Craig Paul Tracey (born 21 August 1974) is a
British Conservative Party
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
politician, who has been the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
North Warwickshire
North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Warwickshire, West Midlands, England. Outlying settlements in the borough include the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and ...
since his election in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
. Originally from the North East, Tracey settled in North Warwickshire in 1997. After serving as a parish councillor he was selected as the Conservative Party's parliamentary candidate for North Warwickshire in 2014. He unexpectedly increased the Conservative majority in the constituency despite not being the favourite to win. A former member of the
Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, Tracey has served as co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Insurance and Financial Services since July 2016.
Early life
Tracey was born in
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
,
[ and attended the city's Framwellgate Moor Comprehensive School.][ His mother's family were from a mining background while his father was one of fifteen children.][ Tracey's father came to England from Ireland during the 1960s, while his mother is a native of the North East.] Tracey describes himself as half Irish and half Geordie
Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitut ...
.[ His parents founded a business in Durham,][ and after leaving school at 17, Tracey started his own insurance broker's business in 1996, at the age of 21.] He moved to North Warwickshire
North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Warwickshire, West Midlands, England. Outlying settlements in the borough include the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and ...
in 1997, settling in the village of Shuttington
Shuttington is a village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, England, situated north-east of Tamworth, Staffordshire.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : In the 2001 census, the parish, which also includes Alvecote, ha ...
. Shortly before his 2015 election to the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
Tracey sold his Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
-based business, Dunelm Insurance, to Academy Insurance of Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
.
Political career
Local politics and 2015 general election
Tracey served as a parish councillor in Shuttington,[ and chaired North Warwickshire Conservatives in 2012–13.][ He was selected by ]secret ballot
The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...
to contest the North Warwickshire constituency for the Conservatives in September 2014, after the sitting MP, Dan Byles
Daniel Alan Byles (born 24 June 1974) is a former British politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Warwickshire from 2010 to 2015.
Background
Byles was born in Hastings, East Sussex, but spent his early childhood as an exp ...
, decided not to re-contest the seat. He has stated that one of the things that prompted him to go into politics was the way he felt small businesses were treated by government during the recession of the late 2000s: "As a small business owner I definitely felt the impact of the recession. I personally felt that the government did not understand what it was like and then there was the added burden of increased regulation on top of that."[ In January 2015 ]Matthew Engel
Matthew Lewis Engel (born 11 June 1951) is a British writer, journalist and editor.
Early life and education
Engel was born in Northampton, son of solicitor Max David Engel (1912-2005) and Betty Ruth (née Lesser). His grandfather had escaped anti ...
of ''The Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...
'' described Tracey as "a complete newbie, the sort of candidate who hardly happens these days" and "totally apolitical until seven years ago when he became increasingly incensed about the effect on his business of EU regulation and Labour indifference".
Going into the 2015 general election Tracey campaigned on local issues, notably the George Eliot Hospital
George Eliot Hospital is a single site hospital located in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, it is managed by the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust. It provides a full range of emergency and elective medical services, including maternity services, to the loca ...
, the plans for the HS2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
railway through North Warwickshire, road safety, protecting Warwickshire's green belt, supporting local schools, and the need for improvements to high-speed broadband.[ He also supported Conservative plans for a referendum on European Union membership. With a majority of 54 in the 2010 general election, ]Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
targeted North Warwickshire as a top priority seat, and bookies predicted that Labour's Mike O'Brien would retake the constituency from the Conservatives after losing it in 2010. However, Tracey secured an increased majority for his party, from 54 to 2,973, winning 20,042 votes, compared to 17,069 for O'Brien. The result represented a 3% swing away from Labour to the Conservatives. The majority increase for the Conservatives in North Warwickshire was largely prompted by a surge in support for the UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
(UKIP), which took votes away from the Labour Party in a traditionally working class area of former mining villages. UKIP, whose candidate for the constituency was William Cash, the son of Conservative MP Bill Cash
Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1984. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected for Stafford and then for Stone in Staffordshire in 1997. ...
, came third with 8,256 votes.
First months in office
Shortly after his election Tracey told the trade journal '' Insurance Age'' that he would promote small businesses, as well as involving himself in the All Party Parliamentary Group on Insurance and Financial Services, with a view to highlighting the impact financial regulations can have on small businesses.[ He was appointed co-chair of the group in July 2016, after the previous chair, ]Heather Wheeler
Heather Kay Wheeler (née Wilkinson; born 14 May 1959) is a British Conservative Party politician, who was first elected at the 2010 general election as the member of Parliament (MP) for South Derbyshire, taking the seat from the Labour Party ...
, stood aside after being appointed an assistant Conservative whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
. Tracey holds the position alongside Lord David Hunt. He was elected on to the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee in July 2015, alongside the Labour MPs Iain Wright
Iain David Wright (born 9 May 1972) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 2004 to 2017, and served also as the Chairman of Business Innovation and Skills Committee. He was previously P ...
(who became its chair), Paul Blomfield
Paul Christopher Blomfield (born 25 August 1953) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Central since 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Shadow Minister for Exiting the European Union fr ...
, Peter Kyle
Peter Kyle (born 9 September 1970) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hove since 2015.
A former charity sector ...
and Jo Stevens
Joanna Meriel Stevens (born 6 September 1966) is a Welsh politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales since 2021, and previously from 2016 to 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardif ...
, Conservatives Richard Fuller, Amanda Milling
Amanda Anne Milling (born 12 March 1975) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cannock Chase since the 2015 general election. She served as Minister without Portfolio in the UK cabinet and, alongside Ben Elliot, as C ...
, Amanda Solloway
Amanda Jane Solloway (née Edghill, 6 June 1961) is a British politician serving as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since September 2022. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of ...
, Kelly Tolhurst and Chris White, and Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
MP Michelle Thomson
Michelle Rhonda Thomson (née Perks; born 11 March 1965) is a Scottish businesswoman and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Falkirk East since May 2021.
Thomson is the co-fou ...
.
Tracey asked his first question in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
in June 2015, when he quizzed Junior Health Minister Sam Gyimah
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (; born 10 August 1976) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Surrey from 2010 to 2019. First elected as a Conservative, Gyimah rebelled against the government to block a no-deal Bre ...
about childcare provisions. He gave his maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
to the House of Commons on 9 July 2015.[ Later in July he requested a Parliamentary debate on the issue of heavy goods vehicles parking on industrial estates and residential streets in his constituency, and called for future planning applications to make provisions for parking facilities for such vehicles. That month also saw Tracey establish his constituency office in ]Atherstone
Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire w ...
. In August, he gave his support to a joint Association of British Travel Agents
Association may refer to:
*Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal
*Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry
*Voluntary associatio ...
(ABTA) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...
(FCO) campaign aiming to highlight the potential financial consequences to those who do not take out travel insurance when travelling abroad.
Tracey supports concerned groups in North Warwickshire which have campaigned against the construction of the High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
railway, which would pass through his constituency. In August 2015 he handed over a number of petitions to HS2 Ltd from local groups opposed to the project, as well as his own personal petition. He gave evidence to the House of Commons HS2 select committee in January 2016, raising concerns about the effect the railway may have on the villages of Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent
** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station
* Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...
and Water Orton
Water Orton is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire borough of Warwickshire in the West Midlands, England near the River Tame. It is located between Castle Bromwich and Coleshill, and borders the West Midlands metropolitan coun ...
. However, Tracey was one of eight MPs barred from giving evidence to a similar House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
committee, established in 2016. The High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill Select Committee was set up to decide whether there should be changes to the project's detailed plans, but ruled that Tracey and other MPs could not give evidence because they would not be directly affected by HS2.
In September 2015 he used a parliamentary debate to criticise the lenient sentences given to people convicted over fatal road accidents after a hit-and-run
In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions.
Additional obligation
In many jurisdictions, there may be an ...
driver was sentenced to sixteen weeks imprisonment for failing to stop when he hit a student while driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He subsequently supported the Criminal Driving (Justice for Victims) Bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
MP Greg Mulholland
Gregory Thomas Mulholland (born 31 August 1970) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the MP for Leeds North West.
He was first elected at the 2005 general election, winning the seat from Labour and was re-elected wi ...
. In September 2015 Tracey also joined Tamworth MP and fellow Conservative Christopher Pincher
Christopher John Pincher (born 24 September 1969) is a British independent politician and a Conservative Party member, who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamworth since 2010. Pincher previously served as Government Deputy Chief Wh ...
in giving his backing to a campaign calling for safety improvements at a notorious accident blackspot in his constituency.
Tracey was one of 129 Conservative MPs to support a vote to leave the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
during the 2016 European Union membership referendum. Following the result
A result (also called upshot) is the final consequence of a sequence of actions or events expressed qualitatively or quantitatively. Possible results include advantage, disadvantage, gain, injury, loss, value and victory. There may be a range ...
of the referendum, in which Britain voted to leave the European Union, Tracey welcomed the outcome, describing it as a "huge opportunity" for the UK. Tracey joined other Midlands Conservative MPs in paying tribute to Prime Minister David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
after he announced his resignation in the aftermath of the referendum. He gave his support to Andrea Leadsom
Dame Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom (; ' Salmon; born 13 May 1963) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Northamptonshire since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Secretary of State for Environ ...
in the subsequent Conservative leadership election to replace Cameron.
In September 2016, Tracey wrote to the Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
calling for his constituency to be renamed North Warwickshire and Bedworth in the proposed 2018 review of Westminster constituency boundaries. He also urged his constituents to back the campaign: "I have always called my seat 'North Warwickshire and Bedworth' but would like the name formalised – it is only fair and right to recognise Bedworth and its residents officially."
2017 general election
Tracey was selected as North Warwickshire's Conservative candidate again for the 2017 general election. He won the seat with 26,860, increasing his majority to 8,510.
Personal life
Tracey married his fiancée, Karen Mercer-West, two weeks after he was selected as the candidate for North Warwickshire, and the couple spent their honeymoon at the 2014 Conservative Party Conference
The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It takes place every year around October during the British party conference season, when the House of Commons is ...
.[ Karen Tracey served ten years in the ]Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, seeing active service in the 1990–91 Gulf War.[ Craig Tracey is a founding Trustee of the ]Lichfield Garrick Theatre
The Lichfield Garrick is a modern, purpose built theatre in Lichfield, a city in Staffordshire, England.
The main auditorium seats 562 people and the Studio seats 157 people. The theatre is named after the 18th century actor David Garrick, who w ...
.[
]
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracey, Craig
1974 births
British businesspeople in insurance
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Councillors in Warwickshire
English people of Irish descent
Living people
People from Durham, England
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present