Karl McCartney

Karl McCartney returned to parliament in the 2019 general election after losing his seat at the previous election. Born in Birkenhead, he attended St David’s University College (now University of Lampeter) where he studied geography. At university, he served as president of the students’ union. After graduating, he started working at Conservative Party Central Office (now CCHQ) as an electoral agent, later working for Transport for London and the Strategic Rail Authority, as well as for several lord mayors of London. He first contested Lincoln at the 2005 general election and although he reduced Labour’s share of the vote, was unsuccessful. At the following election in 2010, he overturned Labour’s 4,613 majority to take the seat by 1,058 votes. In parliament he joined the Transport Committee and later the Committee on Exiting the European Union, having campaigned for Leave in the 2016 referendum. He was forced to apologise during the 2017 campaign after sharing social media posts from the fair-right figure Tommy Robinson. McCartney is particularly interested in transport and has campaigned for a Park and Ride system in Lincoln as well as for local Police and NHS investment.