POLITICAL CAREER: NEIL PARISH MP

TIVERTON and Honiton MP Neil Parish, who was born in Bridgwater, Somerset, was first elected on May 6, 2010, with 27,614 votes – a 50.3% share and a majority of 9,320 votes.

His hold on the Devon constituency grew, with an increased majority over the elections that followed, and in the 2019 election the married 65-year-old commanded a majority of 24,239.

He is chairman of the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.

Before entering politics, he managed his family farm in

Somerset after leaving school at 16 years old. He is married to Sue, who is employed as his junior secretary. Together they have two children and a granddaughter.

One of Mr Parish’s passions is animal welfare. He has led a number of campaigns, including those against cruel bear bile farming in China, live animal exports to the Middle East, and the import of cat and dog fur. He has also campaigned for the law to be tightened to prevent dolphins being caught up in fishing nets around the coast.

Mr Parish is also chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Group on Animal Welfare.

In his spare time, away from Parliament, Mr Parish is said to enjoy music and swimming.

Mr Parish was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South West for 10 years from 1999 to 2009. He opposed Brexit in the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union.

Mr Parish has also acted as an election monitor during Zimbabwe’s 2000 presidential elections, where he criticised the conduct of Robert Mugabe’s regime.

In the European Parliament, Mr Parish was the chairman of the agriculture and rural development committee and he sat on the fisheries committee.

Mr Parish was instrumental in setting up the year-long European Parliament’s public inquiry into the foot and mouth outbreak and he was also a member of the European Parliament’s inquiry into the collapse of Equitable Life.