Dr Ben Spencer has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge since 2019.
He is Shadow Minister for Artificial Intelligence, appointed in August 2026 after serving for two years as Shadow Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology. He has previously served as Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, and Parliamentary Private Secretary to three successive Party Chairmen, and sat on the Work and Pensions Select Committee from 2020 to 2024.
Before entering Parliament, Ben spent over ten years as an NHS doctor, latterly as a consultant psychiatrist. He trained at the Royal Free and University College Medical School and holds a master's in mental health law and a PhD on decision-making capacity. That clinical and research background shapes his approach to politics and the importance he places on data.
As shadow science minister he led for the Opposition in the Commons on the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, pressing the Government on AI and copyright and the accuracy of sex data in public records, and on the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, where he argued for a register of hostile foreign powers and for keeping the new rules focused on the organisations and systems that matter most to national security, rather than adding burdens across the whole economy.
In Runnymede and Weybridge, Ben's work is organised around his five point plan:
Keeping Runnymede and Weybridge moving, with reliable rail services and reducing traffic chaos from engineering and utility works
Backing local jobs and businesses
Defending the green belt and natural environment, including the rivers and open spaces that define the area;
Improving protection from flooding along the Thames and its tributaries
Supporting children and families, from local health services to schools and childcare.
He lives in Chertsey with his family.
Career
- Born 11 December 1981 in Liverpool
- Educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall. Studied medicine at the Royal Free and University College Medical School; MRCP and MRCPsych; Master's in mental health law; PhD on decision-making capacity
- NHS doctor for over ten years before Parliament, latterly consultant psychiatrist
- Elected Member of Parliament for Runnymede and Weybridge, 12 December 2019; re-elected 4 July 2024
- Work and Pensions Select Committee, March 2020 – May 2024
- Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chairman of the Conservative Party (Jake Berry, Nadhim Zahawi, Greg Hands), October 2022 – November 2023
- Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, November 2023 – July 2024
- Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care, July – November 2024
- Shadow Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, November 2024 – August 2026
- Shadow Minister for Artificial Intelligence (Cabinet Office), from 31 August 2026