Sir John Henry Hayes (born 23 June 1958) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South Holland and The Deepings since 1997. He has held five ministerial positions and six shadow ministerial positions. Hayes was appointed as a Privy Councillor in April 2013 and a Knight Bachelor in November 2018.
Hayes is considered a social conservative, economic protectionist, communitarian and Eurosceptic. He strongly supported Britain's withdrawal from the EU and has spoken regularly about his belief in conservative ideas and philosophy. Hayes is known for speaking passionately and theatrically in the House of Commons chamber and has been described as a "colourful character" who is "popular and influential on the Tory right".
John Hayes was born on 23 June 1958 in Woolwich into a working-class family, where he grew up on a council estate. He was educated at Colfe's Grammar School in Lewisham, before studying politics at the University of Nottingham, graduating with a BA and a PGCE in history and English. Hayes was involved in a campaign to create a pipe-smoking society affiliated to the Students' Union. He also chaired the University's Conservative Association from 1981 to 1982 while being President of one of the residential halls, Lincoln's Junior Common Room, and served as treasurer of the university's Students' Union from 1982 to 1983.
Hayes suffered a serious head injury in his early 20s, from which he has never fully recovered. He has focused much of his career on raising funds for research into acquired brain injury and support for those who suffer from it.
After university, he was a sales director for The Data Base Ltd, an information technology company based in Nottingham.
Hayes was elected to Nottinghamshire County Council in 1985 where he was the Conservative Group Spokesman on Education and Chairman of its Campaigns Committee. He served on the council for 13 years.
At the 1987 general election, Hayes stood as the Conservative candidate in Derbyshire North East, coming second with 37.7% of the vote behind the Labour candidate Harry Barnes. He again stood in Derbyshire North East at the 1992 general election, coming second with 38.2% of the vote behind Harry Barnes.
Hayes was elected to Parliament as MP for South Holland and The Deepings at the 1997 general election with 49.3% of the vote and a majority of 7,991. He made his maiden speech on 2 July 1997. He was re-elected as MP for South Holland and the Deepings at the 2001 general election with an increased vote share of 55.4% and an increased majority of 11,099. At the 2005 general election, Hayes was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.1% and an increased majority of 15,780. He was again re-elected at the 2010 general election with an increased vote share of 59.1% and an increased majority of 21,880.
In November 2012, during his time as Energy Minister, Hayes clashed with Liberal Democrat coalition partners when he said that there should be no further construction of onshore wind turbines, declaring "enough is enough".
Following his appointment as Energy Minister in March 2013 Hayes vowed to put "coal back into the coalition". During his tenure, subsidies for renewables were cut, planning rules for onshore wind were tightened, and a zero-carbon homes policy was scrapped.
Hayes became Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office. He was appointed to the Privy Council on 9 April 2013.
He was appointed as Minister of State at the Department for Transport in the reshuffle on 15 July 2014 with responsibility for national roads, Highways Agency reform, the Infrastructure Bill, and maritime issues.
At the 2015 general election, Hayes was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 59.6% and a decreased majority of 18,567.
Following the general election, Hayes was moved to the Home Office, where he was appointed "Minister of State, Minister for Security", with responsibility for counter-terrorism, security, serious organised crime and cyber crime.
In the government formed by Theresa May in July 2016, Hayes was reshuffled back to become a Minister at the Department for Transport.
Hayes was re-elected at the snap 2017 general election, with an increased vote share of 69.9% and an increased majority of 24,897.
He resigned from his post as Minister of State for Transport on 9 January 2018 during a cabinet reshuffle.
Hayes, in October 2018, described Britain's withdrawal from the EU as something "I've believed in for my whole life". He stated that voting Leave would provide an opportunity to "finally bring down the curtain on the Blair era". Following the referendum, Hayes criticised the "stunned hysteria" of an "establishment elite" who had "never before failed to get their own way".