Wikipedia:Stephen Canning

Stephen Canning is a former Conservative councillor. He was thought to be the youngest councillor in the United Kingdom after beating UKIP in the 2015 by-election. Canning was a member of Theresa May's 2016 leadership campaign and served as the deputy chairman of Conservative Future, the party's youth wing, until its demise in 2015. While in office he proposed scrapping Essex County Council’s offices. The Conservative Party suspended Canning in 2018 following accusations that he assaulted an MP's aide at a bar in London. He strongly denied the allegations.

Early life
Canning studied at Tabor Academy in Braintree and Colchester Sixth Form College.

Political career
Canning took his first post on Braintree Council in May 2011, aged 18, as the elected representative of Bocking Blackwater. He was believed to be Britain's youngest councillor at the time his tenure began.

In 2015, Canning became the youngest councillor on Essex County Council when he took the Bocking seat from UKIP. He won the by-election with 1,071 votes beating Labour's Lynn Watson by 97 votes. UKIP's Michael Ford came third in the election with 855 votes.

Whilst serving as foreign secretary, Boris Johnson accused Canning of recording comments that he made at a dinner party for MPs and party donors. Canning, speaking to The Times, denied claims that he was the source of the recording, stating: "I was privileged to be at the dinner and did not record it, nor pass on any recording."

The Conservative Party suspended Canning following allegations that he assaulted an MP's aide at, Maggie's, a Margaret Thatcher themed nightclub in London. Canning publicly denied the allegations, stating: "I deny in the strongest possible way anything of this sort ever taking place."

Activism and views
In 2016, Canning advocated shelving Essex County Councils' plans to increase council tax to deal with the county's social care bill which was nearing £1million per day. Instead, Canning, responsible for innovation at Essex County Hall, demanded a more "innovative" approach and proposed abolishing council offices across the county. His plans included abolishing the council's Chelmsford headquarters, instead of letting staff work remotely. Speaking at the time, Canning hoped that his proposal would spare working people from further tax increases.

Canning champions younger members of the Conservative Party and previously chaired the party's now-defunct youth wing, Conservative Future. In a bid to bolster the party's youth contingent, Canning organised drinks nights for young conservatives. Home Secretary Priti Patel and Government Minister James Cleverly attended an event held by Canning in December 2017.

Writing for The Times in 2017, Canning articulated the party's difficulties in mobilizing the party's younger members, "…young right-leaning students across the country, don't need or want to be a separate entity, singled out with their own patronizing messages and solutions." In the same article, he criticised the party's new constitution claiming that it made having a youth wing optional.