Ben Spencer (politician)


Benjamin Walter Jack Spencer is a British Conservative Party politician and psychiatrist. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge at the 2019 general election. He is currently a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

Medical career

Spencer is a psychiatrist who has worked at both King's College Hospital and Maudsley Hospital. In 2013 he was awarded the Advanced Psychiatric Trainee of the Year Award by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. At King's College hospital he was chair of the Psychiatry Physical Health Committee. He leads the Conservative Health - Mental Health Special Interest Group.

Political career

Spencer challenged long-serving Labour MP Harriet Harman in the Camberwell and Peckham constituency in 2017. He was selected to contest the Conservative safe seat of Runnymede and Weybridge in the 2019 general election after the sitting MP Philip Hammond had the whip withdrawn in September 2019 along with 21 other Conservative MPs and announced that he would not seek reelection.