Andrew Bridgen

Andrew James Bridgen (born 28 October 1964) is a British politician and businessman who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire since 2010.

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 an Israeli cardiologist told him it constitutes "the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust".

He joined the Reclaim Party in May 2023 but resigned from the party in December 2023.

In his parliamentary career, he has supported efforts to remove Conservative prime ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss from office.

He is a prominent supporter of Brexit.

In January 2023, Bridgen was suspended from the House of Commons for five days 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.

Bridgen was born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, on 28 October 1964.

He attended Netherseal Junior School, then the Pingle School in Swadlincote.

He graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in biological sciences.

After graduating, Bridgen began training as an officer in the Royal Marines but did not complete the course.

He then began work in his family's agricultural business.

He served as the East Midlands chairman of the Institute of Directors and on the East Midlands Regional Assembly as a business representative.

In May 2009, he intervened in the "dirty tricks row" involving a councillor who had offered Conservative backing to ensure a village hall was built if an independent election candidate stood down.

Bridgen blamed "intransigence of certain unelected individuals at the very top of the county council" rather than the individual councillors involved.

Both Labour and Conservative council leaders criticised his intervention and the council solicitor wrote to ask for an explanation.

A police investigation followed, and Cllr Nicholas Rushton temporarily stood down.

Rushton denied wrongdoing and went on to become leader of the county council.

The seat had been vacant since the previous MP, David Taylor, died of a sudden heart attack on Boxing Day 2009.

Andrew Bridgen was elected as the Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire at the 2010 general election, becoming the first Conservative MP for the area in 13 years.

In July 2010, Bridgen first became a member of the Regulatory Reform Select Committee, continuing to be a member throughout his parliamentary career.

He was a member of the Advisory Panel to Professor Ragnar Löfstedt's report on Health and Safety and served on the Draft Deregulation Bill (Joint Committee) and Liaison Committee (Commons).

On 9 June 2011, allegations of sexual assault were made against Bridgen, leading to his arrest in London by the Metropolitan Police and subsequent release on bail.

A week later the allegations were retracted as untrue, and police said no further action would be taken against Bridgen, or the woman concerned, Annabelle Fuller, a former employee of UKIP.

In a statement, Bridgen expressed his frustration that "such a ludicrous, false and unsubstantiated allegation" had received so much attention.

In January 2013, Bridgen, interviewed on BBC Radio's PM programme, stated that good MPs were being put off by poor pay and were having to ask their families to make sacrifices.

Bridgen stated he was one of the few MPs willing to speak publicly on the issue of MPs' low pay.

It was reported that Bridgen received additional income from his family vegetable firm, and he was criticised by local Labour politicians for being 'out of touch'.

In August 2014, AB Produce, of which Bridgen was director, was warned by the Environment Agency that it could lose its licence if it did not remove a "urine-like" smell from two "lagoons" of putrid vegetable matter on the site.

The smell had reportedly been a source of complaints from neighbours for several years, and following the enforcement action, the issue was resolved.

Bridgen was re-elected at the 2015 and 2017 general elections.

In June 2015, following the announcement that MPs were to be awarded a 10% pay rise, Bridgen again spoke out, criticising wealthier cabinet ministers for publicly turning down the additional money, which he said he would take himself.

In 2015, Bridgen sold his constituency house in Appleby Magna for £2 million, under a government High Speed 2 (HS2) compensation scheme as the house is 100 feet from the proposed route.

The sale was also reported to be linked to his divorce proceedings.

He was criticised by local campaigners for selling at the early stage under an "exceptional hardship scheme", but Bridgen argued he had lost more money than anyone else.

Bridgen was criticised in May 2016 for claiming nearly £25,000 on expenses in a single year for staying in hotels in London.

He stated that his use of hotels was cheaper than having a flat and was a short walk from Parliament when it finished late at night.

During this time, he did not allow his staff to claim for expenses for hotel stays, saying "they come down and work for me two days in London, stay at their own expense down here, and then go back and then work in the constituency the rest of the time".

In March 2017, Bridgen apologised for failing to declare during an HS2 debate that his home was being bought by the high-speed rail link.

He made the apology in the House of Commons after being found to have breached the rules governing MPs' interests following an investigation by the Commons standards watchdog.

However, Bridgen argued that he had been a consistent critic of High Speed 2, casting doubt on the economic benefits associated with the proposals, and the costs of the programme regardless of his property interests.