmond Park in March 2021.[65] Kruger apologised and said he would be more careful in future.[66]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Kruger, Danny (2007). On Fraternity. Civitas. ISBN 1903386578. Considers the politics of the early 21st century.
  • Kruger, Danny (2023). Covenant: The New Politics of Home, Neighbourhood and Nation. Forum Press. ISBN 978-1800752115. Sets out Kruger's political thinking.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007
  2. ^ "Tory MP fined after puppy caused stampede of deer in London park". The Independent. 8 June 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  3. ^ Leith, Sam (29 August 2017). "What it was like to be taught to cook by my aunt – and GBBO judge – Prue Leith". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  5. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Conservative Party announces interim Opposition Front Bench". policymogul.com. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Rayne Kruger". www.thetimes.com. 1 January 2003.
  8. ^ "Boris Johnson aide chosen as Tory candidate". BBC News. 10 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Rayne Kruger". The Daily Telegraph. 9 January 2003. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  10. ^ a b c "Cameron's inner circle". The Daily Telegraph. 1 October 2006. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  11. ^ a b c "Aspects of Conservatism: Danny Kruger – The Country We Want to Be". Blavatnik School of Government. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Focus: Reservoir toffs". The Sunday Times. 8 October 2006. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.(subscription required)
  13. ^ "Danny Kruger". Centre for London. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  14. ^ a b "What's Right Now: Conservative essays on the role of civil society , markets, and the state" (PDF). The Social Market Foundation. October 2005. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Was this the week the Quiet Man lost the plot?". The Daily Telegraph. 12 October 2003. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Tory candidate quits over remark". BBC News. 15 March 2005. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  17. ^ "Tories pick Iraq veteran to take on Blair". The Guardian. 23 March 2005. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  18. ^ Toynbee, Polly (11 March 2005). "A mission to destroy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  19. ^ "The men behind the Cameron effect". The Guardian. 30 September 2006. Archived from the original on 25 September 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  20. ^ Townsend, Mark (10 August 2013). "David Cameron's vision has been lost, says author of 'hug a hoodie' speech". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  21. ^ "David Cameron and hug-a-hoodie phrase history". BBC News. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  22. ^ "Our history". Only Connect. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  23. ^ Ricketts, Andy. "Charity founder Danny Kruger among the voluntary sector figures to have been elected to parliament". Third Sector. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  24. ^ Kruger, Danny (25 June 2008). "I wrote 'hug a hoodie' and I'm proud of it". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  25. ^ Ritchie, Matt (13 October 2015). "Catch22 acquires Only Connect". Charity Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  26. ^ Preston, Rob (1 August 2019). "DCMS civil society adviser moves to Number 10". Civil Society. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Members of the Order of the British Empire" (PDF). gov.uk. p. 95. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  28. ^ Kruger, Danny (11 March 2017). "Make drugs dull: legalising cannabis the Canadian way". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  29. ^ Kruger, Danny (3 February 2020). "Danny Kruger: 'Leaving the EU is about more than Global Britain. It is a response to the call of home.'". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  30. ^ Weakley, Kirsty (20 March 2018). "DCMS appoints charity founder to work on civil society strategy". Civil Society. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  31. ^ Mason, Rowena (5 August 2019). "Boris Johnson ushers in radical new era of special advisers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  32. ^ Pantall, Amy (9 November 2019). "Danny Kruger announced as new Devizes Conservative parliamentary candidate after Claire Perry steps down". Gazette & Herald. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  33. ^ Moore, Joanne (6 September 2019). "Devizes MP's reason for not standing at next election". Gazette and Herald. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  34. ^ "General Election 12 December 2019 – Wiltshire Council". www.wiltshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  35. ^ "Devizes". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  36. ^ Lambert, Harry (4 March 2020). "Who's in charge inside No 10: the maverick advisers running Britain". The New Statesman. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  37. ^ "Policing and Crime". parliament.uk. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  38. ^ "MP urges Britain to return to its Christian heritage". Christian Institute. 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  39. ^ Paessler, Benjamin (26 May 2020). "John Glen, Danny Kruger respond to Dominic Cummings allegations". Salisbury Journal. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  40. ^ "MP apologises after being pictured not wearing a mask during train journey". Salisbury Journal. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  41. ^ McLaughlin, Matthew (10 September 2020). "Devizes MP reacts to new coronavirus measures". Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Archived from the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  42. ^ Hargrave, Russell (21 September 2021). "Danny Kruger joins Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities". Civil Society News. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  43. ^ "Danny Kruger MP will support Boris Johnson in no-confidence vote". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  44. ^ Langford, Eleanor (28 June 2022). "MPs Call For Stronger UK Abortion Rights After Historic US Abortion Bans". PoliticsHome. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  45. ^ @danny__kruger (6 July 2022). "Very sorry indeed to hear @michaelgove has been fired by the PM. As I told No 10 earlier today it should be the PM leaving office. I am resigning as PPS at @Dluhc" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  46. ^ Gavaghan, Beth (11 July 2022). "Danny Kruger backs Attorney General Suella Braverman to be Prime Minister". Wiltshire Times. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  47. ^ a b ""The tension within each of us is between the desire to belong and the desire to be free." Kruger's speech to the National Conservative Conference. Full text". Conservative Home. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  48. ^ Pearson, Allison; Halligan, Liam; Hoe, Cass; Bougeard, Isabelle (18 May 2023). "Planet Normal: Conservatism should incentivise family stability not family breakdown". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  49. ^ Freeman, Hadley (4 September 2023). "Whatever your politics, just blame the woman". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  50. ^ Nevett, Joshua (16 May 2023). "Sunak rejects Tory MP's claim about marriage between men and women". BBC News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  51. ^ Harpin, Lee (29 June 2023). "Conservative MP dismisses claims of antisemitism in use of 'cultural Marxism' term". Jewish News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  52. ^ "x.com".
  53. ^ "Government Statistics on asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation". UK Government. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  54. ^ "'We can't tolerate large numbers of people who hate the country that they live in'". YouTube. GB News. 6 November 2023.
  55. ^ "East Wiltshire – General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  56. ^ "General election results declared in Wiltshire". Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  57. ^ "About me". Danny Kruger.
  58. ^ Wyatt, Tim (11 October 2020). "Kruger report calls for a new deal for faith groups . . . but is it just hot air?".
  59. ^ a b Gimson, Andrew (31 March 2021). "Profile: Danny Kruger, defender of Christian conservatism and traditional ideas of virtue". Conservative Home.
  60. ^ Aaronovitch, David (5 February 2020). "Tory fantasists want to turn back the clock". The Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.(subscription required)
  61. ^ "Our people". Only Connect. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  62. ^ "Aide who wrote Cameron's hug-a-hoodie speech is attacked... by a hoodie". London Evening Standard. 3 July 2008. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  63. ^ "Only Connect UK | Criminal Justice Charity | 32 Cubitt Street, London, UK". Only Connect Kings Cross Coworking Space.
  64. ^ "Wiltshire MP claimed £3,600 energy bill for second home – the most of any MP". 17 January 2022. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  65. ^ Vaughan, Henry (7 June 2021). "Tory MP fined after puppy caused stampede of deer in London park". Yahoo News. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  66. ^ "Danny Kruger MP fined over puppy's Richmond Park deer stampede". BBC News. 7 June 2021. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Devizes
2019–2024 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament
for East Wiltshire
2024–present 		Incumbent
Government offices
Preceded by Political Secretary to the Prime Minister
2019 		Succeeded by
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