Sir John Henry Hayes CBE (born 23 June 1958) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South Holland and The Deepings since 1997.

[8] Hayes is known for speaking passionately and theatrically in the House of Commons chamber[9] and has been described as a "colourful character" who is "popular and influential on the Tory right".

[11] He was educated at Colfe's Grammar School in Lewisham, before studying politics at the University of Nottingham, graduating with a BA and a PGCE in history and English.

[14] Hayes was elected to Nottinghamshire County Council in 1985 where he was the Conservative Group Spokesman on Education and Chairman of its Campaigns Committee.

[21][22] In November 2012, during his time as Energy Minister, Hayes clashed with Liberal Democrat coalition partners when he said that there should be no further construction of onshore wind turbines, declaring "enough is enough".

[24] During his tenure, subsidies for renewables were cut, planning rules for onshore wind were tightened, and a zero-carbon homes policy was scrapped.

[3] He was appointed as Minister of State at the Department for Transport in the reshuffle on 15 July 2014[26] with responsibility for national roads, Highways Agency reform, the Infrastructure Bill, and maritime issues.

[34] Also in October 2018, Hayes, a protectionist, rejected "globalist free trade", stating his belief that government should "redistribute advantage".

He criticised the "gig economy" and believes that only "meaningful careers that contribute to societal good" can restore economic opportunities within the local communities they exist to serve.

[39] Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Hayes was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph in November 2020 from the group.

[46] Since 2018 Hayes has received payments of £50,000 per year working for a Lebanese-based oil company BB Energy as a strategic adviser which has drawn criticism from Transparency International UK.

[48] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours for political and public service.