We thought you might like to find out a little bit about our new MPs. We didn’t think we’d have quite so many, but this is a lovely problem to have. All details come from the party website or the MPs’ social media. We’ll get to know them more over the next wee while, but here’s a taster.
Our editor sleepily compiled a Twitter list of all our MPs’ accounts she could find. You can follow it here.
Steve Darling MP: Torbay
Steve was brought up in a B&B on Lymington Road and has raised his family with wife Mandy in Torquay. They have 2 sons both of whom attended local schools. Steve’s eldest is now a medic in Torbay Hospital and the youngest is a university student in Bath. Steve’s wife Mandy spent more than 30 years working for the NHS, so the NHS challenges are well known to Steve.
Steve is registered blind and has lived experience and an understanding of equality and diversity, particularly around disability. Steve has a guide dog called Jennie who helps him enormously and is constantly by his side.
Steve Darling has served the people of Torbay for 30 years as a local councillor, 4 years of which was as Leader of the Council. Under his leadership, Torbay Council achieved most improved council of the year in April 2023. Steve spent 18 years working for the former Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders helping people with local problems and trying to tackle the big issues for the area.
Steve’s is particularly campaigning on improvements to our NHS services, tackling sewage dumping in Torbay and supporting local people through the cost-of-living crisis.
Steve wants to champion his home community in Westminster as he knows its people and their aspirations. Torbay is his home and the community he knows and loves. Steve knows he can hit the ground running as the next MP pulling together all sides of the community putting political differences aside and emphasising all that makes Torbay great and tackling the challenges that the bay faces. To be Torbay’s MP is a job, in a sense, for which Steve has been training all his life.
Twitter: @cllrsdarling
Tessa Munt MP: Wells and Mendip Hills
Tessa was the Member of Parliament for Wells from 2010 – 2015, winning the seat from the Conservatives and ending their 87-year rule. Tessa is passionate about representing residents and organisations in our community once again.
A prolific community campaigner, Tessa is known for listening actively to locals and has an outstanding reputation and proven track record from strong opposition to MPs holding second jobs to campaigning to keep our rivers, streams and sea clean.
Tessa has a long-standing commitment to openness and transparency, demonstrated by being the first MP to publish her tax returns and record every gift received while serving as MP.
Tessa has held regular surgeries in the constituency’s city, towns, villages and hamlets and her record of 704 MP’s surgeries remains the highest of all MPs.
As MP for Wells, Tessa co-ordinated the campaign to keep the Bishop of Bath & Wells in the Bishop’s Palace and secured £51m in funding for cancer equipment for local hospitals. Tessa stuck by her principles and resigned from her ministerial post in Government after voting against fracking.
Twitter: @tessamunt
Edward Morello MP: West Dorset
Yes, it’s the 73rd Liberal Democrat MP, Jennie, making the news once again.
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