Peter Gibson

Peter Gibson became the first Conservative MP to represent Darlington in over 18 years when he was elected in 2019, unseating Labour’s shadow Brexit minister Jenny Chapman on a 7.4 per cent swing. He holds the seat with a 3,294 majority. Gibson was born in Middlesbrough and raised in Saltburn-by-the-Sea in Redcar and Cleveland. He is the son of an NHS midwife and a shipwright. Gibson read law at the University of Newcastle and, after a stint working at an insurance firm, he moved to York to take up a role as a trainee solicitor. Gibson qualified as a solicitor in 2001 and specialised in personal injury litigation. In 2006, he acquired Coles Solicitors, where he served as managing director. Although he voted Remain in the 2016 general election, he has since backed government efforts to leave the European Union. Gibson has been engrossed in Darlington issues, making these the subject of his maiden speech to the House. He has also focused on education, litter, local high streets and rail transport. Gibson was criticised for taking a train journey whilst symptomatic with coronavirus symptoms but said he was advised to travel by the MP coronavirus hotline. During the pandemic, he set up a support group for businesses in his constituency. In 2020, he joined the Women and Equalities Committee. Gibson is a Christian and an LGBT member of parliament. He expressed his delight when Pope Francis endorsed same-sex unions in 2020.

Hot Seat

Which foreign affairs issues are of most importance to you?

Israel and China.

Are there any ways you would like to see Parliament reformed?

Greater modernisation of parliamentary procedure.

What book or poem has influenced your choice of career?

To Kill A Mockingbird, [which] goes to the heart of my sense of justice and belief in fairness.