Sam Macrory profiles: Gavin Williamson MP

To be a humble parliamentary private secretary, or PPS for short, carries little clout at the Palace of Westminster. Dismissed as a ‘bag-carrier‘, the PPS is unpaid, unglamorous and largely unnoticed. Except for one: the PPS to the prime minister. In return for long hours and no extra salary, the job comes with a front row seat at the heart of government. Part emissary to Downing Street, part prime minister's head prefect, few MPs get so close, so often, to David Cameron. No wonder Gavin Williamson, the PM's current PPS, seems to have a permanent smile on his face.

The MP for South Staffordshire is an unlikely member of Cameron's inner circle. Born and brought up in Scarborough, Williamson rejected the strong Socialist beliefs of his parents – both of whom work in local government – and instead joined the Tory party in the early death throes of the John Major era. But this was no act of teenage rebellion: Williamson has also chalked up political leg work as a head of the Conservative students, a county councillor, a chairman of local associations and an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate in 2005.

In 2010 he finally entered Parliament, armed with a CV unlike any of his colleagues'. Educated at local comprehensive schools and Bradford University, Williamson went on to run a pottery – he holds the distinction of being the only ex-potter in Parliament – and cut his teeth in the manufacturing industry. It was an enjoyable, if challenging time: Williamson had to take difficult decisions to make businesses survive, and became known as ‘the baby-faced assassin' in his former trade...

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