James Daly (English politician)
Political career
Political career
----------------

James was a councillor for [Bury Council](/wiki/Bury_Metropolitan_Borough_Council "Bury Metropolitan Borough Council")'s North Manor ward from 2012 to 2019, and served as leader of the Conservative group on the council from 2017 to 2019\. Daly stood in neighbouring [Bolton North East](/wiki/Bolton_North_East_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29 "Bolton North East (UK Parliament constituency)") at the [2015](/wiki/2015_United_Kingdom_general_election "2015 United Kingdom general election") and [2017 general elections](/wiki/2017_United_Kingdom_general_election "2017 United Kingdom general election"), coming second with 32\.8% and 42\.2% of the vote respectively. He also stood at the [2015 Oldham West and Royton by\-election](/wiki/2015_Oldham_West_and_Royton_by-election "2015 Oldham West and Royton by-election"), finishing third with 2,596 votes (9\.4%).

At the [2019 general election](/wiki/2019_United_Kingdom_general_election "2019 United Kingdom general election"), he stood in [Bury North](/wiki/Bury_North_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29 "Bury North (UK Parliament constituency)"), where he won the seat from [Labour](/wiki/Labour_Party_%28UK%29 "Labour Party (UK)") incumbent James Frith with a majority of 0\.2%, representing a swing of 4\.7%. With a majority of 105 votes, it was the most [marginal](/wiki/Marginal_seat "Marginal seat") seat in England at the time of the election.

He is an advocate of the [Down Syndrome Bill](/wiki/Down_Syndrome_Act_2022 "Down Syndrome Act 2022"), which would recognise people with [Down syndrome](/wiki/Down_syndrome "Down syndrome") as a specific minority group.

In June 2022, Daly gave his full support to Boris Johnson during the [Partygate](/wiki/Partygate "Partygate") scandal despite his constituents being "angry." He was further quoted: "As an MP I fully understand the strength of feeling \[about Partygate revelations]. I'm not saying anybody's wrong, but I had to think about my role as MP for Bury North and what's going to benefit my constituents. I hope people will look at what we've delivered and say 'this is a government and these are Conservative MPs who’ve done what they said they would do'."

On 13 June 2022, Daly was appointed [Parliamentary Private Secretary](/wiki/Parliamentary_Private_Secretary "Parliamentary Private Secretary") to the [Department for Work and Pensions](/wiki/Department_for_Work_and_Pensions "Department for Work and Pensions") ministerial team. He resigned from his position on 6 July 2022 following the [Chris Pincher scandal](/wiki/Chris_Pincher_scandal "Chris Pincher scandal"), amid the [July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis](/wiki/July_2022_United_Kingdom_government_crisis "July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis").

In March 2022, WhatsApp messages revealed that [Matt Hancock](/wiki/Matt_Hancock "Matt Hancock") had backed a plan to threaten Daly into voting for key lockdown decisions during the [Covid\-19 pandemic](/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic "COVID-19 pandemic") in England.

In September 2023, Daly wrote in the *Bury Times* that Labour's proposal to add VAT onto fee paying schools was "deeply depressing." In the article he praised the state education system but said that: "I was state\-educated and will be forever grateful to my teachers for providing me with an enriching educational journey that I still benefit from today. The choices I make in my life today are directly linked to the aspiration and skills that my teachers and family taught me. One of those choices is to send my son to a fee\-paying school."

In December 2023 he said that most struggling children in his constituency are the "products of crap parents". He later defended his comments, saying that he wanted "to ensure those from most disadvantaged backgrounds have best chance to thrive and succeed".

In February 2024, Daly was appointed a deputy chair of Conservative Party. This was following the resignations of [Lee Anderson](/wiki/Lee_Anderson_%28British_politician%29 "Lee Anderson (British politician)") and [Brendan Clarke\-Smith](/wiki/Brendan_Clarke-Smith "Brendan Clarke-Smith").


How long did James Daly serve as leader of the Conservative group on Bury Council?