Andrew Bridgen

Andrew Bridgen
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for North West Leicestershire
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byDavid Taylor
Succeeded byAmanda Hack
Personal details
Born (1964-10-28) 28 October 1964 (age 60)[1]
Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England
Political partyIndependent (since 2023)
Other political
affiliations
Spouses
Jacqueline Cremin
​
​
(m. 2000; div. 2012)​
​
(m. 2017)​
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham
Occupation
  • Politician
  • businessman
WebsiteWebsite

Andrew James Bridgen[2] (born 28 October 1964) is a former British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire from 2010 until 2024.[3] He was a member of the Conservative Party until his expulsion in April 2023, having had the whip suspended in January after criticising the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and claiming that a cardiologist told him it constitutes "the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust".[4] He joined the Reclaim Party in May 2023[5][6] but resigned from the party in December 2023.

During his parliamentary career, he supported efforts to remove Conservative prime ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss from office.[7][8][9][10] He is a supporter of Brexit. In January 2023, Bridgen was suspended from the House of Commons for five days[11][12] after the house voted in favour of the recommendations of the Commons Select Committee on Standards which found that he had repeatedly breached rules over paid lobbying and declaring interests and that he also attempted to pressure the commissioner investigating his lobbying breaches.[13]

After leaving the Reclaim Party in December 2023, Bridgen sat as an independent MP for the rest of the term of the 2019 Parliament, announcing his decision to run as an independent for his constituency of North West Leicestershire at the 2024 United Kingdom general election, where he lost his seat and deposit.

  1. ^ "Andrew Bridgen MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8743.
  3. ^ Garrett, Lee (5 July 2024). "North West Leicestershire elects new MP". Leicestershire Live. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  4. ^ Walker, Peter (26 April 2023). "Former Tory MP Andrew Bridgen expelled permanently from party". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Andrew Bridgen: MP expelled by Tories after Covid vaccine comments". BBC News. 26 April 2023. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc-20230111 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Tory MP Summoned By Whips After Calling For Cameron To Go". HuffPost UK. 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference leicestermercury1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Hope, Christopher (13 January 2022). "Brexiteer becomes fifth Tory MP this week to submit Boris Johnson no confidence letter". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  10. ^ Penna, Dominic (16 October 2022). "Jamie Wallis becomes third Tory MP to urge Liz Truss to quit". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc3/11/2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Martin, Daniel (11 January 2023). "Andrew Bridgen loses Tory whip after comparing Covid vaccine to the Holocaust". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  13. ^ Walker, Peter (3 November 2022). "Tory MP Andrew Bridgen faces suspension over lobbying breaches". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2023.