Brine was born on 28 January 1974 to Clive Charles and Gloria Elizabeth Brine. He attended Bohunt School, and Highbury College. He was a volunteer for the hospital broadcasting service Radio Lion at the Royal Surrey County Hospital for a number of years from 1990. He studied history at Liverpool Hope University, where he also served a sabbatical year as president of its students' union. After graduating, Brine worked as a radio journalist for the BBC. His first job was at BBC Southern Counties Radio in Guildford. He also did an internship in Chicago with the radio station WGN. Brine later worked as a director of the golf marketing agency Azalea Group.
Political career
Brine worked in the Conservative Central Office as a researcher during William Hague's leadership, and was the campaign director for the party in Hampshire during the 2001−2005 parliament. He was selected as the party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Winchester in November 2006. Brine was a member of the party's A-List. He was elected as MP for Winchester in the 2010 general election with a majority of 3,048 votes. The seat had previously been held by the Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten since the 1997 general election, who had stood down prior to the 2010 general election. During the 2010−2015 parliament, he was a member of the Justice Select Committee. Brine was one of 136 Conservative MPs who voted against the Marriage Act 2013, which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. His reasons for voting against the Act included that he felt that the bill had been rushed, that the majority of his constituents opposed it, and his Christian faith. However, in July 2019 Brine voted to permit same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, highlighting a change in opinion. In the same year, he was appointed as parliamentary private secretary to Mike Penning, Minister of State at the Department for Work & Pensions and Minister for Disabled People. In July 2014, Brine became PPS to Penning in his new role as Minister of State for Policing within the Ministry of Justice. He was re-elected in the 2015 and 2017 general election. In May 2015, Brine became PPS to Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health. Following the appointment of Theresa May as the prime minister in July 2016, he was appointed as assistant government whip at HM Treasury, a role he held till June 2017 when he was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Public Health and Primary Care at the Department of Health. Brine supported the United Kingdom remaining within the European Union in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum. He voted for then Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement in early 2019. In the indicative votes on 27 March, Brine voted for single market membership, customs union with the EU, Norway plus, and against a no-deal Brexit. He had resigned from his ministerial post two days prior. Brine supported Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election. In September, he was one of 21 MPs expelled from the Conservative Party for voting for the European Union Act 2019 which aimed to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Brine was one of 10 MPs to be readmitted to the party on 29 October. He was re-elected in the 2019 general election, his majority fell from 9,999 to 985. Outside of his parliamentary role, he is also an event speaker for the pharmaceuticals company Sigma, and strategic advisor for the healthcare recruitment firm Remedium Partners.
