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Robert Wilson (born Oxfordshire) is a United Kingdom politician and entrepreneur. He was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for the Reading East parliamentary constituency in the 2005 general election.

Wilson was born and brought up in south Oxfordshire. Between 1984 and 1988 he attended Reading University, the final year of which he spent as the President of the Reading University Students' Union. Soon after leaving university he unsuccessfully stood for election to the local council as an SDP candidate.

He had more success after he joined the Conservatives, and was elected for Thames Ward of Reading Borough Council in 1992, serving until 1996. In 2003 he was elected to serve in Caversham Ward, and in June 2004 was again elected for Thames. Following his successful election as Member of Parliament for Reading East, he stood down from Reading Borough Council in May 2006.

Wilson was selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Reading East using a pioneering primary system, which opened the selection to non-party members for the first time. At the May 2005 General Election he faced the Labour candidate and Councillor, Tony Page. Page had replaced sitting MP, Labour's Jane Griffiths, who had been de-selected by her party.

The manner in which Griffiths had been treated by the Reading Labour party, and the selection of a Labour candidate with a criminal record, in combination with national issues, worked to Wilson's advantage. He won 15,557 votes (35.4%) of the vote against Page's 15,082 votes (34.3%). The Conservative share of the vote increased by 3.4%, a moderate amount, the massive 10.5% drop in support for Labour contributing most significantly to his victory.

Since his election Wilson has been a very active constituency MP holding weekly surgeries around the constituency and maintaining a high profile in the local media. He was appointed to the prestigious Education and Skills Select Committee and played an active role in the Education and Inspections Bill and issues such as Special Educational Needs.

Wilson is currently running a campaign against the carrying of knives in conjunction with the local daily paper and victims families and he has been very active in campaigning on local Transport issues, including the upgrading of Reading railway station and the extension of the Crossrail project to Reading.

• Reading East Conservatives - Rob Wilson MP
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Rob Wilson MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Robert Wilson MP

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