Christopher Pincher

Christopher Pincher
MP
Parliamentary Private Secretary to
the Foreign Secretary
In office
23 July 2015 – 13 July 2016
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Damian Collins
Succeeded by TBD
Member of Parliament
for Tamworth
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Brian Jenkins
Majority 6,090 (13.1%)
Personal details
Born (1969-09-24) 24 September 1969
Walsall, Staffordshire, England
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Alma mater London School of Economics
Occupation IT consultant
Committees Energy and Climate Change Select Committee

Christopher John Pincher[1] MP (born 24 September 1969[2] in Walsall)[3] is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamworth since the 2010 general election, when he won the seat from the Labour Party.[4] He first fought the seat in 2005.[5]

Before Parliament

Christopher Pincher grew up in Wombourne, Staffordshire, and has been a member of the Conservative Party since 1987,[6] having been politicised by the 1984–85 miners' strike.[7] He was deputy director of the Conservative Collegiate Forum, followed by chairman of Islington North Constituency Association.[7] He was tipped as a future cabinet member ahead of the 1997 general election,[7] in which he ran for Parliament for the newly created safe Labour seat of Warley, in Sandwell;[6] he came a distant second, with 24% of the vote.

Christopher Pincher was a member of Iain Duncan Smith's successful campaign for the party leadership in 2001.[8] He failed to win election to Parliament for Tamworth in 2005, gaining a 2.8% swing from Labour, but losing vote share to Veritas and the UK Independence Party. Despite Brian Jenkins clinging onto the seat, Christopher said he had won the arguments, after campaigning for more police and school discipline.[3] He was re-selected to fight the seat at the next election.

While a candidate, he campaigned against the decision to close Queen Elizabeth's Mercian School,[9] which had been earmarked for closure under Building Schools for the Future, and called the 2009 decision to keep the school open a "victory for people power".[10] He also successfully put pressure on Persimmon to resume and complete construction of the half-built Tame Alloys Estate in Wilnecote.[11] In 2008, Pincher called for efforts to improve visibility at the site at an accident blackspot in Hopwas.[12]

Member of Parliament

He won election to Parliament at the 2010 election on a 9.5% swing: taking him to 45.8% of the vote and a majority of 6,090 or 13.1%, over 14-year incumbent Brian Jenkins.[4] In his first ten months as an MP, Christopher had the second-highest House of Commons attendance rate of the West Midlands' 57 MPs, after James Morris.[13] In his first year, he spoke in 94 debates: top amongst Staffordshire's eleven MPs.[14]

He has campaigned against the building of High Speed 2,[15] which is planned to run past the outskirts of Tamworth.[16] He has defended residents from accusations they were "Nimbies" and has called the HS2 business case 'significantly flawed'.[17] In December 2010, he said any route via Mile Oak or Hopwas was "just not acceptable".[18] Soon after, the route via Hopwas Ridge was rejected: a move welcomed by Pincher and campaigners.[19]

He endorsed closer links with Latvia after meeting Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis in January 2011.[20] He has since met with the Latvian ambassador with a view to setting up an all-party parliamentary group for Latvia.

He has opposed moving the clocks permanently forward an hour to Central European Time.[21]

In 2011, he was a member of the special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill that became the Armed Forces Act 2011.[22]

After the 2011 AV referendum, he urged a continuation of the coalition government[23]

He has lobbied in Parliament for the Olympic Torch to pass through Tamworth during the 2012 torch relay.[24] Tamworth lies between Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent, which were both announced as stops in June 2011, making a journey through Tamworth a possibility.[25]

In 2013 he organised a campaign to get local people to knit "Beanie Hats" for soldiers of the 3rd Battalion (The Stafford's) of the Mercian Regiment, for their pending deployment for Afghanistan.[26] Later in the same year he helped organise the Tamworth Support our Soldiers (TamworthSOS)[27] campaign, which saw thousands of welfare boxes sent to the same soldiers in-time for Christmas 2014.

He has called for a full debate in Parliament on ensuring that mental health services are given focus as part of £3bn increase in spending on the National Health Service.[28]

In the 2015 General Election, Christopher Pincher was re-elected with an increased majority of 11,302, polling 23,606 votes, 50.04% of the votes cast and a further 4.3% swing from Labour.[29]

In February 2016 he prompted "roars of laughter on both sides of the House" with the following exchange:.[30][31]

Jeremy Corbyn: Last week – like him – I was in Brussels, meeting with heads of government and leaders of European socialist parties, one of whom said to me…

Chris Pincher: Who are you?

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U251091/
  2. ↑ "Christopher Pincher MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Mitchell proud of 'stonking' Sutton result". Birmingham Post. 7 May 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Labour MP of 14 years loses seat to Tories in Tamworth". Birmingham Post. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  5. ↑ "BBC NEWS | Election 2005 | Tamworth". BBC. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  6. 1 2 "Christopher Pincher". Parliament. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 Castle, Stephen; Birnberg, Ariadne (9 February 1997). "The Cabinet of Tomorrow?". The Independent. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  8. ↑ Pierce, Andrew (18 December 2002). "IDS team switches to Page". The Times. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  9. ↑ Richards, Andy (7 January 2009). "Parents fight to save Tamworth school from closure". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  10. ↑ Halifax, Justine (30 January 2009). "Tamworth people power saves QEMS from closure". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  11. ↑ "Work to resume on Tamworth estate". Birmingham Mail. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  12. ↑ Halifax, Justine (29 December 2008). "Fresh calls to improve Tamworth blackspot where paperboy died". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  13. ↑ Goldby, Ben (6 March 2011). "The West Midland MPs missing more than half of Westminster votes". Sunday Mercury. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  14. ↑ "Town MP reflects on memorable if rather nervous first year". Tamworth Herald. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  15. ↑ Walker, Jonathan (1 December 2010). "Conservative MP voices concerns over high-speed rail plans". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  16. ↑ "Joy for Midland high-speed rail link protesters". Birmingham Mail. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  17. ↑ "MP defends villagers' fears over rail plans". Tamworth Herald. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  18. ↑ "Campaigners form super group to fight HS2 rail plans". Tamworth Herald. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  19. ↑ Halifax, Justine (7 December 2010). "High Speed rail campaigners celebrate after changes made to route in Staffordshire". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  20. ↑ Lloyd, Matt (27 January 2011). "Tamworth MP Christopher Pincher urges trade links with Latvia". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  21. ↑ "'No evidence for clocks change': MP Christopher Pincher". BBC News. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  22. ↑ "Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill". parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  23. ↑ Watson, Nick (27 February 2011). "Solihull Lib Dem MP Burt wants new Clegg leadership style". BBC News. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  24. ↑ "Olympic torch hope blazes in Tamworth". Tamworth Herald. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  25. ↑ Robinson, Nicki (17 June 2011). "Olympian task to find flame bearers for the Games torch". Tamworth Herald. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  26. ↑ "The Staffordshire Regiment Museum". staffordshireregimentmuseum.com. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  27. ↑ "Tamworth business backs Support Our Soldiers appeal". 2013-07-08. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  28. ↑ "MP calls for debate following requests". Tamworth Herald. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  29. ↑ "Christopher Pincher MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  30. ↑ Spectator Feb 2016
  31. ↑ New Statesman 22 February 2016
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Brian Jenkins		 Member of Parliament for Tamworth
2010–present 		Incumbent
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