Social mobility pioneer and local entrepreneur, James Uffindell, was last night selected as the Conservative Party’s parliamentary candidate for Warwick and Leamington.
Having been born, raised, and educated in Warwick and Leamington by a single working mother in rented accommodation, Uffindell has strong local roots in the constituency. Uffindell studied at the University of Oxford, and, lacking the family connections to get into the corporate world, started his first business in university bedroom in 1999 helping students from non-traditional backgrounds access the UK’s best universities. During his teenage years, he juggled his studies alongside roles as a taxi-controller as well as working in local pubs and hotels - it was his experiences as a young person that ignited his passion for social mobility.
In 2013, having sold his first business, Uffindell started Bright Network, the leading social mobility technology platform that connects nearly one million students and graduates with the world of work. Bright Network now employs ~200 people with offices in London and Edinburgh and has just launched into Germany.
On Tuesday, to a packed audience at North Leamington School, Uffindell put forward his vision to local Conservative members. He was selected to the be Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in the next General Election, which is due to be held by before the end of January 2025.
Uffindell said “I am over the moon to be the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Warwick and Leamington. Whilst I now operate at a national and international level, fundamentally I am a local lad and have been lucky enough to benefit from the best of what Warwick & Leamington has to offer. This really is the best place in the world to work and live and I’m honoured to be able to represent the Conservative Party at the next election. I am aware there is a lot of hard work and listening to do – I will be spending the coming weeks out and about meting and talking to the brilliant people of Warwick and Leamington, something I have actually been doing for the last 44 years of my life! I’m not a professional politician, I’m a business guy and like to get things done rather than talking about things. I really can’t wait to get started”.
