Gavin has lived in Croydon virtually his whole life, growing up in Shirley. The NHS saved his life when he had cancer as a child, so he is one of its strongest supporters. He went to Trinity School on a full scholarship and was the first person in his family to go to university, studying Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Before becoming MP for Croydon Central in May 2010, Gavin worked for the Conservative Party, serving as its Chief Operating Officer between October 2003 and May 2006, and then had his own consultancy business. He also served as a Croydon councillor from 1998 to 2010.
He proved a hard-working and effective MP:
• securing £25 million from the Government and the then Mayor of London Boris Johnson to rebuild our town after the riots;
• helping to bring Westfield and Hammerson to Croydon;
• introducing the Mental Health (Discrimination) Act 2013 to improve the lives of those with mental health conditions;
• winning a fairer share of national funding for our schools and local hospital;
• helping to introduce Lillian's Law - named after his 14 year-old constituent Lillian Groves, who was killed outside her home in New Addington by a driver who had taken illegal drugs - to tackle the menace of drug driving;
• convincing Croydon Council to drop plans to build travellers sites in our beautiful Green Belt; and
• giving work experience in his office to more than 200 local young people.
Following his election as an MP, Gavin was elected to the Science & Technology Select Committee and the Executive of the 1922 Committee, which represents backbench Conservative MPs.
In December 2011, he had to resign from these positions when he was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Greg Clark, the then Minister for Cities & Decentralisation.
In September 2012, he was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Gove, the then Secretary of State for Education.
In October 2013, David Cameron asked Gavin to join the Government as a Government Whip.
In July 2014, he was promoted to Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty’s Treasury, a fancy title for a senior Government Whip.
On 7th May 2015, Gavin was re-elected as the MP for Croydon Central, holding his seat by a majority of 165 when other similarly marginal Conservatives seats in outer London were gained by Labour (he's written a book about the experience entitled How To Win A Marginal Seat). After the election, he was promoted to Comptroller of Her Majesty’s Household, an even more fancy title for an even more senior Government Whip.
In July 2016, when Theresa May formed her first Government she appointed Gavin as Minister of State for Housing & Planning and Minister for London.
In April 2017, Her Majesty the Queen approved his appointment to the Privy Council.
Gavin lost his seat in the 2017 General Election and was later appointed Downing Street Chief of Staff. He was made a peer in the 2019 Resignation Honours.
He is married to Karen, who works for the NHS as a speech and language therapist at a number of schools in Addiscombe, Shirley and New Addington. Their first home was on Monks Hill and they are now bringing up their three boys Jack, Sam and Jamie in Croydon.