Mark Fletcher | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Assistant Government Whip | |
| Assumed office 14 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Member of Parliament for Bolsover | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Dennis Skinner |
| Majority | 5,299 (11.5%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 September 1985 Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Will Knock |
| Education | Ridgewood School |
| Alma mater | Jesus College, Cambridge |
| Website | mark-fletcher |
Mark Peter Fletcher[1] (born 29 September 1985)[2] is a British politician serving as the member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover since 2019. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
Fletcher grew up in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, attending Ridgewood School.[3] The first in his family to go to university, he studied land economy at Jesus College, Cambridge, and was president of the Cambridge University Students' Union.[4][5]
Fletcher worked in the House of Lords as the chief of staff to the prime minister's trade envoy to Uganda and Rwanda,[6] Dolar Popat,[5] as well as for the private healthcare company Synergix Health, founded by entrepreneur David Ravechio and Byju Thickar.[7]
At the 2015 general election he stood in the Doncaster North constituency against Labour party Leader Ed Miliband.[8] Two years later, Fletcher was the candidate in Stockton North, where he achieved an 8.5% increase in the Conservative vote share but lost nonetheless.[9]
Fletcher also contested the local government elections in May 2018 for Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, coming second out of three Conservative candidates in the diverse three-member ward of Whitechapel. He gained 274 votes.[10]
Fletcher was chosen as the candidate for Bolsover in the 2019 general election. He defeated incumbent Labour politician Dennis Skinner, who had held the seat since the 1970 general election. Fletcher was one of two former Tower Hamlets 2018 Conservative council candidates to have won a marginal seat in the 2019 election, the other being Gedling's Tom Randall, who had stood in Canary Wharf ward.[citation needed]
Fletcher was involved in an effort to reopen a disused railway line in Ashfield District.[11] Fletcher is involved in a campaign to restore post-16 education [12] to Bolsover and make major improvements to Junction 28 of the M1.[13]
Fletcher resigned from his position as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy following the Chris Pincher scandal, stating in his resignation letter that he was the MP who reported Pincher to the chief whip.[14] On 26 September 2022 Fletcher was appointed PPS to Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor of the Exchequer.[15] In 2023 he became PPS to Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor of the Exchequer.[16] In November 2023 he joined the front benches when he was appointed an Assistant Government Whip.[17]
Fletcher is a supporter of Brexit, voting to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum.[4]
Fletcher has been critical of the BBC, saying its employees and coverage "look down on working class communities in the North and Midlands. The coverage of Brexit was borderline farcical, wall-to-wall coverage of anti-British stories and negativity".[18]
