Mark Pritchard (politician)

Early and professional life

Pritchard was brought up and educated in Herefordshire. He remarked on BBC Radio 4 that he comes from an "unorthodox background" for a Conservative MP. For the first five years of his life he was brought up in an orphanage in Hereford, and later grew up in foster care living in a council house. He told his local newspaper that his early years were years of "love and warmth" and that he did not have "a single bad memory" of his time in the orphanage.

Pre-Parliament

Pritchard began his political career as a Conservative councillor on Harrow London Borough Council between 1993-1994. A supporter of Margaret Thatcher, Pritchard worked as the campaign manager to her successor in the London seat of Finchley, Hartley Booth. Booth worked in the Number 10 policy unit before entering parliament (May 1992 – 1997). He also spent a brief period at Conservative Central Office, working as a press officer, in the 1997 General Election campaign. He then served as a Conservative councillor on Woking Borough Council between 2000–2003. In the 2001 general election, Pritchard stood as the Conservative candidate for Warley in the West Midlands where he was defeated by John Spellar of the Labour party.

Parliament

Pritchard was first elected to parliament for The Wrekin constituency in 2005, defeating Peter Bradley, the incumbent Labour MP, by just 942 votes although this represented a 5.4% swing from Labour to Conservative. He was one of 130 candidates who received help from 20,000 countryside campaigners from the Countryside Party who "poured into marginal seats all over Britain" in an attempt to unseat anti-hunting Labour MPs. During the campaign pro-hunt supporters "delivered 3.4 million leaflets, addressed 2.1 million envelopes, put up 55,000 posters and provided 170,000 hours of campaigning." Pritchard was also one of 30 Conservative MPs who benefited from large "below the radar" donations paid to candidates from a secret Conservative Party donors' fund set up by Lord Ashcroft, Lord Steinberg and the Midlands Industrial Council.

After retaining his seat at the 2010 general election, he was joint secretary of the 1922 Committee between 2010-2012.

Pritchard was at the centre of a political story in 2010 when he had a public confrontation with John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, who had told him to stand aside in a corridor. Pritchard then told him, "You are not fucking royalty, Mr Speaker!" This slogan soon found itself on T-shirts.

Pritchard was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron as a member of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy 2010-2015. He is a member of the UK delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly..He was a Member of the House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights 2015-2017.

He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme (Army). He has visited Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pritchard was appointed to the post of deputy chairman of the Conservative Party's International Office in 2010 but resigned in January 2012 over policy differences on: "a lack of national and individual aspiration, immigration, and Europe" - what some commentators called "the Holy Trinity of the Conservative right".

Regarded as right of centre, Pritchard nonetheless was one of the first advocates of compassionate conservatism in the United Kingdom and has vocally supported the coalition government's policy of increased spending on international aid. He believes in tougher sentences for criminals – but has also supported the coalition government's efforts to increase the number of treatment and rehabilitation centres. He is on record as saying he would not support the restoration of the death penalty.

He is the vice-chairman of the Conservative Parliamentary Foreign Affairs & Defence Committee. He formerly served as 'backbench support' to William Hague and to Dr Liam Fox, the former Defence Secretary, whilst in opposition. UK newspapers reported that Pritchard was to be offered the position of Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dr Liam Fox, but the appointment was vetoed by David Cameron. Pritchard was one of the most vocal supporters of Cameron's leadership rival, David Davis MP.

Pritchard has served on several select committees: Transport, Works & Pensions, Wales, and Environmental Audit. He is chairman or vice-chairman of several all-party parliamentary groups, including the ASEAN region, and Africa. Pritchard is also an executive member of the British Parliamentary Group.

In 2015, Pritchard succeeded Michael Connarty MP as the joint-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group

Pritchard, under his previous name Mallon, co-wrote a book with Booth on the subject of long-term unemployment and homelessness.

Pritchard was named as one of London's 1,000 most influential people by the London Evening Standard in 2011.

Political positions

Pritchard's main political contributions focus on defence, foreign affairs, counter-terrorism, home affairs, pro-life and animal welfare issues.

Animal welfare

Pritchard is known for his advocacy of animal welfare issues and introduced three animal welfare related private Ten Minute Rule Bills in the period 2006–09. These were the Sale of Endangered Animals on the Internet (Prohibition) Bill, 2006; Primates As Pets (Prohibition) Bill, 2007 and the Common Birds (Protection) Bill, 2009.

In June 2011 he successfully moved a motion to ban wild animals in circuses. In the House of Commons he stated that he had been placed under pressure by the prime minister to withdraw the motion, first by being offered a job, and then by being threatened.

Pritchard has been nominated for numerous animal welfare awards including the Dods Charity Champion Award for Animal Welfare.

Europe

Pritchard is a Eurosceptic, defining himself as a "mainstream Eurosceptic". He was one of the "Tory Rebels" who oversaw the largest post-war defeat of any Conservative government concerning a European Referendum. He has called for an "in/out referendum" on the European Union. Central to Pritchard's argument is that "The majority of Britons living today have never had a say on Europe", what Pritchard refers to as "the great disenfranchised".

Pritchard supported the motion calling for a "real terms cut" in the EU's multi-annual budget in 2012. He was joined by fellow Eurosceptic MP, Mark Reckless, to draft the so-called ‘Reckless-Pritchard amendment’ which saw David Cameron's government defeated over the issue. Reckless later defected to Ukip.

Pritchard claimed that the vote would "strengthen David Cameron's hand in Brussels". During the EU budget debate in the House of Commons he said: "One way in which the Prime Minister’s hand can be strengthened is by having a united parliament rather than a disunited parliament when he goes to Brussels to negotiate on my birthday, 22 November."

Pritchard has also been outspoken on immigration issues, being one of the co-signatories of an amendment calling for the extension UK border controls for Romanians and Bulgarians beyond January 1, 2014. He also held a debate on the issue in April 2013.

Contrary to his previous Eurosceptic claims and despite being one of the ring leaders of the so-called 81 rebellion, on 31 January 2016, he declared himself a "reluctant inner", supporting Britain's membership of the EU. In the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU Mr Pritchard campaigned for a Remain vote, writing that "in an increasingly global marketplace EU migration allows Britain’s economy to grow and prosper. There is a positive case to be made for EU migration, something thus far missing from the referendum debate". He set out a number of security and foreign policy concerns in a Sunday Times article. He attracted criticism and praise alike.

He is a member of the British delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a 47-nation body - separate to the EU - which upholds human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

In 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May appointed him as the UK's first Trade Envoy to Georgia and Armenia working with the Department for International Trade.

Coalition government

Pritchard expressed concerns over rumours that the coalition government was planning to field coalition candidates in the next general election, branding those responsible as "The Purple Plotters".

Pro-Life

Pritchard is registered as the vice-chairman of the all-party parliamentary Pro-Life Group. He was the mover of an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 in the 2005–2010 parliament, which sought to reduce the term-limit for abortions from 24 weeks to 16 weeks.

Brexit

Pritchard was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.

Personal life

In July 2013, Mark Pritchard announced that he was divorcing his wife of 15 years, Sondra, following their separation in April 2013. In May 2017 he married Tamuna Kapanadze, a Georgian citizen, and a former Georgian Deputy Ambassador to the United Kingdom and former Head of Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze's Secretariat in St Mary's Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster with a joint Anglican and Orthodox wedding ceremony.

In December 2014, he was arrested and later bailed over an allegation of rape, but on 6 January 2015 the police inquiry was dropped on the basis that there was insufficient evidence for a case to proceed. Pritchard urged a review of the law on anonymity for people accused of rape, saying that it was unfair that he was publicly identified whilst his accuser remained anonymous.

Pritchard's hobbies include tennis, he is Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Tennis Group, writing on socio-economic and foreign policy issues, and comedy and satire. In his youth he played football and in 1988 played for Hereford United Reserves, his home city team. At 50 he still plays for the parliamentary football team.