Mark Jenkinson

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Mark Jenkinson
MP
Official portrait of Mark Jenkinson MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for Workington
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded bySue Hayman
Majority4,176 (10.0%)
Personal details
Born (1982-02-28) 28 February 1982 (age 39)
Whitehaven, Cumbria, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Other political
affiliations		UKIP (before 2016)
Children4
OccupationPolitician
Websitewww.mark-jenkinson.co.uk

Mark Ian Jenkinson (born 28 January 1982) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington since 2019.[1] [2]

Early life and career[]

Jenkinson was born and raised in Workington. He was educated at St Joseph's Roman Catholic High School, Workington and Newton Rigg College, Penrith, where he pursued agricultural studies, before joining British Steel as an apprentice. Prior to becoming an MP, he worked as a self-employed contractor in the nuclear supply chain.[3]

Political career[]

Jenkinson ran as the UK Independence Party candidate for Workington in 2015.[4] He was a founding member of UKIP's West Cumbria branch but quit in 2016, citing disagreements about the party's approach to the EU referendum and concerns over internal democracy.[5]

After joining the Conservative Party, Jenkinson became active in local government, representing the Seaton and Northside Ward of Allerdale Borough Council, where he became deputy leader in 2019.[6] He was also chairman of Seaton Parish Council and stood down from this role after being elected an MP.[7]

Jenkinson was first elected to the House of Commons in the 2019 general election, defeating Shadow Environment Secretary Sue Hayman with a majority of 4,136 votes.[8]

Following his victory, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage congratulated Jenkinson on Twitter, writing "A personal congratulations to Mark Jenkinson. He was an excellent UKIP candidate in 2015."[9] Jenkinson's win marked the first time since the 1970s that Workington had elected a Conservative MP.[10] Until then, the Labour Party had won the seat in every general election since 1979. The Conservatives had only been elected once in Workington since World War II, at a 1976 by-election.[11] The constituency was seen as symbolic at the 2019 election, with a political think tank coining the term 'Workington Man' to represent the type of swing voter the Conservatives needed to win from Labour.[12]

In October 2020, Jenkinson was criticised by Labour MP Jess Phillips after he stated that in his constituency in a "tiny" minority of cases food parcels, not vouchers, were "sold or traded for drugs".[13]

In February 2021, Jenkinson came out in defence of the decision to build a coal mine in West Cumbria, when the decision was overturned by Cumbria County Council.[14] The Guardian reported in March 2021 that Jenkinson was one of a number of Conservative backbench MPs on a potential collision course with the prime minister Boris Johnson over the decision to put a hold on plans to create a controversial new coal mine in Cumbria.[15]

Responding to Essex Police commemorating Transgender Day of Remembrance, he questioned whether they had planning permission for the commemoration,[16] whether Essex Police were upholding the law,[17] and questioned transgender people's legal protections.[18] Writing on Conservative Home, he claimed statements like "trans women are women" cause harm to women and the "LGB community", criticised the UK's gender recognition system, criticised the UK Government's proposals to extend a conversion therapy ban's protections to trans people, and wrote that "we can’t put male-bodied rapists in female prisons can we?"[19]

Personal life[]

Jenkinson is married to Dawn and has four children. They live in the village of Seaton.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ 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. 392. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. ^ "Workington parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News". Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b "About Mark Jenkinson". Mark Jenkinson. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Workington parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ "UKIP's Mark Jenkinson quits party". Times and Star. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Allerdale's deputy leader to stand as Tory candidate in next general election". Times and Star.
  7. ^ "Workington MP stands down as chairman of Seaton Parish Council". Times and Star.
  8. ^ "Workington parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News" – via www.bbc.com.
  9. ^ "Nigel Farage personally congratulated Workington MP on election victory". News and Star. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Workington turns blue for the first time in decades". ITV News. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  11. ^ "A vision of Britain website – general elections section". Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  12. ^ "Election results 2019: Conservatives win Workington from Labour". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  13. ^ O'Reilly, Luke (24 October 2020). "Tory MPs Ben Bradley, Mark Jenkinson and Selaine Saxby spark outrage with free school meal remarks". Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  14. ^ "Workington MP Mark Jenkinson blasts Labour over coal mine". Times and Star. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Boris Johnson could clash with backbenchers over coalmine". The Guardian. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  16. ^ Mark Jenkinson [@markjenkinsonmp] (20 November 2021). "I hope you've got planning consent for that flag, it's not legal to fly it without" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Mark Jenkinson [@markjenkinsonmp] (20 November 2021). "To think that @EssexPoliceUK are charged with upholding the law…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Mark Jenkinson [@markjenkinsonmp] (20 November 2021). "'Transgender identity' is not a protected characteristic, gender reassignment is" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "Mark Jenkinson: My Twitter monstering. I never thought that saying there are two biological sexes would cause such a stir". Conservative Home. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.

External links[]

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