Andrew Parsons (photographer)
Andrew Parsons is a British professional photographer who has worked with the Conservative Party and, as a civil servant, in close liaison with four of the five most recent Conservative prime ministers: David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Liz Truss.
Career
After working at the Cambridge Evening News and The Times, Parsons became a Press Association photographer in 2001. During 2007 he was embedded with the 1st Battalion, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on behalf of the PA. He also covered conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and Bosnia.He was employed as an official photographer by the Conservative Party during the 2010 election campaign, for which his company Parsons Media received payments totalling £45,525.25. He was subsequently given a civil service role by David Cameron, but was released from that role after criticism, and was paid instead by the Conservative Party. His role continued under Theresa May.
He worked for Boris Johnson during the latter's tenure as Mayor of London, but was not employed by the Greater London Authority to do so. He also took photographs for Johnson at family events. As Prime Minister, Johnson reappointed Parsons to the civil service as a part-time special advisor, a political appointment, on a salary equivalent to £100,000 full time.
Images by Parsons of illegal parties at 10 Downing Street during COVID-19 lockdown were reported as being instrumental in Sue Gray's report and police investigations into the incidents, and have been required to be produced as evidence to the Commons Select Committee of Privileges as part of their inquiry into Boris Johnson dealings with the committee.
Many of Parsons' images taken in his role as a civil servant are available under the Open Government Licence.
He is co-founder of the photo agency i-Images, which he established in 2011 with Stephen Lock.