Former Tory minister Steve Baker joins Harrogate entrepreneur’s civic AI platform

Former Tory government minister Steve Baker has joined Suffrago, a Harrogate-based, AI-powered political technology firm

Suffrago was launched in 2024 by Harrogate entrepreneur and former law firm boss Andrew Gray as a transparent democracy tool tracking MP voting records, crime trends, and housing affordability alongside anonymised polling.

The platform gained local attention when Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon utilized a Suffrago public survey to gauge local opposition to Harrogate Spring Water's expansion plans and the potential loss of Rotary Wood.

Baker, the former Northern Ireland minister and Conservative MP for Wycombe, who was known as a hardline Brexiteer, has joined as a strategic adviser alongside his former senior adviser, Harry Richer.

Baker brings experience from both Westminster and the technology industry, having worked in software engineering before entering Parliament.

Baker and Richer will advise on strategy, particularly how Suffrago can make its technology useful to decision-makers and democratic institutions.

Steve Baker said: “There’s never been more noise and less communication.

“MPs are drowning among clamouring voices.

“Unlike other platforms, Suffrago cuts through to the voices representatives need to hear on the issues which matter.”

Andrew Gray said: “Steve has an unusual combination of experience in technology, Parliament and government.

“He understands both what software can achieve and how decisions actually get made.

“We want to build something that helps Britain understand itself better, connecting what is happening with what people think and why.

“Steve and Harry can help us make that useful to the people making decisions.”

Suffrago operates as a politically independent platform, with a commitment to transparent evidence, open participation and the protection of individual opinions.