A primer for NCVO members: winners and losers from the 2015 election

This blog explores the winners and losers from the 2015 election, with a particular focus on MPs who have either a voluntary sector background or a post of significant importance to the voluntary sector.

Old faces…

• Rob Wilson (Conservative), the sitting Minister for Civil Society, unsurprisingly retained his Reading West seat with a majority of 7000.
• Chair of the All Party Parliament Group on Civil Society and Volunteering, Susan Elan Jones (Labour), fell back slightly in terms of vote share but did retain her seat.
• Former voluntary sector spokeswoman, Jenny Willott (Liberal Democrat)  lost her Cardiff Central seat. However noted mental health campaigner, Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat) retained his North Norfolk seat with 39% of the vote.
• Former Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd (Conservative), increased his majority by a substantial margin, taking 60% of the vote.
• Former Employment Minister, Esther McVey (Conservative) narrowly missed out on retaining the Wirral West seat. She lost her seat to challenger, Margaret Greenwood (Labour).
• Architect of the Social Value Act, Chris White MP (Conservative), retained his Warwick and Leamington seat with just under 50% of the vote.

And new…

• Suella Fernandes (Conservative), co-founder and former chair of the Africa Justice Foundation, won the Fareham seat for the Conservatives after former MP Mark Hoban stepped down.
• Nusrat Ghani (Conservative), who previously worked in public affairs roles at a number of health charities and for the BBC World Service, increased the Conservative majority in the Wealdon seat formerly occupied by Charles Hendry.
• Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative) takes the North East Hampshire seat from retiring MP James Arbuthnot. A local councillor, he is a supporter of many charities including Cancer Research UK and the RSPB and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
• Lieutenant Thomas Tugendhat (Conservatives) took a decisive victory in Tonbridge and Malling, with 59.4% of the vote. An expert in the Middle East, he has served in the armed forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He established the Armed Forces Muslim Association.
• Tulip Siddiq (Labour) previously worked as a press officer at Amnesty International before joining consultancy firm Phillip Gould Associates. She comfortably retained the Hampstead and Kilburn seat vacated by Glenda Jackson and has been tipped as ‘one to watch’ by the Guardian.
• Wes Streeting (Labour), a former chief executive of the Helena Kennedy Foundation and a former president of the National Union of Students, narrowly took Ilford North, overturning a Conservative majority of over 5,000.
• Former Acevo deputy, Peter Kyle (Labour), took the seat of Hove from the Conservatives with a 1,236 majority.
• Benefiting from a massive swing away from the Liberal Democrats, former deputy director at the New Local Government Network, Anna Turley (Labour), took the Redcar seat from the Liberal Democrats.
• Jo Cox (Labour), the newly elected MP for Batley and Spen, previously held public policy roles at Oxfam, Save the Children and NSPCC.
• Rachel Maskell (Labour), a physiotherapist and head of health at Unite, took the York Central seat. Rachel was previously the national officer for the voluntary sector at Unite and held the seat with a 14.1% majority.
• Ruth Smeeth (Labour) held the Stoke seat with a 12.5% majority. She is currently the deputy director of Hope not Hate.
• Paul Monaghan (SNP) is the new MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. He was formerly Director of the Highland Homeless Trust and the Inverness MS Therapy Centre and founder of two charitable groups, Food for Families and the North Highland College Foundation based in Wick.
• Martin Docherty (SNP) is the new MP for West Dunbartonshire. He has spent nearly a decade working for West Dunbartonshire Community and Volunteering Services (WDCVS), supporting and developing West Dunbartonshire’s community and volunteering organisations. He is also a member of Volunteering Scotland.
• Thangam Debbonaire (Labour) becomes the MP for Bristol West, beating Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams. She previously worked as National Children’s Officer at Women’s Aid England and helped to set up the Respect national quality assurance system for domestic violence perpetrator programmes (2005-8) where she has been research director since 2008.

Other facts and figures

• Manchester Gorton MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman (Labour), takes his position as ‘Father of the House’ as the MP with the longest record of unbroken service.
• The unofficial position of ‘Baby of the House’ goes to Mhairi Black, the 20 year old SNP challenger to Douglas Alexander’s Paisley’s seat, becoming the youngest MP since 1667.
• Although all select committee chairs are re-elected at the start of a new parliament it’s worth noting that incumbents have a substantial advantage and a number of them retained their seats, including Bernard Jenkin (Conservative Chair of the Public Administration Select Committee), Graham Allen (Labour Chair of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee), Natascha Engel (Labour Chair of the influential Backbench Business Committee) as did Margaret Hodge (Labour Chair of the Public Accounts Committee) and Andrew Tyrie (Conservative Chair of the Treasury Select Committee).
• One substantial change though, as Anne Begg (Labour Chair of the DWP Select Committee) lost her seat to SNP challenger Callum McCaig.