{{Short description|British politician and adventurer (born 1974)}} {{Multiple issues| {{BLP sources|date=May 2010}} {{More footnotes needed|date=May 2017}}}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}} {{Use British English|date=February 2012}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Dan Byles | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRGS}} | image = Dan Byles MP.jpg | office = Member of Parliament <br /> for North Warwickshire | parliament = | term_start = 6 May 2010 | term_end = 30 March 2015 | predecessor = Mike O'Brien | successor = Craig Tracey | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1974|06|24}} | birth_place = Hastings, East Sussex, England | death_date = | death_place = | party = Conservative | other_party = | website = [http://www.danbyles.co.uk/ www.danbyles.co.uk] | caption = Byles in 2013 }}
'''Daniel Alan Byles''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=small|FRGS}} (born 24 June 1974<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/62829.stm|title= Dan Byles MP|publisher= BBC|work= BBC Democracy Live|accessdate= 20 May 2010|url-status= live|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20130912213609/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/62829.stm|archivedate= 12 September 2013|df= dmy-all}}</ref>) is a former British politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Warwickshire from 2010 to 2015.
==Background== thumb|left|Warwick School Byles was born in Hastings, East Sussex, but spent his early childhood as an expatriate in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia before returning to England at age nine to the Cotswold market town of Chipping Norton. Helped by a government funded scholarship, the Assisted Places Scheme, Byles attended Warwick School.
He attended the University of Leeds from 1993 to 1996, where he earned a 2.1 BA Joint Honours in Economics and Management Studies, becoming the first member of his family to attend university. In 2007 he was awarded an MA in creative writing from Nottingham Trent University.
==Military career== Following university, Byles attended Commissioning Course 963 at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Initially commissioned into The Light Infantry Byles later accepted a Regular Commission with the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Medical Support Officer.
==Adventures and expeditions==
===Atlantic rowing race 1997=== [[File:Dan Byles rowing 2.jpg|thumb|Byles during the Atlantic Rowing Race in 1997]] In October 1997 Byles and his mother Janice Meek rowed {{convert|3044|nmi|km|0}} from Tenerife to Barbados; it took 100 days, 18 hours and 57 minutes. In rowing across the Atlantic, the pair became the first mother and son team to row any ocean.<ref name="oceanrowing1">{{cite web|url=http://www.oceanrowing.com/Guinness_World_Records/September18/11a.htm |title=guinness records ocean rowing |publisher=Oceanrowing.com |date=18 September 2006 |accessdate=4 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928024453/http://www.oceanrowing.com/Guinness_World_Records/September18/11a.htm |archivedate=28 September 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref>
==Charities and organisations== In October 2008, Byles became the main sponsor of the Bedworth United F.C. Youth Team, in order to support community youth projects involving sport.<ref>{{cite web |author=Steve Evans |url=http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/north-warwickshire-news/2008/10/29/dan-up-front-with-support-92746-22143269/ |title=News – North Warwickshire News – Dan up front with support |work=Coventry Telegraph |date=29 October 2008 |accessdate=4 November 2011 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003142655/http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/north-warwickshire-news/2008/10/29/dan-up-front-with-support-92746-22143269/ |archivedate=3 October 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
In December 2013, Byles was made a President of The Better Planet Education.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://betterplaneteducation.org.uk/team#Presidents |title=Our Team | Presidents, Trustees and Staff | Better Planet Education |website=betterplaneteducation.org.uk |accessdate=30 Sep 2024 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704141230/http://ypte.org.uk/team#Presidents |archivedate=4 July 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> for his work in Parliament on environmental and energy issues.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tamworthherald.co.uk/Dan-Byles-MP-honoured-work-energy-environmental/story-20462841-detail/story.html|title=MP Dan Byles honoured for his work on energy and environmental issues|date=18 January 2014|work=Tamworth Herald|accessdate=19 January 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123141617/http://www.tamworthherald.co.uk/Dan-Byles-MP-honoured-work-energy-environmental/story-20462841-detail/story.html|archivedate=23 January 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Political career== In 2007, Byles stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Leicester City Council in Stoneygate ward.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.leicester.gov.uk/elections07/results/detailedresults_ward.asp?wardid=19|title= Detailed Results for Stoneygate ward|publisher= Leicester City Council|accessdate= 8 July 2010|url-status= dead|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100509064549/http://www.leicester.gov.uk/elections07/results/detailedresults_ward.asp?wardid=19|archivedate= 9 May 2010|df= dmy-all}}</ref>
On 8 March 2007, Byles was selected as the Conservative Party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the North Warwickshire constituency at the 2010 general election. He was selected at an open primary.
Byles was elected by 54 votes at the election on 6 May 2010 after defeating the incumbent MP Mike O'Brien, and served as Member of Parliament in the House of Commons until May 2015. He had the smallest majority of all Conservative Members of Parliament during the 2010–2015 Parliament.
He gave his maiden speech in the Commons on Thursday 3 June 2010 when he spoke about Nicholas Chamberlaine, the Atherstone Ball Game, and his intention to campaign for better rehabilitation and mental health care for military veterans and reservists.<ref>{{cite web |author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100603/debtext/100603-0016.htm#10060339000392 |title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 3 Jun 2010 (pt 0016) |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |date=3 June 2010 |accessdate=4 November 2011 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014202828/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100603/debtext/100603-0016.htm#10060339000392 |archivedate=14 October 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
In July 2014 Byles announced that he would not stand at the next election as "it was time to pursue new challenges."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.danbyles.co.uk/conservatives/news/dan-byles-mp-statement |title=Dan Byles MP Statement | Dan Byles MP |website=www.danbyles.co.uk |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723202852/http://www.danbyles.co.uk/conservatives/news/dan-byles-mp-statement |archive-date=23 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Guinness world records== In 2006 Byles and his mother Janice Meek were belatedly awarded a Guinness World Record certificate for being the first mother and son team to row any ocean in 1997/8.<ref name="oceanrowing1"/>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category|Dan Byles}} * [http://www.danielbyles.com Daniel Byles’ website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927220403/http://www.danielbyles.com/ |date=27 September 2021 }} *{{UK MP links | parliament = dan-byles/4112 | hansardcurr = 5598 | guardian = 12795/dan-byles | publicwhip = Dan_Byles | theywork = Dan_Byles}}
{{S-start}} {{S-par|uk}} {{S-bef|before=Mike O'Brien}} {{S-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for North Warwickshire|years=2010–2015}} {{S-aft|after=Craig Tracey}} {{S-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byles, Daniel}} Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:English explorers Category:English male rowers Category:Ocean rowers Category:People educated at Warwick School Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers Category:English mountain climbers Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds Category:Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Category:UK MPs 2010–2015 Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Category:People from Hastings