Mark Menzies

It took the Conservative MP for Fylde Mark Menzies three efforts to enter Parliament, with unsuccessful runs in 2001 in Glasgow Govan and 2005 in Selby. Following his victory in Fylde in 2010, he was one of seven of the new MP intake given a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) position, initially to Charles Hendry, the minister of state for energy and climate change, until a reshuffle two years later. This was followed by a tenure as PPS to Mark Prisk, minister of state for housing and local government. Menzies is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Saudi Arabia, and has campaigned for full investigations into Saudi activities in Yemen as well as the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Menzies was before 2016 in favour of remaining in the European Union. He later voted against extending Article 50 and campaigned for leadership candidate Boris Johnson. He is known locally in part for raising the alarm over the use of migrant workers as cockle pickers in the Ribble Estuary, winning a temporary ban on the practice. Menzies won a healthy majority of over 16,000 in 2019, the largest winning margin achieved by a Fylde MP since Michael Jack in 1992. Menzies has a particular interest in strengthening the Union and enabling greater trade between nations.

Hot Seat

Which historical figures, political or otherwise, do you take inspiration from?

Margaret Thatcher and her reinvigoration of our country in the 1980s

Most disappointing moment in the Chamber?

The efforts to stifle delivery on Brexit.

Most memorable moment/speech you have witnessed in the Chamber?

The debate and vote on intervention in Syria has stood out particularly strongly in my mind.