Witnessing the election of new MPs you almost feel as if you are watching gladiators traipsing into the Colosseum, although admittedly we the audience anticipate a rather more civilised battle will commence. Morituri te salutant does not ring out in the Westminster estate on day one, but there is unmistakeable pomp and grandeur as MPs again pledge allegiance to the Queen.
Some 140 MPs have now entered the parliamentary fray for the first time, and over the following pages we reveal our Top 25 selection of the best new MPs. We have no doubt that many of them will have lofty ambitions: some, no doubt, have aspirations to be the next Gladstone, Attlee or Thatcher, but where to begin?
In these pages, Brooks Newmark, the former minister for civil society and MP for Braintree from 2005 to 2015, offers some advice about how to make a success of your early days in the House of Commons in a crowded field. We look forward to seeing who follows Brooks’s advice with interest – and to hearing some Ciceronian maiden speeches.
In compiling this list, we have taken into account several factors as indicators of potential. One, of course, is the seat the new MP will be representing. The new-look Conservative Party saw the arrival of new figures such as Mark Fletcher, who unseated Dennis Skinner to represent Bolsover, and Ian Levy, who pulled off an unlikely victory to turn Blyth Valley blue for the first time. Their inclusion on our list is a reminder that the new intake represents a changing Conservative Party that could shape the next five years.
Richard Holden is another Conservative who claimed a long-standing Labour seat against the odds. Like Claire Coutinho and Laura Trott, he is also one of a few Conservative special advisers who are well-acquainted with the corridors of power. Indeed, some on our list have had head starts in the Johnson administration: Danny Kruger, Andrew Griffith and James Wild have all had direct access to the prime minister since he took office in July 2019.
Many candidates have previously worked as political researchers or assistants for an MP in London or in constituencies. Others fulfilled a similar role at the Senedd or Holyrood. A few, including Claudia Webbe (Lab), have advised a directly elected mayor – Ken Livingstone in Webbe’s case.
We also couldn’t pass over new ‘Baby of the House’ Nadia Whittome (Lab). Arriving in the Commons young can be a predictor of future success: her predecessors include David Steel, Charles Kennedy and Jo Swinson, who all went on to lead their party, while Tony Benn, David Lammy and Roy Jenkins have become political icons. And Whittome has already hit the ground running with her promise to donate over half of her salary to charity.
The collapse of Labour’s ‘red wall’ was the biggest story of the election, but there were other stories, too. The SNP continues to dominate Scottish politics: two of the party’s big beasts, Kenny MacAskill and Alyn Smith, are included here. Both are hugely qualified, having served as a Scottish cabinet member and MEP respectively; we expect them to make a name for themselves on the green benches soon. Wendy Chamberlain, meanwhile, gave the Liberal Democrats a reason to cheer by winning North East Fife from the SNP.
Previous government experience is in evidence when it comes to MPs from elsewhere in the Union: all four new Northern Ireland MPs who are expected to take up their seats have been members of the National Assembly. We include one of the two new SDLP MPs, Colum Eastwood, and the second-ever elected Alliance MP, Stephen Farry.
Previous political experience is clearly a boon for anyone seeking a general election candidacy. Roughly 50 per cent of these 140 new MPs have held roles at local level: council experience remains the best first step on the path to the Commons. We have selected some local politicians with impressive track records, such as three-times-elected councillor Florence Eshalomi, now MP for Vauxhall (Lab, Co-Op), and Gareth Bacon (Con), a GLA member since 2008. Meanwhile, Alex Davies-Jones (Lab) has only been a councillor since 2017, but her strong local roots suggest she will be a powerful advocate for Wales, and might have something fresh to offer Welsh Labour, which lost six seats.
Our research team also took into account breadth of life experience. For instance, Selaine Saxby (Con) was elected to her council, North Devon, in May 2019, but her formidable track record as an entrepreneur with recent teaching experience ensured her inclusion. Before entering parliament as MP for Stafford, Theo Clarke (Con) launched an online magazine about Russian culture, and carried out important international development work as founder and CEO of the Coalition for Global Prosperity.
Fleur Anderson (Lab), who won the once safe Conservative seat of Putney, also has experience in international development as global head of campaigns at WaterAid from (2012-16). With Alicia Kearns (Con) having worked for the FCO in important matters in relation to Syria and Iraq, the new parliament should be well equipped to reach out across the globe.
With 97 of the 140 first-time MPs being Conservatives, it is perhaps not surprising that many of those on our list are from traditional backgrounds. Oxbridge has produced a considerable percentage of the new crop, with Russell Group universities also well represented. Oxford has again churned out PPE graduates aspiring to the political life – including Laura Farris (Con) and James Murray (Lab, Co-Op) – but Boris Johnson’s chosen path of classics has this time only yielded one new MP.
Many new MPs also hail from the professions with a predictable abundance of lawyers – among them Siobhan Baillie (Con), Laura Farris and Alyn Smith – with a smattering of teachers, accountants and doctors, as well as the first ever vet in the House of Commons: Penrith and the Border representative Dr Neil Hudson (Con).
Meanwhile, Conservatives will attempt to defend their commitment to the NHS by pointing to their three newly elected doctor MPs (Luke Evans, Kieran Mullan and Ben Spencer) along with a range of healthcare professionals, including nurses and mental health professionals. It is surprising, perhaps, that there are no doctors to be found among the 26 new Labour MPs, although some do have experience in the health and social care sector.
In terms of the male-female split, female MPs for the Lib Dems and Labour now outnumber male MPs, while the Conservative male-to-female split is 277 to 87. Of the first-time MPs, only 23 per cent of Labour’s are male, as opposed to 67 per cent of the Conservatives’ intake. Overall, 59 per cent of newly elected MPs are men and 41 per cent women, which is an improvement on the 2017 intake of first-time MPs where the figures were 62 per cent and 38 per cent respectively.
These are the men and women who will decide the direction of Britain in the next five years – a diverse group presided over, of course, by an Old Etonian classicist. These, then, are our modern political gladiators. And it was Seneca, not Cicero, who said: “There is an old adage about gladiators: that they plan their fight in the ring.” But as you’ll see from our list, the new intake have been preparing for Westminster their whole lives. So ludi incipient – let the games begin.
The Top 10 To Watch
Alyn Smith
Constituency: StirlingParty: SNP
Majority: 9,254
University: Leeds
Career highlight: MEP
EU referendum position: Remain Alyn Smith grew up in Scotland and Saudi Arabia before studying Law and European Law at Leeds University. He later qualified with
Clifford Chance, before a return to Scotland for a brief legal career. He was first elected as an MEP for Scotland in 2004 (re-elected
in 2009, 2014 and 2019), and, up until the election, was group leader of the SNP Group in Brussels. He is an honorary vice-president
at the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and a trustee at LGBT Youth Scotland. He describes Stirling as “the jewel
in Scotland’s crown” and Stirling constituency as “the heart of Scotland”.
Claire Coutinho
Constituency: East SurreyParty: Conservative
Majority: 24,040
University: Oxford
Career highlight: special adviser to Chief Secretary of the Treasury Rishi Sunak
EU referendum position: Leave Claire Coutinho studied Maths and Philosophy at Oxford University and began her career in the City. In 2017, she left KPMG to help
deliver Brexit, spending two years as a special adviser in the Treasury, including to the Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Rishi Sunak.
Coutinho was a committed Brexiter before and after the referendum, and has been very well received by the East Surrey Conservatives.
They have spoken highly of her commitment, competency and work ethic, noting especially her favourable reception with Young Conservatives, and her “knack of putting over facts in a very sympathetic way”. Her perfect weekend would involve food markets, walks in
the hills, and a good crime documentary.
Colum Eastwood
Constituency: FoyleParty: Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)
Majority: 17,110
University: Liverpool
Career highlight: leader of the SDLP
EU referendum position: Remain The leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Eastwood’s election to the House of Commons has restored SDLP representation in
Westminster after the party’s 2017 wipe-out. Foyle had been held by the SDLP for 34 years before it was won by Sinn Féin’s Elisha McCallion in 2017. Eastwood also represents the seat on the Northern Ireland Assembly, where he served as chair of the Communities
Committee and served as private secretary to the then environment minister Alex Attwood. Eastwood read Latin American Studies at the University of Liverpool but did not complete his degree. He began his political career at the age of 22 when he was elected to Derry City Council and in 2010 became the city’s youngest-ever mayor at the age of 27. Subsequently, he was elected as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Foyle and became the SDLP representative on the committee of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. Eastwood made his maiden speech at the first opportunity and used it to lambast government plans to reduce prosecutions for former servicemen in Northern Ireland – calling the plans “an affront to victims”. He also had a dig at Sinn Féin for not taking their seats and therefore not being able to make the case for Irish unity.
Danny Kruger
Constituency: DevizesParty: Conservative
Majority: 23,993
University: Edinburgh
Career highlight: Only Connect founder
EU referendum position: Leave Kruger studied at Eton, Edinburgh and Oxford, before embarking on a diverse career in politics, journalism and the charity sector. Following his DPhil in History he worked at the Centre for Policy Studies for two years, was a Conservative policy adviser for two years,
and then joined the Daily Telegraph as chief leader writer for a year. In 2006, he joined David Cameron’s team, and is credited with
creating his ‘hug a hoodie’ speech. He founded Only Connect with his wife, a charity that helps prevent former inmates from reoffending, and was chief executive of the charity from 2008 to 2015. His charitable work also included two years as chief executive of West London Zone, a charity working to help children achieve their potential, after which he became a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute. He became
Boris Johnson’s political secretary in the summer of 2019, moving across the road from an expert adviser role at the DCMS, and counts as one of the prime minister’s close allies.
Florence Eshalomi
Constituency: VauxhallParty: Labour
Majority: 19,612
University: Middlesex
Career highlight: Greater London Assembly member
EU referendum position: Remain Florence Eshalomi replaces Kate Hoey in an out-and-out Remain seat. A Labour party moderate and lifelong Brixton resident,
Eshalomi is a first generation student, who studied Political & International Studies, with Law at Middlesex University. She has been active in local politics since 2006 as a thrice-elected Lambeth Councillor and a GLA Assembly member from 2016. She is passionate about the arts with roles at the Young Vic and Arts Council. Married with two children, she is a Eucharist Reader at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Brixton.
Laura Farris
Constituency: NewburyParty: Conservative
Majority: 16,047
University: Oxford
Career highlight: employment and equality barrister
EU referendum position: Remain Laura Farris grew up in Newbury: her father served as an MP for the Berkshire town. She studied PPE at Oxford and went on to work for
Reuters, BBC News and then Senator Hillary Clinton. She returned to the UK and was called to the Bar in 2007, going on to specialise in
employment and equality law. Her candidacy was endorsed by senior WEP member Harini Iyengar as someone “who would enrich our parliament”. She voted Remain in 2016, but pledged, like all Tory MP candidates, unequivocally to honour the referendum result.
Laura Trott
Constituency: SevenoaksParty: Conservative
Majority: 20,818
University: Oxford
Career highlight: director of strategic communications to David Cameron
EU referendum position: Remain After studying History and Economics at Oxford, Trott began her career in the private sector, and then worked as an adviser in the Cabinet
Office and Downing Street. She wrote the Conservative 2015 manifesto and was David Cameron’s director of strategic communications
until his resignation. She returns to politics after a spell as a partner at Portland Communications. She voted Remain, but has signed up to Boris Johnson’s Brexit agenda, despite remarks to Newsnight during his leadership campaign that his premiership would likely result in a Labour election victory. She is a first generation student and an ambassador for the Sutton Trust.
Mark Fletcher
Constituency: BolsoverParty: Conservative
Majority: 5,299
University: Cambridge
Career highlight: chief of staff to Lord Popat
EU referendum position: Leave Mark Fletcher has already earned himself a place in the history books for unseating Dennis Skinner, the veteran Labour MP who had represented Bolsover in the House of Commons since 1970 and was set to become Father of the House. This was not the first time
Fletcher had stood against a prominent Labour MP. In 2015, Fletcher stood against the then Labour leader Ed Miliband in Doncaster North, coming third place, and in 2017 contested Stockton North. Since his victory, Fletcher has praised Skinner, writing: “I may not be Dennis Skinner, but I intend to do my very best to replicate his dedication and commitment to Bolsover.” Fletcher was raised by his mother
in Doncaster. He was the first member of his family to go to university, where he served for two years as president of the Cambridge
University Students’ Union. He went on to work as chief of staff to Lord Popat of Harrow and later as director of communications for the healthcare company Synergic Health.
Nadia Whittome
Constituency: Nottingham EastParty: Labour
Majority: 17,393
University: Nottingham
Career highlight: intern for Pat Glass MP
EU referendum position: Remain At the age of just 23, Nadia Whittome is, like her predecessor Chris Leslie, taking on the mantle of ‘Baby of the House’. She grew up
in Nottingham and has described how seeing the damaging effect of the bedroom tax on her community motivated her to become
involved in politics in 2013. She worked as a parliamentary intern for Pat Glass during the 2016 referendum, and used her fluent
French and German to meet with Labour’s sister parties in France, Germany and Austria at this time. She went on to study Law at
Nottingham, and has most recently been a project worker at Communities Inc. In addition to her media prominence as Britain’s youngest
MP, Whittome drew attention for her pledge to donate over half of her parliamentary salary to her local community.
Wendy Chamberlain
Constituency: North East FifeParty: Liberal Democrats
Majority: 1,316
University: Edinburgh
Career highlight: police officer
EU referendum position: Remain After studying English Language and Literature at Edinburgh University, Chamberlain pursued a career of public service with the police. She spent six years as a constable for the Lothian and Borders police force, during which time she and a colleague received the Chief Constable’s Commendation for disarming a violent offender during a domestic dispute. She subsequently worked for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Scottish Police Services Authority. She worked for Career Transition Partnership (an MOD contractor that helps ex-service personnel return to civilian life). She worked for drinks giant Diageo between 2015 and 2019. She believes
passionately in the Union, and told Mace that “it’s by putting the issues of Brexit and independence to bed that we can get on with building a brighter future for our economy and focusing on the issues that really matter – mental health, education and protecting the environment.”
Others to Watch
Alex Davies-Jones
Constituency: Pontypridd
Party: Labour
Majority: 5887
University: Cardiff
Career Highlight: Dwr Cymru community engagement manager
EU referendum position: Remain
Alex Davies-Jones read Law and Politics at Cardiff University, and had jobs with the Electoral Reform Society in Wales, and Pontypridd politicians Mick Antoniw AM and Owen Smith (her predecessor), before she worked in the communications teams at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. Born and raised in Pontypridd, Davies-Jones has served as a county borough councillor since 2017, and is exceptionally proud now to represent her entire constituency. Her legislative priority will be to fight for fair funding for Wales to invest in public services, particularly children’s health and musical education.
Alicia Kearns
Constituency: Rutland and Melton
Party: Conservative
Majority: 26,924
University: Cambridge
Career Highlight: leader of UK government’s communications campaigns on Iraq and Syria
EU referendum position: Leave Alicia Kearns grew up in Cambridgeshire, attending a local comprehensive there, and read Social and Political Sciences at Fitzwilliam
College, Cambridge. Her career began in PR, and in 2012 she joined the Ministry of Justice as Press Secretary to the Victims’ Minister.
From there she worked for the Ministry of Defence, and joined the Foreign Office in 2014 to lead the UK Government’s communications
campaigns on Syria and Iraq. She became Director at Global Influence in 2016, and has advised over 70 international governments
on counter-terrorism in her career. After unsuccessfully standing in Mitcham and Morden in 2017, she now succeeds Alan Duncan in Rutland and Melton. Kearns has frequently contributed to the media as an expert on national security
Andrew Griffith
Constituency: Arundel and South Downs
Party: Conservative
Majority: 22,521
University: Nottingham
Career highlight: Sky executive
EU referendum position: unknown After studying Law at Nottingham University, Griffith joined Price Waterhouse in 1992. He transferred to Rothschild Investment Bank in
1996, and became a Sky executive three years later. From 2008, he held the position of CFO for eight years, and COO for three years before
making his transition to politics. He was also a non-executive director of Just Eat from 2014 to 2019. Despite unsuccessfully contesting
the seat of Corby in 2001 and 2005, Griffith positioned himself for a strong return to politics in 2019 by lending his house in London as a
base for Boris Johnson’s campaign team. His entrance into the political arena came soon after, and Johnson appointed Griffith as his chief business adviser in Downing Street in July 2019. Less than six months later he has been rewarded with the safe seat of Arundel and South Downs. Although his alliance with Johnson may have enabled a hassle-free selection process, Griffith had a connection with the area, living there with his family.
Claudia Webbe
Constituency: Leicester East
Party: Labour
Majority: 6019
University: De Montfort
Career highlight: senior adviser to London Mayor Ken Livingstone
EU referendum position: Remain Born to parents from Nevis, Claudia Webbe grew up in Leicester, and studied Social Science at De Montfort University. She chose
not to follow in her mother’s dressmaking footsteps, and worked as a senior adviser in the Ken Livingstone Mayoralty. She founded
and chaired Trident Independent Advisory Group, and was elected to Islington Council in 2010, 2014 and 2018. She is considered
an ally of Corbyn’s Labour, and has served on the NEC. She is particularly proud of Leicester’s “rich diversity and the way in which
communities have come together embracing that diversity”, although she laments the lack of proper public infrastructure.
Fleur Anderson
Constituency: Putney
Party: Labour
Majority: 4,774
University: York
Career highlight: WaterAid global head of campaigns
EU referendum position: Remain Fleur Anderson has the distinction of being the only Labour candidate to take a seat from the Conservatives in the 2019 general election.
In her early career, Anderson worked in development with charities such as Christian Aid, CAFOD and WaterAid. In her twenties,
the experience of rebuilding villages in Bosnia after the civil war gave her “a determination to get things done” that she says she’s never
lost. She got involved in politics at a local level after her council closed down a local children’s centre and supermarket. After leading some
campaigns, she was elected as a councillor in Wandsworth in 2014. During this period she campaigned on issues such as improving air
quality near schools, fought against cuts to the Autism Advisory Service and worked hard to establish a 20mph limit in the borough. She
focused her Putney campaign on a second referendum on Brexit, as well as the NHS, housing and the environment.
Gareth Bacon
Constituency: Orpington
Party: Conservative
Majority: 22,378
University: Kent
Career highlight: Greater London Assembly Conservative Group leader
EU referendum position: Leave Bacon studied Politics and Government, and then did a Masters in European Studies at the University of Kent. He has been closely
involved in politics all his working life – as a local councillor from 1998, and a prominent Conservative in the London Assembly. He
was first elected as an additional member in 2008, and worked closely with Boris Johnson when appointed chairman of the London Fire
& Emergency Planning Authority in the final year of Johnson’s mayoralty. He also became leader of the GLA Conservative Group at City
Hall in October 2015. Before his election to the Assembly, Gareth worked in the financial recruitment industry (including as head of the
public sector division of Martin Ward Anderson from 2004). He described the behaviour of the last parliament as “reprehensible” in its
failure to honour manifesto commitments to fulfil the referendum result and he is looking forward to restoring “some faith in Parliament
and our political system”. He is determined to protect Orpington’s green spaces, although he confesses his own green fingers do not have as
much talent as they do determination.
Ian Levy
Constituency: Blyth Valley
Party: Conservative
Majority: 712
University: unknown
Career highlight: mental health worker
EU referendum position: unknown Ian Levy secured the first dramatic win for the Conservatives on election night, taking Blyth Valley from the Labour Party for the first time
since the seat was established almost 70 years ago. He stood for the seat at the 2017 general election, but fell short by almost 8,000 votes,
losing to the long-serving Labour incumbent Ronnie Campbell. His seat is indicative of the new electoral coalition the Tories must hold
together if the political realignment that has been spoken of for so long in Britain is to last. Levy is a lifelong resident of the area and his
ancestry stretches back roughly 500 years to the town. He has campaigned on returning passenger rail services to Blyth Valley, a proposal backed by Boris Johnson. Levy is an NHS worker specialising in mental health, and ran into some controversy in December after he described himself as an NHS nurse in a hastily corrected Facebook post.
James Murray
Constituency: Ealing North
Party: Labour
Majority: 12,269
University: Oxford
Career highlight: Deputy Mayor of London for Housing
EU referendum position: unknown James Murray grew up in his constituency of Ealing North, studied PPE at Wadham College, Oxford, and has been an active participant
in politics for more than a decade. He was first elected to Islington Council in 2006, and between 2010 and 2016 was executive member for housing and development. Sadiq Khan appointed him as Deputy Mayor of London for Housing after his 2016 election, in which role Murray oversaw City Hall’s £4.8 billion affordable homes programme; he also oversaw the doubling of the rough sleeping budget. He knows Jeremy Corbyn well from his time on Islington Council, and is said to have supported Corbyn in the Labour leadership election; he advised him on housing policy. That said, he is also supposed to be part of the so-called ‘soft left’.
James Wild
Constituency: North West Norfolk
Party: Conservative
Majority: 19,922
University: Queen Mary University of London
Career highlight: senior special adviser to Boris Johnson
EU referendum position: Leave James Wild grew up in the Norfolk market town of North Walsham and was educated at Norwich School before moving on to Queen
Mary University of London where he studied Politics. He is a PR expert who has worked at The Communication Group, Politics Direct,
T-Mobile UK and Hanover. In 2012 he began a new career as special adviser to Sir Michael Fallon when he held ministerial briefs in the
Departments for Business and Enterprise, and Energy. Wild moved with Fallon to defence in July 2014 until the latter’s resignation in late
2017, then joining the Cabinet Office in early 2018 as the chief of staff to the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, a post he held until
Boris Johnson promoted him to senior special adviser to the Prime Minister in July 2019. He previously stood against Sir Norman Lamb in
North Norfolk in 2017, and is delighted now to represent a constituency in his home county. He is married to Baroness Natalie Evans, the
life peer and leader of the House of Lords.
Kenny Macaskill
Constituency: East Lothian
Party: Scottish National Party
Majority: 3,886
University: Edinburgh
Career highlight: Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice
EU referendum position: Remain Though a first-time MP, Kenny MacAskill is no stranger to frontline politics. Before his decision to move to Westminster, MacAskill
served for 17 years in the Scottish Parliament and served as Scotland’s cabinet secretary for justice from 2007 to 2014. MacAskill is
probably best known in this role for authorising the release of the so-called ‘Lockerbie bomber’ Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate
grounds. The decision was met with criticism from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as head of the FBI Robert Mueller, who penned a critical open letter to MacAskill. After leaving Holyrood in 2016, his election to Westminster was something of a surprise return. He won his East Lothian seat, now a Labour-SNP marginal, on a 6.1 per cent swing, defeating the Labour incumbent Martin Whitfield. MacAskill is already proving to be outspoken in his new role. A long-time ‘gradualist’ who believes in a slower path to Scottish independence, he suggested in December 2019 that Nicola Sturgeon should shift focus away from another referendum on independence and concentrate on “protecting public services”. His comments were quickly seized upon by opposition leaders, indicating that MacAskill
could prove a serious headache for his former ally Nicola Sturgeon.
Richard Holden
Constituency: North West Durham
Party: Conservative
Majority: 1,144
University: LSE
Career Highlight: special adviser to Michael Fallon
EU referendum position: Leave
Richard Holden is yet another Tory candidate to take a Labour-held seat for the first time in its history. The victory will have been made sweeter by the fact that he unseated shadow cabinet minister and arch-Corbynista Laura Pidcock. The new MP for North West Durham has been long involved in politics, having joined CCHQ straight out of the LSE as a data administrator. He rose through the Conservative ranks to become deputy head of press, and in 2015 was the Conservative candidate for the safe Labour seat of Preston. Missing out on the seat by a large margin, Holden became a special adviser to several cabinet ministers including the then defence secretary Michael Fallon, Chris Grayling at the Department for Transport and finally Gavin Williamson at the Department for Education before his election to the Commons.
Selaine Saxby
Constituency: North Devon
Party: Conservative
Majority: 14,813
University: Cambridge
Career highlight: founder LessBounce.com
EU referendum position: Leave State school educated, Selaine Saxby studied Mathematics and Management at Cambridge and launched her own sports bra business in 2000. After a company merger in 2016, she went to work for Ben Howlett, former MP for Bath, as his chief of staff. When he lost
the 2017 election, Saxby continued a strong family connection with teaching by gaining a PGCE and becoming a maths teacher at Bideford College. She also became a North Devon district councillor in 2019, and voted to leave the EU in 2016. She is a fitness enthusiast and enjoys surfing, rowing and walking.
Siobhan Baillie
Constituency: Stroud
Party: Conservative
Majority: 3,840
University: Unknown
Career highlight: family solicitor
EU referendum position: Remain Raised in North Yorkshire, Baillie came to the south at the age of 17 and trained as a solicitor, earning herself a highly recommended
citation in Legal 500. She became a Camden councillor in 2014 and made a complete transition to policy and politics in 2016. She
stood in London in the 2017 general election and that same year became head of policy and communications at charity OnePlusOne.
Although she voted Remain in 2016, Baillie is now keen to press ahead with Brexit and voted for Boris Johnson in the recent
leadership election. She is also an ambassador for 50:50 Parliament.
Stephen Farry
Constituency: North Down
Party: Alliance
Majority: 2,968
University: Queen’s University, Belfast
Career highlight: Northern Irish Minister for Employment and Learning
EU referendum position: Remain Stephen Farry became the second-ever Alliance MP when he was elected to represent North Down in December 2019. The seat had
previously been held by the independent unionist Sylvia Hermon for 18 years and is strongly unionist. Farry managed to grow his
party’s share of the vote by almost 15,000 votes, campaigning largely on a Remain ticket. Farry has great experience of Northern Irish
politics, having first been elected to North Down Borough Council in 1993. He later became mayor of the area in 2007 and the
same year was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Following his re-election in 2011, he was appointed as minister for employment
and learning in the Northern Ireland Executive. In 2016, he was elected unopposed as the deputy leader of Alliance.
Theo Clarke
Constituency: Stafford
Party: Conservative
Majority: 14,377
University: Newcastle
Career Highlight: founder of Russian Art and Culture online magazine
EU referendum position: unknown Clarke studied at Newcastle University and the Courtauld Institute of Art before beginning her career at the Museum of Modern Art in
New York, and Christie’s. In 2011 she founded and edited the online magazine Russian Art and Culture; culturally, she is a thorough
Russophile. In 2016 she became director at the Conservative Friends of International Development. Her expertise in international
affairs proved invaluable when she founded the Bill Gates-backed Coalition for Global Prosperity, an NGO that explores the UK’s role
as a leader in international development. She was twice a PPC for Bristol, and is the niece by marriage of Jacob Rees-Mogg.
