Dr Neil Hudson

The House of Commons has just one sitting vet (currently): Neil Hudson. After studying at Cambridge, he founded a mixed practice in Essex, Hertfordshire, and Surrey (interrupted by an internship at the University of Sydney). He subsequently moved to Edinburgh to complete a PhD in his specialist equine field. He joined the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at Edinburgh, eventually reaching the rank of Senior Lecturer, and was a veterinary inspector during the 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis. Hudson unsuccessfully stood for parliament in Newcastle North in 2005 and Edinburgh South in 2010. Hudson expressed his long-held support for reforming the EU from within, not without, in an interview with the Guardian in 2008. In 2020, he joined the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. The same year, he joined other MPs on the puppy smuggling task force and has been an active campaigner for the cause: Hudson describes as passionate about animal health and welfare. He is an active member of the Net Zero Northern Powerhouse group of MPs. Hudson is also vice chair of the APPG on outdoor education, set up in 2020.