IN MAY 2020, Ranil Jayawardena was appointed minister for International Trade. Now, in a post-Brexit Britain, his role assumes greater significance.
“A Global Britain who stands tall as a fierce champion of the free and fair, rules-based, international trade system, that not only gives us the weapons to fight this pandemic but will be the key to our future prosperity. A Global Britain who regains her buccaneering belief as a dynamic trading superpower, with a red-tape slashing spirit and cutting-edge trade support,” Jayawardena recently wrote on his website.
“A Global Britain who strives to seize opportunities in new and growing markets, exporting her goods and services to every corner of the globe, creating jobs, growth and prosperity for the British people. With the ingenuity, resilience and determination of our businesses and the support we are putting in place, I am confident that Britain’s future is great.”
Jayawardena’s department has been responsible for non-EU trade and the minister said that his department has already secured trade agreements with 63 countries, most recently with countries, including Mexico, Singapore, and Vietnam.
He was first elected as the Member of Parliament for North East Hampshire in May 2015 and was re-elected in 2017 and 2019.
James Arbuthnot, the MP for North East Hampshire, indicated in 2011 that he would retire at the next parliamentary election which was due to be held in 2015. Jayawardena was selected in an open primary as the parliamentary candidate in 2013. He went on to be elected as the MP for the constituency at the 2015 general election, with the largest margin of victory by any Conservative MP in the election.
Before serving as a minister, Jayawardena was a member of the International Trade, Home Affairs, Procedure and Arms Export Controls Committees, and was appointed by the Speaker of the House of Commons to the chairmans’ panel. He was also made deputy chairman of the Conservative Party by the prime minister.
Before his election to parliament, he was a councillor, serving as deputy leader of the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane, part of which is within the constituency. An alumnus of London School of Economics, Jayawardena combined his service in local government with working for Lloyds Banking Group and is a Freeman of the City of London. He also has wide-ranging commercial experience from the pharmaceutical, construction, transport and leisure sectors.
In December 2015, he voted to support prime minister David Cameron’s plans to carry out airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria. After becoming an MP, he continued to be vocal about local issues that he had supported as a councillor such as protecting weekly bin collections.
Jayawardena supported Brexit in the June 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. He supported Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election. He was appointed deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in February 2020.
He was born in London on September 3, 1986. His father Nalin Jayawardena is of Sri Lankan origin and moved to the UK in 1978 to pursue a career in accountancy. His mother, Indira Jayawardena, is of Indian heritage. He grew up in Hook, and went to Hook Infants and Juniors, before Robert May’s in Odiham and Alton College.
Currently, he lives in Bramley, Hampshire. He has been married to Alison (née Roberts), a solicitor, since 2011.
The couple has two daughters. His wife works part-time as a senior researcer for his parliamentary office. He is a Christian and was a trustee/director of the Conservative Chritian Fellowship. In his spare time, Jayawardena likes watching cricket, tennis and rugby.
