Mark Fletcher (politician)

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For other people named Mark Fletcher, see Mark Fletcher (disambiguation).

Mark Fletcher

MP
Official portrait of Mark Fletcher MP crop 2.jpg
Fletcher in 2020
Member of Parliament
for Bolsover
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byDennis Skinner
Majority5,299 (11.5%)
Personal details
Born (1985-09-29) 29 September 1985 (age 35)
Barnsley, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Will Knock
Alma materJesus College, University of Cambridge
Websitewww.mark-fletcher.org.uk

Mark Peter Fletcher[1] (born 29 September 1985)[2] is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover since 2019.

Early life and career[]

He grew up in Doncaster, attending Ridgewood School.[3] He attended Jesus College, Cambridge and was president of the Cambridge University Students' Union (CUSU).[4] He has worked in the House of Lords as the chief of staff to Lord Popat of Harrow,[4] as well as for the private healthcare company Synergix Health.[5]

Political career[]

At the 2015 election he stood in the Doncaster North constituency against then-Labour party leader Ed Miliband.[6] Two years later, Fletcher was the candidate in Stockton North, where he achieved an 8.5% increase in the Conservative vote share but lost nonetheless.[7]

Fletcher also contested the local government elections in May 2018 for Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, coming second out of three Conservative candidates in the diverse 3-member ward of Whitechapel. He gained 274 votes.[8]

Fletcher was chosen as the candidate for Bolsover in the 2019 election. He defeated incumbent Labour politician, Dennis Skinner, who had held the seat since 1970.

He was one of two former Tower Hamlets 2018 Conservative council candidates to have won a marginal seat in the 2019 elections, the other being Gedling's Tom Randall, who had stood in Canary Wharf ward.[citation needed]

Fletcher has been critical of the BBC, saying its employees and coverage "look down on working class communities in the North and Midlands. The coverage of Brexit was borderline farcical, wall-to-wall coverage of anti-British stories and negativity."[9]

Fletcher has become involved in the effort to reopen a disused railway line in Ashfield.[10]

Personal life[]

Fletcher is openly gay.[11] He is married to Will Knock.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ "Members Sworn". Hansard. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  3. ^ "More state-educated Tories in Parliament than ever before as party surges in Labour heartlands". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Preston, Morag (16 April 2016). "I wanted perfection – I became groomzilla". The Times. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Tory candidate was chief spinner for offshore-owned private health firm taking NHS contracts". The Red Roar. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Doncaster North". BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Stockton North". BBC News. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. ^ Wallis, William (3 May 2018). "Election results for Whitechapel, Local Elections, Thursday, 3rd May, 2018". Tower Hamlets Council. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Mark Fletcher MP Column: Under-fire BBC feels a million miles away from life in Bolsover - Opera News". www.dailyadvent.com. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  10. ^ "MP urges Ashfield council to reopen long-closed station to improve connectivity for residents". www.chad.co.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  11. ^ "The UK's parliament is still the gayest in the world after 2019 election". Pink News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2020.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Dennis Skinner 		Member of Parliament for Bolsover
2019–present 		Incumbent


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