Charity champion MPs among fresh faces in election 2019

13 December 2019

Last night saw seismic changes to the make up of Parliament with more than 150 new faces entering the House of Commons for the first time.

Our overnight analysis of changes on the green benches show that roughly one in three of the new MPs have strong backgrounds in charity or links to volunteering.

They range from former staff and trustees at charities to those who have spoken of their commitment to fundraising and volunteering. MPs’ support for good causes ranges from major international charities to community groups and local fundraisers.

CAF’s polling consistently tells us that charities are the force that unites people and communities across this country and its voice is integral to ensuring society’s most vulnerable are heard.

Some of the key figures who have set up or run a charity include:

Danny Kruger MP, Conservative, Devizes, will be familiar to many in charities as he advised on the Government’s Civil Society Strategy. He also founded and ran the rehabilitation charity, Only Connect, which merged with Catch22 in 2015. He also founded and chaired West London Zone, a programme working with at-risk children and young people. 

Claudia Webbe MP, Labour, Leicester East is Founder and Chair of Trident Independent Advisory Group which fights gun crime in black communities and is also a trustee of The Children's Society and National Energy Action.

David Johnston MP, Conservative, Wantage, was Chief Executive of the Social Mobility Foundation for 10 years, stepping down in July of this year when he commented: “Improving social mobility is one of the greatest challenges the country faces and one of the issues I am most passionate about.”

Simon Baynes MP, Conservative, Clwyd South founded and runs the charity Concertina, which provides live music in care homes and day centres across England and Wales. He is also trustee of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, and Chairman of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust.

We’ve also seen a large number of the new MPs go into politics directly from charities, including: Siobhan Baillie, the Conservative MP for Stroud who leaves her role as Head of Policy and Communications for charity OnePlusOne. Fleur Anderson, Labour MP for Putney has worked in charity campaigning for 25 years having  led international environmental and poverty campaigns with Christian Aid, WaterAid and communities around the world.  Munira Wilson, Lib Dem MP for Twickenham has  previously worked in public affairs for Save The Children and Beating Bowel Cancer.

We’re  looking forward to meeting all new MPs across Parliament as we work together towards a better environment for charities and hope to see some true champions in the class of Christmas 2019.