John Glen was born in Bath in 1974 and was brought up into a small family horticultural business in rural Wiltshire. His mother and uncle were born in Salisbury and his grandfather and great-grandfather lived and worked in the City during The Blitz. John was married to Emma (m.2008 – 2021) and he has two step children: William and Emily.
He attended King Edward’s School, Bath where he was Head Boy. He took a year out after his A Levels to work, and he studied Politics A Level in the evenings at Wiltshire College. He then won a place at Oxford University where he read Modern History.
After university, John worked for two Government Ministers in the last year of the Conservative administration (1996-97). This experience helped him to understand the hard work involved in being a Member of Parliament and the challenges of constituency work which he had extensive exposure to during his year as a Parliamentary researcher. After campaigning in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland for Michael (now Lord) Bates in the 1997 General Election, John joined the Strategy practice of a large management consultancy firm.
Following three years in consulting John worked an 8 month spell for William Hague MP’s team. John helped prepare William for Prime Minister’s Question Time and briefed the Shadow Cabinet for media appearances in his role as Head of the Political Section of the Conservative Research Department. After this secondment and standing for Parliament himself, as one of the youngest candidates, in Plymouth Devonport at the 2001 General Election, John wanted to gain further experience outside politics.
John gained an MBA from Cambridge University in 2003 and briefly returned to Accenture, before being asked in early 2004 to work as Deputy Director of the Conservative Research Department, looking after the day to day management of twenty researchers in the run up to the 2005 General Election. He then became Director of the Department and set up the secretariat for the Policy Review that was established after David Cameron became Leader.
Between 2006 and 2010, John returned to Accenture to manage the company’s relationship with the World Economic Forum. He attended the annual meeting in Davos in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
He was selected to fight the Salisbury seat at an Open Primary attended by over 450 people at Salisbury Playhouse on the 31st of January 2010.
John was a Magistrate (JP) at Horseferry Road, Westminster from 2006 to 2012 and retains a strong interest in the law and justice. He has worked as a mentor to students at City University; he has been a Trustee of a National Youth Charity and a Governor of an inner city comprehensive school. He now serves as an Associate Governor at Wyvern College in Salisbury.
