Following the resignation of Dominic Raab after a report into bullying, Oliver Dowden has now been named the new Deputy Prime Minister.

This means the MP for Hertsmere will have various duties, including deputising for the Prime Minister at PMQs or even filling in for them if they fall ill (Like Mr Raab did when Boris Johnson had a near-fatal battle with Covid-19).

A regular on the front bench over the last few years, Mr Dowden has held several different jobs in government.

With his new role as Deputy PM, Mr Dowden is unlikely to be far from our TV screens in the future.

So, just what do we know about Oliver Dowden?

Read on to find out more.

How old is Oliver Dowden and how did he get into politics?

Born on August 1, 1978, Oliver Dowden is 44 years old, and his website tells us he was born and raised in his constituency.

He attended Parmiter’s School (near Watford) before winning a place to study law at Cambridge University.

Mr Dowden got his start in professional politics advising David Cameron in Downing Street between 2010 and 2015, being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) during this time before becoming an MP.

What is Oliver Dowden’s political background?

In May 2015, Oliver Dowden was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Hertsmere.

Initially working as a backbencher, he chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British Jews and served as an officer of the Conservative Friends of Israel.  

In 2018, he would be appointed as a minister for the first time, attending cabinet as the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office – serving in those roles for two years.

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In February 2020, Oliver Dowden would then be made Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport before leaving that role to become the Conservative Party Chairman.

Oliver Dowden resigned from the position of Chairman in June of 2022 after poor showings for the Tory party in local by-elections, saying “someone must take responsibility” in his resignation letter to then-PM Boris Johnson.

Later that year, he would be made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by newly instated PM Rishi Sunak in October 2022.

According to theyworkforyou.com, Oliver Dowden MP has never rebelled against his party during parliament’s current term.

He has taken votes against both a wholly elected House of Lords and the removal of hereditary peers, as well as for a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU and generally voted for reducing central government funding of local government.

In 2022, he gave a speech to a US think tank that decried ‘cancel culture’ and said a painful woke psychodrama’ was weakening the West.

Who is Oliver Dowden’s wife and do they have children?

Oliver Dowden is married to his wife, Blythe Dowden, who works as a teacher, and the pair have two children.

On his website, Mr Dowden says that, in his spare time, he enjoys pub lunches and countryside walks with his family and their pet dog, Betsy.

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