John Hemming is no longer a Member of Parliament. This page has not been updated since 2015.
Biography:
John Hemming was re-elected MP for Birmingham, Yardley in May 2010 with a majority of 3,002.
John Hemming gained this seat from Labour in the 2005 general election. He has been reselected to stand here at the next general election.
Having won prizes for Arithmetic at King Edward’s School, Edgbaston, Birmingham, John Hemming won a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford to read Natural Sciences and graduated in 1981 with a degree specialising in Atomic, Nuclear and Theoretical Physics.
He founded his first business (JHC plc) in 1983 at the age of 23. That business is now a multimillion pound company, leading provider of settlement systems to stockbrokers in the UK. He launched the world’s first internet banking, travel, legal and investment services in 1995 and heads MarketNet which he launched as the first e-commerce operation outside the USA in 1994. He is also the chairman of Birmingham’s leading record company – MMI (Music Mercia International) – which he launched in 1997. John also founded The Purchasing Agency in 2000.
As a trained scientist, John was one of the candidates to be Britain’s first astronaut. John’s technical skills lie particularly in the areas of mathematics and programming. He is an accomplished cryptographer, having devised a number of security and payment protocols. A leading internet technical expert, John programs in eight different programming languages, and also speaks six human ones.
John stood for election to Parliament in 1983 in Hall Green, in 1987 in Small Heath and in the 1992, 1997 and 2001 in Yardley before winning the parliamentary seat in 2005, having already become a City Councillor representing South Yardley and Leader of Birmingham City Council’s Liberal Democrat Group.
In 2000, working with the trades unions, business sector and others John brought together the Phoenix Consortium to compete with Alchemy to buy MG Rover from BMW. In 2001 he worked with a team in Birmingham to prevent riots when the National Front threatened to march in Stechford.
In 2002 he launched a campaign to tighten up election laws to cut the amount of electoral fraud and in 2004 drafted a successful election petition which overturned the election of three Labour councillors in the Birmingham ward of Aston.
Once a drummer in a heavy metal rock group, John plays jazz piano and is a member of the Musicians’ Union. He is married to Christine and has four children.
Education:
King Edward’s School, Edgbaston, Magdalen College, Oxford
Experience:
Director of JHC plc
Council experience:
Councillor Birmingham City Council 1990-: Group leader 1998-
Parliamentary experience:
2005- Regulatory Reform Select Committee, 2001, 1997, 1992 Birmingham Yardley, 1987 Birmingham Small Heath, 1983 Birmingham Hall Green
Interests:
Playing jazz music (piano, guitar), reading, spending time with the children
Memberships:
Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Musicians’ Union
Constituency: Birmingham, Yardley
Constituency Address: Liberal Democrats
1772 Coventry Road
Yardley
BIRMINGHAM
B26 1PB
Constituency Tel: 0121 722 3417
Date of Birth: 16 March 1960
Email: john.hemming@jhc.co.uk
Party: Liberal Democrats
Personal Website: www.john.hemming.name
Westminster Address:
Twitter: @johnhemmingmp
