Meet the Class of 2019

Mace | Issue 1 | Uncategorised, Westminster Index

From the Archive

Meet-the-class-of-2019

George Peel surveys the best of the new crop and finds much to celebrate in all the parties

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 …

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