Robert John Blackman (born 26 April 1956) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow East since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Joint Executive Secretary of the backbench 1922 Committee since 2012. Blackman was the Member of the London Assembly (MLA) for Brent and Harrow between 2004 and 2008. Early life and career Blackman studied at the University of Liverpool and left with a Bachelor of Science degree. While at Liverpool, he was president of the students' union. He joined the sales team of Burroughs Machines (later Unisys) on graduation. He worked in various sales and management positions for BT and worked at their training school in Milton Keynes as a tutor and later as a regulatory compliance manager for BT until his election to Parliament. Political career Blackman unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate in the Tokyngton ward of Brent London Borough Council in 1986. In 1990, he stood in the Preston ward and was elected; he retained the seat until 2010, when he did not stand. He was the leader of the Conservative group on Brent council from 1990 to 2010, having been council leader between 1991 and 1996, when his party lost control of the council. From June 2006 to May 2010, he was deputy leader of Brent Council, the Conservatives having formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. He unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Brent South at the 1992 election, for Bedford at the 1997 election, and for Brent North at the 2005 election. He stood as the Conservative Party candidate for the London Assembly constituency of Brent and Harrow at the 2000 elections, losing to the Labour candidate Toby Harris. He defeated Harris at the 2004 assembly elections and was elected as the Conservative group's whip on the London Assembly. In the 2008 Assembly election, Blackman lost his seat to the Labour candidate Navin Shah by 1,649 votes. Member of Parliament In the 2010 general election, Blackman gained the Harrow East constituency from Labour's Tony McNulty. He was re-elected in 2015 and 2017. In 2010 he was elected a member of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee and was elected secretary of the 1922 Committee in 2015 (serving jointly with Nigel Evans until 8 January 2020 when Evans became second deputy chairman of Ways and Means). In Parliament,