Martin John Vickers
(born 13 September 1950) is a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politician. He was elected as 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
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...
at the
2010 general election.
Early life
Born in
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...
,
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, Vickers was educated at Havelock School and
Grimsby College
Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education and University Centre Grimsby (often Grimsby Institute or GIFHE or Grimsby College or UCG) is a further education college, apprenticeship provider, and higher education university in Grimsby in Nor ...
.
He gained a politics degree at the
University of Lincoln
, mottoeng = Freedom through wisdom
, established = 1861 – Hull School of Art1905 – Endsleigh College1976 – Hull College1992 – University of Humberside1996 – University of Lincolnshire and Humberside2001 †...
after six years as a part-time student in 2004.
In 1979, he stood as a Conservative candidate for the Cromwell ward on Great Grimsby Borough Council, but was not successful. The following year, he elected as a councillor for the Weelsby ward on that council. Having only narrowly held his seat in 1986 by just 74 votes, he changed seats in 1990 to the Scartho ward (even then, only winning by an even narrower 30 votes) while Labour comfortably gained his old seat. In 1994, he lost his seat in Scartho to the Liberal Democrats.
In 1995, he stood for the Scartho ward (with boundaries similar to the former Humberside County Council division) on the then-newly created unitary authority
North East Lincolnshire Council
North East Lincolnshire Council is the local authority of North East Lincolnshire. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It was established follow ...
which replaced the Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes borough councils, but was unsuccessful. He did, however, gain the seat from Labour in 1999 and remained on the authority until 2011
Before being elected an MP, he served as full-time Conservative agent for
Edward Leigh
Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (born 20 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983.
Leigh has represented Gainsborough, Lincolnshire in the House of Commons since 1983 (re ...
.
Parliamentary career
Vickers was elected 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. ...
as
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
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...
in the
2010 general election, by a majority of 4,298.
On 24 October 2011, Vickers was one of 81 MPs to rebel against the government to vote for a
national referendum on the European Union. He was re-elected in the 2015 election and 2017 election.
Political views and parliamentary voting record
Vickers opposes the legalisation of same-sex marriage. He voted against
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
Background
Civil partnerships were introduced in the United Kingdom in 2004, allowi ...
which introduced it in England and Wales. Vickers also voted against similar legislation which introduced it in Northern Ireland in 2019.
In the same year, Vickers was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools. He also voted against the legalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland in 2019.
[
Despite his social conservative views on gay rights and abortions, Vickers has maintained he opposes the reintroduction of the ]death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
.
Vickers supported Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
in the 2016 EU membership referendum. He voted for then Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal agreement
The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...
.
He is a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship
The Conservative Christian Fellowship (CCF) is an organisation working within the British Conservative Party. Established in 1990 by Tim Montgomerie and David Burrowes, while they were students at Exeter University, the organisation supports ...
. As of 31 July 2019, Vickers is the vice chair of the APPGs for Albania, Azerbaijan, Central America, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Isle of Man, East Coast Main Line, Economic Development, Fair Fuel for UK Motorists and UK Hauliers, Fisheries, Football, Rail in the North, Transport Across the North, and Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. He is the secretary of the APPG for Australia and New Zealand and the treasurer for the APPG for Heritage Rail. He is also the chair of the APPG for Kosovo, North Macedonia, Freeports, Oil Refining Sector, Rail. Vickers is co-chair of the APPG for Montenegro and an officer for the APPG for Serbia and River Thames.
Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
and properties now in the care of the National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, including links with historic slavery, Vickers was among the signatories of a letter to ''The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' in November 2020 from the "Common Sense Group
The Common Sense Group is an informal group of Conservative MPs in the United Kingdom who advocate a broad range of ideals that they think the Conservative Party and the country ought to be following.
The group was inspired by the euro-sceptic ...
" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist
The term "Cultural Marxism" refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory which claims that Western Marxism is the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert Western culture. The conspiracy theory misrepresents the ...
dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke
''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social ineq ...
agenda'".
Personal life
He is married to Ann, and they have one daughter. His wife works in his parliamentary office as a part-time junior secretary.
References
External links
Martin Vickers MP
''Martin Vickers MP official constituency website''
Martin Vickers MP
Conservative Party profile
Cleethorpes Conservatives
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers, Martin
1950 births
Living people
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present
People from Cleethorpes
Alumni of the University of Lincoln
Councillors in the Borough of North East Lincolnshire