Robert Henry Halfon (/ˈhælfɒn/; born 22 March 1969) is a British Conservative Party politician and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harlow from 2010 to 2024.

Halfon was formerly a researcher for Conservative MPs, including as Chief of Staff to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Oliver Letwin.

Alongside David Burrowes, Sajid Javid, and Tim Montgomerie, he was a leading member of the Exeter University Conservative Association and helped to turn it from social to political activities.

[6] In 1991, he took the issue of compulsory membership of the National Union of Students to the European Court of Human Rights,[8] which decided that his application was manifestly ill-founded.

[9][10] After graduating, Halfon sold memberships for an upmarket London hotel before he got a job as a part-time researcher for Harold Elletson, the then Conservative MP for Blackpool North.

At the 2001 general election, Halfon stood in Harlow, coming second with 34.8% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Bill Rammell.

[16] Halfon has signed several early day motions in support of NHS funding for homeopathy sponsored by Conservative MP David Tredinnick.

[17] Halfon is a supporter of apprenticeships, and campaigned for a new university technical college to be built in Harlow, which opened in September 2014 as Sir Charles Kao UTC.

Earlier, in 2016, a seven-year-old girl died after a bouncy castle broke free from its moorings in Halfon's constituency of Harlow.

[47] Halfon has also campaigned for reducing the tax rate on low-paid workers, arguing in 2013 that a near living wage could be achieved if the government reintroduced the 10p band of income tax or increased the National Insurance threshold, citing this as an alternative to the living wage which he said could damage small local businesses.

[49][50] Halfon has said that one of the three things that motivate him in politics is "unashamed support for the State of Israel, as the only real democracy and progressive force in the Middle East".

[7] He has also campaigned against Libyan funding of British universities, prompted by the experiences of his Italian-Jewish refugee grandfather Renato Halfon, who was making a living in Libya before being expelled alongside other Jews.

In 2014, Halfon was challenged in Parliament over money paid to his constituency office by a close associate of a Ukrainian magnate, Dmitry Firtash, who had been recently arrested amid allegations of bribery.

[64][65] Halfon was further criticised after The Guardian reported that he had claimed over £30,000 in expenses to illicitly meet Paterson when staying at the East India Club in London.

"[67] Board president Marie van der Zyl said, "Despite contacting [Halfon] via his mobile, his office number, his email and via social media—requesting times where he might be available to speak—he has still not spoken to me, which does bring into question his courage and integrity.

[7] Halfon was born with a moderate form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia and underwent several major operations as a child, causing an onset of osteoarthritis in his early 30s, and now uses crutches to walk.