Conor Burns was a member of the
A-List of candidates and was selected in September 2008 as the Conservative Party candidate for
Bournemouth West. He was elected for the seat at the
2010 general election. Burns was appointed as
Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to
Hugo Swire, the
Minister of State for Northern Ireland, in 2010, before which he briefly sat on the
Education Select Committee. On 10 July 2012 he resigned as PPS to
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson to vote against the
Coalition's
House of Lords Reform Bill, of which he had been a consistent critic. He has also served in Parliament as a member of the
Administration Committee and the
Culture, Media and Sport Committee. In 2014, Burns raised concerns about an
Oxfam tweet, referring the matter to the
Charity Commission on the basis that it appeared "overtly political". He also expressed disagreement with a letter from
Church of England bishops encouraging engagement in the 2015 election, describing parts of it as "naive" and "factually wrong". Alongside his work as an MP, Burns works as a consultant for Trant Engineering Ltd., earning £10,000 quarterly for 10 hours' work a month. He acts as a consultant for the Quantum Group, real estate developers, working six hours a month for a quarterly fee of £6,250. He accepted all-expenses paid trips to Bahrain while it was facing mass pro-democracy protests which were later repressed. In August 2017, he said his Twitter account was hacked after it sent a series of aggressive posts to
Michel Barnier's account demanding how the UK's Brexit bill was legally calculated. Burns resigned as PPS to
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on 9 July 2018 because he wanted to speak more openly on other areas of policy. In October 2018, Burns was investigated by his party over allegations of racist remarks about travellers in a letter to his local newspaper, following the arrival of a traveller encampment in the centre of Bournemouth. Burns said: "These people think the normal rules of civilised society do not apply to them” and stated those involved in the encampment had turned the town into "a no go area for local residents and visitors." Burns was appointed Minister of State for Trade Policy at the
Department for International Trade by Boris Johnson in July 2019. In this role at the Department for International Trade (DIT), his remit included developing the
UK’s independent trade policy as
Brexit approached, securing continuity of existing trade agreements, and laying groundwork for future
free trade agreements (FTAs). In September 2019 he chaired the first meeting of DIT’s
Strategic Trade Advisory Group, a forum of business, civil society and union stakeholders that would advise on trade policy. A major focus of Burns’s tenure was rolling over EU trade agreements to avoid disruption after Brexit. By autumn 2019 he reported that continuity agreements covering over 72% of UK trade with countries via EU deals had been secured. Burns personally signed or helped finalize several such agreements. On
19 September 2019, the UK concluded a trade continuity agreement with
Lebanon, ensuring bilateral trade preferences would continue post-Brexit. He also led UK efforts to secure a deal with
Tunisia – on
4 October 2019, the UK-Tunisia Agreement was signed (with Burns and Middle East Minister
Andrew Murrison representing the UK) to replicate the EU-Tunisia trading terms. Later that month, the UK achieved a significant milestone by signing the
UK-Morocco Association Agreement on
26 October 2019, preserving preferential trade with Morocco. In the signing announcement, Burns highlighted that this deal would “provide certainty for businesses” and noted that “on my recent visit to Morocco, I witnessed first-hand the many opportunities available to UK and Moroccan firms to advance our trade together.” He viewed the agreement as evidence that “the world is ready to sign free trade deals with Britain” as it leaves the EU. He sparred with the Opposition’s Trade spokesperson, rejecting their criticism of the government’s trade preparations. Burns countered claims of global disinterest in UK trade deals, stating that “everywhere that I have travelled in this role, I have discovered an enormous interest” in Britain’s post-Brexit trade, citing active talks with the
United States, Australia and New Zealand. He urged MPs to support a Brexit deal as “the best continuity agreement” with the EU, while also highlighting progress on bilateral deals worldwide. He noted the UK had spent over £150 million in climate finance on forest programs in Brazil, and that following his visit the Prime Minister announced an additional £10 million to help Brazil tackle deforestation. Across these debates, he positioned the UK as both a champion of
free trade and
fair trade, vowing that the new
Trade Remedies Authority would protect British industries from unfair practices.
North Africa and Middle East: Burns made strengthening trade ties with North African partners a priority. In mid-September 2019 he traveled to
Morocco and Algeria for high-level talks. On
17 September 2019, he co-chaired the
UK-Morocco Strategic Dialogue in Rabat alongside
Foreign Office Minister Andrew Murrison. This meeting with Morocco’s Foreign Minister
Nasser Bourita covered political, economic, security and cultural relations. Upon taking office, he vowed to engage widely across communities, stating he intended to “go to places that maybe UK government ministers don’t often go” in Northern Ireland and to reach out to people not usually in ministerial company. He described returning to Belfast as “coming home,” even visiting his childhood primary school on the city’s Antrim Road the day after his appointment. As Minister of State, Burns was
responsible for supporting the Secretary of State across a broad portfolio. His designated brief included
economic and domestic policy in Northern Ireland – encompassing the UK government’s “levelling up” agenda, city and growth deals, and the new post-Brexit Shared Prosperity Fund – as well as
community reconciliation and cohesion initiatives. He also led on
constitutional and rights issues, such as oversight of elections and implementation of commitments from the
2020 New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) agreement (which restored devolved government). In addition, Burns was tasked with promoting the
Northern Ireland Centenary in 2021, helping oversee a programme of historical and cultural events marking 100 years since Northern Ireland’s creation. Throughout his tenure he made frequent visits to the region and was noted for spending substantial time on the ground. In contrast to some predecessors who were criticized for “fly in, fly out” engagement, Burns won praise for his visible presence in Northern Ireland’s communities, On 16 September, Burns was appointed Minister of State for Northern Ireland during the
second cabinet reshuffle of the
second Johnson ministry. On 25 January 2022, during the
Westminster lockdown parties controversy, in an interview with
Channel 4 News, Burns defended Johnson over an alleged surprise birthday get-together on 19 June 2020. Burns said that, rather than being a pre-planned party, Johnson was "ambushed with a cake". Burns’ comments attracted significant online attention and media commentary. Following the appointment of
Liz Truss as Prime Minister, Burns was appointed to his former post of
Minister of State for Trade Policy. He was dismissed from the position on 7 October, when he had the
whip suspended following an allegation of misconduct at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference. He was also suspended as a patron of
LGBT+ Conservatives. He was unable to vote in the
October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. On 3 December 2022, he had the whip restored after being cleared of misconduct. The internal investigation had concluded with no further action. Burns commented he felt he had been targeted due to showing approval for
Kemi Badenoch, a Conservative leadership rival to Liz Truss who was prime minister when Burns was dismissed. He said: "I think this all had become more to do with nice things I had said about the trade secretary than about being up late at the conference. It felt and smelt like a stitch-up and that is what it was." In the
2024 United Kingdom general election, he lost his seat to
Jessica Toale from the Labour Party. ==Post-parliamentary career==