De Bois, a member of the Conservative party, was beaten by Labour’s Joan Ryan, who previously held the seat from 1997 to 2010. She defeated the Tory candidate with a total of 20,172 votes to his 19,086.
Speaking of his lost, De Bois said: "Thanks to all the generous and kind comments from you all. [I am] disappointed of course but democratic choice rules."
The former MP was previously managing director of exhibitions and events agency Rapiergroup – formerly Rapier Design - before first entering the Houses of Parliament in 2010.
De Bois continually promoted the Britain for Events campaign and spoke at the Sustainable Events Summit as chair of the APPG for Events. Most recently he appeared at this year’s (BVEP).
Michael Hirst, chair of the BVEP, said: "On behalf of all of our partners and everyone within the UK events industry we would like to put on record our sincere thanks to Nick de Bois for the hard work, endeavor, but also the positive impact he has had on our industry. From his chairing of the APPG, to the inquiry he led into our international competitiveness, Nick has been a supporter in UKTI, DCMS and Treasury of everything we have tried to achieve for the industry.
"He is a great loss, but his legacy is one of a stronger, better represented and more respected UK events industry."
Sajid Javid, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, has held his seat as Conservative MP for Bromsgrove.
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