The subject of this article is standing for re-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 4 July, and has not been an incumbent MP since Parliament was dissolved on 30 May. Some parts of this article may be out of date during this period. |
Mark Jenkinson | |
---|---|
Assistant Government Whip | |
In office 14 November 2023 –30 May 2024 | |
Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
In office 20 September 2022 –27 October 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Liz Truss |
Member of Parliament for Workington | |
In office 12 December 2019 –30 May 2024 | |
Preceded by | Sue Hayman |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Majority | 4,176 (10.0%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Whitehaven,Cumbria,England | 28 January 1982
Political party | Conservative (before 2012,2016–) |
Other political affiliations | UKIP (before 2016) |
Children | 4 |
Occupation | Politician |
Website | www |
Mark Ian Jenkinson (born 28 January 1982) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the abolished seat of Workington from 2019 to the 2024 general election. He is currently the Conservative parliamentary candidate for the newly formed constituency of Penrith and Solway. [1] [2]
Mark Jenkinson was born in Whitehaven,Cumbria, [3] and raised in Workington. He was educated at St Joseph's Catholic High School,Workington and Newton Rigg College,Penrith,where he briefly pursued agricultural studies,and then joined British Steel as an apprentice for a period of months.
Prior to becoming an MP,he worked as a self-employed contractor in the nuclear supply chain. [4]
Jenkinson was the UK Independence Party candidate for Workington in 2015, [5] coming third with 19.6% of the vote behind the Labour candidate Sue Hayman and the Conservative candidate. [6] [7] He was previously a member of the Conservative Party. [8] Jenkinson 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. [9]
After rejoining the Conservative Party,Jenkinson was elected in 2015 for the Seaton and Northside Ward of Allerdale Borough Council,where he became deputy leader in 2019. [10] He was also chairman of Seaton Parish Council but stood down after being elected as MP. [11]
Jenkinson was elected to the House of Commons at the 2019 general election,winning with 49.3% of the vote and a majority of 4,176. [12] 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." [13] 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. [14]
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 are sold or traded for drugs". [15]
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. [16] 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. [17] The mine was approved on 7 December 2022. [18]
On 4 February 2023,Jenkinson announced that he had been selected by Conservative Party members for Penrith and Solway,which is considered to be a safer seat. [19]
Jenkinson was elected to the Business,Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee in March 2020,serving until October 2022. [20] He returned to the committee on 8 November 2022. [21] In June 2023,changes were made to Select Committees to mirror the changes in departmental names and responsibilities. Jenkinson move to the new Energy Security and Net Zero Committee. [22]
In December 2022,he joined the Women and Equalities Committee. [23]
Jenkinson serves as the Vice-Chair of the Conservative backbench Environment,Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee;as a Vice-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Upland Farming,a Vice-Chair of the APPG Nuclear and as Treasurer of the APPG Cyprus. [24]
Jenkinson was one of 10 parliamentarians personally named in a Commons Select Committee of Privileges special report on the "Co-ordinated campaign of interference in the work of the Privileges Committee",published 28 June 2023. The report detailed how said parliamentarians "took it upon themselves to undermine procedures of the House of Commons" by putting pressure on the Commons Privileges Committee investigation into Boris Johnson. [25] Jenkinson maintains that the tweet referenced in the report as evidence,was not about the committee. [26]
In February 2022,Jenkinson was made parliamentary private secretary for DEFRA, [27] and from September 2022 to October 2022 he was an Assistant Government Whip. [28] [29]
He was made parliamentary private secretary to the Scotland Office in February 2023. [4] [30]
Responding to Essex Police marking Transgender Day of Remembrance,Jenkinson questioned whether they had planning permission for the flag they were flying. [31]
Writing on the website Conservative Home in November 2021,he said that erasing the notion of biological sex would cause harm to women and the "LGB community". He criticised the UK's gender recognition system and expressed concern that the proposed Gender Conversion Therapy Bill would see practitioners and parents who did not affirm their child's chosen gender convicted,writing that "we can't put male-bodied rapists in female prisons can we?" [32]
Jenkinson has expressed his belief that transgender men are not men and transgender women are not women;in a 2022 tweet Jenkinson said "I don't get to call myself a chicken if I cover myself in feathers". In 2023,he criticised Scotland's gender recognition reforms,describing them as "terrifying". [33] [34]
Jenkinson is married to Dawn and has four children. They live in Seaton [4] He is a former smoker [35] and is teetotal. [36]
Workington is a constituency in Cumbria represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Mark Jenkinson,a Conservative.
Seaton is a large village and civil parish in Cumbria,England. Historically part of Cumberland,near the Lake District National Park in England. It is home to around 5,000 people and is one of the largest villages in England. The population of the parish was measured in the 2011 Census as 5,022. Historically a part of Cumberland,it is situated on the north side of the River Derwent,across from the town of Workington,and close to the smaller village of Camerton. Seaton forms part of the Borough of Allerdale.
Copeland is a constituency in Cumbria created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency is represented in Parliament by Trudy Harrison,of the Conservative Party,since a by-election in February 2017. It was retained at the snap 2017 general election four months later. The seat had been held by Labour candidates at elections between 1983 and 2015 included.
Bassenthwaite is a village and civil parish to the east of Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria,historically part of Cumberland,within the Lake District National Park,England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 412,increasing to 481 at the 2011 Census. There is a Church of England Church,St John's Bassenthwaite and a tiny Methodist chapel. The village contains many elements of the archetypal English village including a green,primary school and a stream that runs through it.
Bewaldeth and Snittlegarth is a civil parish in Cumbria,England,historically part of Cumberland. It lies north of Bassenthwaite Lake,in the Lake District and near its northern edge.
Crosby is a small village in the county of Cumbria,historically within Cumberland,near the Lake District National Park. It is 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Maryport + 25.1 miles (40.4 km) south-west of Carlisle,on the A596 road. In 2020 the built-up area had an estimated population of 791. In 1870-72 the township had a population of 506. The local primary school is Crosscanonby St. John's Church of England School.
Ireby is a village in Cumbria,England with a population of around 180. Between 1974 and 2023,it was in Allerdale district,Cumbria. Since April 2023,it is administered by Cumberland Council.
Anthorn is a village in Cumbria,England. Historically in Cumberland,it is situated on the south side of the Solway Firth,on the Wampool estuary,about 13 miles (21 km) west of Carlisle. It is the location of the Anthorn radio station,broadcasting specialised low frequency signals for timekeeping and navigation.
Aughertree is a village in northern Cumbria,England. It is situated near to the villages of Caldbeck and Torpenhow,but closer to the main local centre Ireby and is in the parish of Ireby and Uldale.
Camerton is a small village and civil parish in Cumbria,historically part of Cumberland,near the Lake District National Park in England. According to older maps,it was originally called "Camberton".
Uldale is a small village and former civil parish in the Cumberland district,in the ceremonial county of Cumbria,England. It is about 5 miles (8 km) from Caldbeck,2 miles (3 km) from Ireby with which it now forms the civil parish of Ireby and Uldale together with Aughertree. The Uldale Fells are in the vicinity,and to the southeast are Chapelhouse Reservoir and Over Water. It is located just inside the Lake District National Park. In 1931 the parish had a population of 217.
Birkby is a hamlet in the Allerdale district of the English county of Cumbria,historically within Cumberland,near the Lake District National Park. It is located on the A596 road,1.6 miles (2.6 km) north-east of Maryport + 26.2 miles (42.2 km) south-west of Carlisle. In 1870-72 it had a population of 157.
Great Clifton is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in the English county of Cumbria. In the 2001 census,it has a population of 1,101,increasing slightly to 1,114 at the 2011 Census.
Andrew John Stevenson is a British Conservative Party politician and active solicitor and director for the firms Bendles and Tiffen Estate Agents,who was first elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carlisle.
Ireby and Uldale is a civil parish in the English county of Cumbria forming part of the district of Allerdale. The population,including Bewaldeth and Snittlegarth at the 2011 Census was 458.
Siddick is a village in Cumbria,England,historically part of Cumberland. It is situated on the A596 road,approximately 2 miles (3 km) north from the town of Workington. It lies within Workington civil parish.
Susan Mary Hayman,Baroness Hayman of Ullock is a British politician and life peer who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party,she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington from 2015 to 2019 and appointed to the House of Lords in 2020.
Mealrigg is a small settlement in the civil parish of Westnewton,close to the boundary with the civil parish of Holme St. Cuthbert in Cumbria,United Kingdom.
Neil Peter Hammerton HudsonFRCVS is a British politician,academician,and veterinary surgeon who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Penrith and The Border from 2019 until 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,he served on the Environment,Food and Rural Affairs Committee for four years,beginning in 2020.
Media related to Mark Jenkinson at Wikimedia Commons