Brendan Clarke-Smith

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This British surname is barrelled, being made up of multiple names. It should be written as Clarke-Smith, not Smith.

Brendan Clarke-Smith
MP
Official portrait of Brendan Clarke-Smith MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for Bassetlaw
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byJohn Mann
Majority14,013 (27.6%)
Personal details
Born (1980-08-17) 17 August 1980 (age 41)[1]
Clifton, Nottingham, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Children1
Alma materNottingham Trent University
OccupationPolitician

Brendan Clarke-Smith (born 17 August 1980)[1] is a British Conservative Party politician and former teacher. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bassetlaw in the 2019 general election.[2][3]

Early life and career[]

Clarke-Smith was born in Clifton, Nottingham in 1980. He grew up on a council estate in Nottingham and was the first member of his family to go to university, studying politics at Nottingham Trent University and later gaining a PGCE in religious education. He became a teacher and later head of an International School in Romania.[4][5]

Political career[]

Clarke-Smith first stood as a Conservative Party candidate in 2003 when he was elected as a councillor for the Clifton North ward of Nottingham City Council. He was re-elected to this position in 2007 and subsequently contested the neighbouring Clifton South Ward in 2011 but failed to be elected by a margin of 676 votes.[6] He stood as one of the Conservative Party candidates for the EU elections in 2014 and 2019 in the East Midlands region but was not elected. Clarke-Smith campaigned to leave the EU in the 2016 EU referendum and was a member of the Bassetlaw Vote Leave campaign, which secured a 67.8% leave vote.[7] In May 2019, Clarke-Smith overturned a Labour majority in Boughton and Walesby to be elected as a councillor on Newark & Sherwood District Council.[8]

He was selected as the Conservative party candidate for Bassetlaw in the December 2019 elections when the sitting MP John Mann stood down. He overturned a Labour majority with the biggest swing in the election, from a 4,852 Labour majority to a 14,013 Conservative majority.[9] This is the first time Bassetlaw has been represented by a party other than Labour since Malcolm MacDonald won the seat in 1929.[10] When elected, Clarke-Smith said his three main priorities were getting Brexit done, improving Bassetlaw Hospital and attracting more money for Retford and Worksop town centres.[11]

In December 2019, Clarke-Smith was reported to be one of the new members of the eurosceptic European Research Group.[12]

Clarke-Smith has received media attention for his views on food banks and public provision of free school meals for children from more economically deprived families. He has described food banks as a "political weapon", saying it is "simply not true" that "people can't afford to buy food on a regular basis" and "If you keep saying to people that you're going to give stuff away, then you're going to have an increase I'm afraid."[13] In October 2020, he opposed a Labour Party Opposition Day Motion to extend free school meals over holidays until Easter 2021. Campaigning on the issue of free school meals was led by the footballer Marcus Rashford. Clarke-Smith said: "We need to get back to the idea of taking responsibility. This means less celebrity virtue signalling on Twitter by proxy and more action to tackle the real causes of child poverty."[14][15]

In March 2020, Clarke-Smith was appointed to the International Development Committee in Parliament.[16]

He has expressed concern over plans to close the mental health facilities at Bassetlaw Hospital and move provision to Mansfield,[17] campaigned for the Robin Hood train line to be extended to Retford[18] and was a signatory to the successful East Midlands bid to be one of ten Freeports.[19]

In June 2021, Clarke-Smith opposed the England football team's intention to take the knee at the forthcoming European championship, saying: "Fans understand [racism] perfectly well – they are just sick and tired of being preached and spoken down to. They are there to watch a football match, not to be lectured on morality."[20]

In November 2021, he became an advocate of the Down Syndrome Bill, which would recognise people with Down syndrome as a specific minority group.[21]

Personal life[]

Clarke-Smith lives in the village of Edwinstowe – in the Sherwood parliamentary constituency, with his Romanian wife, who is a doctor at Bassetlaw Hospital. They have a son.[22][3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Brendan Clarke-Smith - Candidate for Bassetlaw in UK Parliament elections". Democracy Club. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Bassetlaw parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News.
  3. ^ a b Pridmore, Oliver (14 December 2019). "Meet the new Bassetlaw MP who used to be a headteacher in Transylvania". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Class of 2019: Meet the New MPs". The House. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Fresh Tory Faces Make Their Way to Westminster". The Times. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Nottingham City Council Election Results 1997-2011" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Serving Councillor Bidding to Become Tory MP In Bassetlaw, Worksop Guardian". 15 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Serving Councillor Bidding to Become Tory MP In Bassetlaw". Worksop Guardian. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  9. ^ Wright, Mike (13 December 2019). "Conservatives take Bassetlaw with biggest swing of night - ending 90 years of Labour dominance". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Bassetlaw voters reject Labour in 'gigantic' swing to Tories at General Election". Lincolnshire Live. 13 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Retford's new Conservative MP reveals his priorities after shock election win". Lincolnshire Live. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Why New MPs Are Rushing To Join The European Research Group". The Week. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  13. ^ Syal, Rajeev; Mason, Rowena (16 December 2019). "Who are the Conservatives' most controversial new MPs?". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Conservative MP quits government job over free school meals". BBC News. 22 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Boris Johnson should backtrack on free school meals. But the damage is done". The Guardian. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  16. ^ "New appointments this week in UK politics, the civil service and public affairs". PoliticsHome. 9 March 2020.
  17. ^ Jack Flintham (11 February 2021). "Plans for Bassetlaw Hospital's mental health ward to close and move to Mansfield". Lincolnshire Live.
  18. ^ Jack Flintham (6 February 2021). "Residents give their views on Retford being connected to the Robin Hood train line". Lincolnshire Live.
  19. ^ Zena Hawley (10 February 2021). "MPs back bid for East Midlands freeport and 60,000 new jobs". Derby Telegraph.
  20. ^ Murray, Jessica (6 June 2021). "Tory MP to boycott England games in row over taking the knee". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Brendan Clarke-Smith Column: Delighted to show support for new Down's Syndrome Bill". www.worksopguardian.co.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Brendan Clarke-Smith". Companies House. Retrieved 16 December 2019.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw
2019–present 		Incumbent
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