UK MPs - 2015 Parliament

[DavidB.]

Thanks for explaining this

[Phony Moderate]

James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)

Replaced the prominent Tim Yeo as the Tory candidate for the seat. Nice little fact:

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[Phony Moderate]

Bill Cash (Conservative - Stone)

Veteran Eurosceptic, he served in the Shadow Cabinet during the IDS era. Formerly represented the seat of Stafford from 1984-1997.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Noted fruitcake.

Anyway, his current constituency includes a big chunk of the one he held before the 1995 boundary review: a completely different setup for Staffs. was drawn for both 1983 and 1995 for some reason.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

His son is also notorious for writing a Spectator article straight out of Der Sturmer (it was about Jews in Hollywood or something.

[Phony Moderate]

Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)

Comes from a very working-class background - daughter of Irish immigrants and grew up on a London council estate. Former nurse. Served on Brighton and Hove City Council. Candidate for Caerphilly (of all places) in 2010 before defeating the relatively well-known Lib Dem Norman Baker in 2015.

[Phony Moderate]

Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)

One of many Tory gains from the Lib Dems.

[doktorb]

Douglas Carswell (UKIP - Clacton)

UKIP's first and now (following the defeat of Mark Reckless in May) only MP. Played a crucial role in the removal of Michael Martin as Speaker. During his time as a Tory MP he was perhaps the Commons' equivalent to the European Parliamentarian Daniel Hannan, having held (and still holding) 'libertarian' and strongly Eurosceptic views. Overall, he probably represents a somewhat more moderate and reasonable side of UKIP.

I have a lot of time for Carswell, he's very sound on constitutional issues and takes a broader approach to policy than many of his UKIP colleagues

[Phony Moderate]

Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)

Her constituency has been at the centre of a major scandal involving child sexual abuse involving men of Pakistani origin in the past couple of years; she easily held off a strong UKIP challenge however in the general election. Nominated Jeremy Corbyn. Now a shadow minister.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

A very unorthodox and idiosyncratic figure and about as far away from being a typical politician as you're likely to find; quite the contrast with her predecessor, fair to say. Has campaigned heavily on the already mentioned abuse issue. She was one of the MPs who featured heavily in Michael Cockerell's recent (excellent) documentary about the Commons - in which we learned that shortly after she was first elected she was informed that she had 'unparliamentary hair' - and she came out of it very well. First elected at a by-election triggered by the resignation of Denis MacShane* and was chosen as the Labour candidate from a shortlist drawn up to make sure that certain local persons were not selected (which turned out to be an excellent call on the part of the NEC). Previously worked in arts and hospice administration, which is an interesting combination.

_{*Who managed to be convicted of criminally fiddling his expenses despite not benefiting from doing so personally. One suspects that only MacShane could have managed this remarkable feat.}

[Phony Moderate]

Douglas Chapman (SNP - Dunfermline and West Fife)

One of the new SNP intake, obviously.

[Phony Moderate]

Jenny Chapman (Labour - Darlington)

A member of Progress; previously worked for Alan Milburn.

[Phony Moderate]

Joanna Cherry (SNP - Edinburgh South West)

A solicitor and the SNP's spokesperson for Justice and Home Affairs. Her seat was previously held by Alistair Darling.

[Phony Moderate]

Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)

Has quite a biography; born and spent his early years in Pakistan - his father was a Federal Advisor there. Rehman himself later served as an advisor to Benazir Bhutto.

Contested Horsham in 2005...for Labour, before gaining Gillingham and Rainham for the Tories in 2010.

[Phony Moderate]

Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Very much on the right of the party. Formerly the MP for Southampton Itchen from 1983-1992. Worth noting that the Lib Dems (who polled 6.6% in May) held this seat by a huge majority just a couple of decades ago...though it was a by-election.

[Phony Moderate]

Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)

Newly elected, and no relation AFAIK.

[Phony Moderate]

Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)

An SDP man in his student days. Elected in 2005, he has been a frontbencher for most of his time in Parliament and is currently Communities and Local Government Secretary. Is on the liberal/'One Nation' wing of the Tory Party.

[Phony Moderate]

Kenneth Clarke (Conservative - Rushcliffe)

Veteran Europhile Tory, served on the frontbenches for about an eternity and has been in Parliament for about three eternities. Three-time Tory leadership contender, former Chancellor, Home Secretary Education Secretary and Health Secretary, among other positions he's held. Perhaps fair to say that, were he to change his position on the EU, he wouldn't look out of line with the average member of his party; he was responsible for the introduction of the NHS internal market after all.

[Phony Moderate]

Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield Hallam)

Lol.

[Phony Moderate]

James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)

Also a member of the London Assembly and a Major in the Territorial Army.

[DavidB.]

Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield Hallam)

Lol.

My compatriot.

Many media, also in the Netherlands, lazily copy that he doesn't have a foreign accent in Dutch, yet it seems he does. However, I'm being nitpicky and his Dutch is still extremely good.

[Phony Moderate]

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)

Was a front-bencher during the Tories' previous time in opposition, and how on earth did he win this seat? I would've thought it would be a Labour stronghold through and through.

[Phony Moderate]

Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Was going to retire this year but changed her mind. Served in the Shadow Cabinet years ago (during the Smith leadership) but never in the actual cabinet. Former Chair of the PLP. Journalist prior to entering Parliament. Also known for being a staunch supporter of the Iraq War.

Btw, she must be a contender for the most 'normal' looking member of the Commons.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Fun fact: Blair fired her from her frontbench post in 1995 because of her pro-Kurdish activism. She was also the first woman to be elected for a Valleys constituency (at a by-election in 1985).

[Phony Moderate]

Vernon Coaker (Labour - Gedling)

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary. Has done well to keep the seat in Labour hands since 1997.