A heartfelt thank you to James Gray for his 27 years of dedicated service to the former North Wiltshire constituency which now covers a large part of the new South Cotswold constituency. His extensive career included roles as Conservative Whip, in 2000, and Shadow Minister for Defence, in 2001, followed by Shadow Minister for the Countryside from 2002 to 2005.
Throughout his time in Parliament, James served on numerous select committees. He was a member of the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee from 1997 to 2001, and from 2001 to 2003, he participated in the Broadcasting Committee. He was also part of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee during the 2005 Parliament and chaired the Conservative Rural Action Group from 2002 to 2005. In 2004, he founded the All Party Group for the Army and contributed to David Cameron's policy group on National and International Security. From 2013, he was involved with the Defence Committee and Committees on Arms Export Controls. Notably, Gray campaigned against the closure of RAF Lyneham and led a Westminster Hall Debate on this issue.
In recognition of his significant contributions over the years, Gray was recently awarded the title of Freeman of Royal Wootton Bassett, becoming only the second recipient of this honour.
