# Simon Coombs

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{{Short description|British politician}}
{{for|the Australian swimmer|Simon Coombs (swimmer)}}
{{BLP sources|date=January 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Simon Coombs
| office = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(UK)) <br> for [Swindon](/source/Swindon_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
| term_start = 9 June 1983
| term_end   = 1 May 1997
| predecessor = [David Stoddart](/source/David_Stoddart%2C_Baron_Stoddart_of_Swindon)
| successor   = ''Constituency abolished''
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1947|2|21|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date  =
| party       = [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK))
}}
'''Simon Christopher Coombs''' (born 21 February 1947), is a former British [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) politician.

Coombs was [MP](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) for [Swindon](/source/Swindon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) from 1983 until 1997 when the seat was divided by boundary changes. Coombs stood in the new [Swindon South](/source/South_Swindon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) seat but lost to [Labour](/source/Labour_Party_(UK))'s [Julia Drown](/source/Julia_Drown). He stood again for the seat in 2001, but was unsuccessful.

==Early life==
Coombs was educated at [Wycliffe College](/source/Wycliffe_College%2C_Gloucestershire) in Gloucestershire and [Reading University](/source/Reading_University), where he graduated BA and MPhil. He then worked for [British Telecom](/source/British_Telecom) from 1970 to 1983, first as a marketing executive and then as a marketing manager for the company's [Telex](/source/Telex) network.<ref name="WW">{{Who's Who | title = COOMBS, Simon Christopher| id = U11778 | volume = 2026 | edition = online}}</ref> He was a Conservative member of [Reading Borough Council](/source/Reading_Borough_Council) from 1969 to 1984, becoming deputy leader of the Council in 1976 and chief whip of the Conservative group in 1983.<ref name="WW"/>

==Parliamentary career==
Coombs was elected MP for Swindon in 1983, defeating the sitting [Labour](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)) MP, [David Stoddart](/source/David_Stoddart%2C_Baron_Stoddart_of_Swindon), by 1,395 votes in what was then a key marginal. His Parliamentary term coincided with Swindon being the centre of a technology boom. Sir [Tim Berners Lee](/source/Tim_Berners_Lee) developed the idea of the [World Wide Web](/source/World_Wide_Web) while at the [Science and Engineering Research Council](/source/Science_and_Engineering_Research_Council) (SERC) in Swindon. Coombs served as Treasurer of [PITCOM](/source/PITCOM), the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee and as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Rt. Hon [Kenneth Baker](/source/Kenneth_Baker%2C_Baron_Baker_of_Dorking), MP, Minister of Information Technology in the Department of Trade and Industry, and as PPS to Baker during his 1984–85 term as Minister for the Environment. He later served as PPS to Rt. Hon [Ian Lang](/source/Ian_Lang), MP during his terms as Secretary of State for Scotland (1992–95) and President of the Board of Trade (1995–97). Coombs also served as Parliamentary advisor to the UK Cable Television Association, representing at the time the constituency with the highest cable penetration in the country. He was also Chairman of the Conservative Backbench Tourism Committee and a member of the British Recording Industry Association's All-Party Parliamentary Group and the Select Committee on Employment. 

==After the Commons==
Since leaving Parliament, he has kept active in the music sphere as a trustee of the [Ralph Vaughan Williams](/source/Ralph_Vaughan_Williams) Society and organizer of the Vaughan Williams exhibition in the composer's home village of [Down Ampney](/source/Down_Ampney).

==Bibliography==
*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', [Times Newspapers Limited](/source/The_Times), 1997

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-simon-coombs | Simon Coombs  }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = [David Stoddart](/source/David_Stoddart%2C_Baron_Stoddart_of_Swindon) }}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) for [Swindon](/source/Swindon_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
  | years  = [1983](/source/1983_United_Kingdom_general_election)–[1997](/source/1997_United_Kingdom_general_election)
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }}

{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coombs, Simon}}
Category:1947 births
Category:Living people
Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Category:UK MPs 1983–1987
Category:UK MPs 1987–1992
Category:UK MPs 1992–1997

{{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Simon Coombs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Coombs) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Coombs?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.