Giles Watling

Giles Watling was elected as the Conservative MP for Clacton in 2017. Following a career in acting – in which he appeared in a number of television series, including Grange Hill, Upstairs, Downstairs, ‘Allo ‘Allo and, perhaps most famously, as Vicar Oswald in Carla Lane’s Bread – Watling became a councillor for Frinton ward on Tendring District Council. He was selected as the Conservative candidate to fight the Clacton by-election after the incumbent MP Douglas Carswell defected to UKIP. He lost to Carswell in 2014 and 2015, but was elected at the 2017 general election with a majority of 15,828. In Westminster, Watling has spoken on numerous occasions on animal welfare issues and has urged the government to increase defence spending to three per cent, tackle rural crime and re-evaluate the role of NATO in ensuring national security. At a local level, Watling’s priorities include improving his constituency’s infrastructure, establishing transport links between Harwich seaport and Stansted Airport, and securing additional funding for police and primary care services in the area. He sits on the Committees for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Administration and the DCMS’s Sub-Committee on Disinformation.