Andrew Bowie (politician)

Andrew Campbell Bowie (born 28 May 1987) is a Scottish politician who has been the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine since the 2017 general election. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nuclear and Networks between February 2023 & July 2024. He has served as Shadow Veterans Minister since the 8 July 2024.

Early life and education
Andrew Bowie was born on 28 May 1987 in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland. He spent his early childhood in Alford, before moving to Inverurie, and was educated at Market Place School and Inverurie Academy in Aberdeenshire. While studying at Inverurie Academy, Bowie was chosen to join the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, playing the violin. After leaving school, he joined the Royal Navy and attended Britannia Royal Naval College before serving as an officer, remaining on the rank of Sub-Lieutenant.

After leaving the navy, Bowie studied History and Politics at the University of Aberdeen, where he was a member of the Aberdeen University Royal Naval Unit and where he was elected Chairman of the University of Aberdeen Conservative and Unionist Association for the 2012/13 academic year.

Political career
After graduating from the University of Aberdeen, Bowie was employed as a Military Projects Coordinator for the Westhill-based diving equipment supplier Divex. Bowie left Divex in January 2014 to assume a post as the North Scotland Campaign Manager for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, and was seconded to the Better Together campaign for the duration of the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum.

Following the referendum, Bowie transitioned to parliamentary politics by serving as a senior advisor to the Conservative MEP Ian Duncan. In 2016, following the Scottish Parliament election, 2016, Bowie was hired as office manager to Liam Kerr MSP, who was elected as the Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP for the North East Scotland region. In 2016, while working for Kerr, he was forced to apologise to a female SNP councillor to whom he accidentally sent an offensive email.

Parliamentary career
At the snap 2017 general election, Bowie was elected to Parliament as MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine with 47.9% of the vote and a majority of 7,950.

From October 2017 until June 2018, he was a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

In February 2018, Bowie was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport under Matt Hancock, and later under Jeremy Wright.

In December 2018, he was promoted to Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister by Theresa May until her resignation in July 2019.

In July 2019, Bowie was appointed as one of six vice-chairmen of the Conservative Party and is responsible for the Young Conservatives.

Bowie was re-elected as MP for West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine at the 2019 general election with a decreased vote share of 42.7% and a decreased majority of 843 votes.

In November 2021, Bowie announced he would resign as a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party once a replacement was selected, soon after the forced resignation of Owen Paterson from the party, giving the reason "to focus on representing my constituents in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine".

From October 2022 to February 2023, Bowie was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Exports) at the Department for International Trade working for Kemi Badenoch.

He is an advocate of the Down Syndrome Act, which recognises people with Down syndrome as a specific minority group.

Bowie was again re-elected as MP for West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine at the 2024 general election with a decreased vote share of 35.6% and an increased majority of 3,441 votes. With the Conservative government losing, Bowie was appointed Shadow Veterans Minister.

Personal life
He is married to Madeleine Clarke, who is originally from Stockholm, and together they have a daughter, Emily, born 18 August 2022.