David Leonard Congdon (born 16 October 1949) is a former British

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 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 o ...

(MP) for Croydon North East, South London from 1992 to 1997.

Political career

Congdon had served as a councillor for many years and served as Deputy Leader of

Croydon Council Croydon London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, electing 70 co ...

. He was first 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. T ...

at the 1992 general selection, succeeding the outgoing speaker

Bernard Weatherill Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, (25 November 1920 – 6 May 2007) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1983 and 1992. Family He was the son of Bernard Bruce Weatherill ...

who was retiring from the Commons. The Croydon seats were reorganised ahead of the 1997 general election, with the loss of one seat. Congdon competed against Sir

Paul Beresford Sir Alexander Paul Beresford (born 6 April 1946) is a British-New Zealand dentist and politician who has served as the British Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Mole Valley in Surrey since the 1997 general election. He was fir ...

, then-MP for

Croydon Central Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...

, for the Conservative Party nomination for the new merged seat and won. He then lost in the ensuing election in 1997 to Labour's Geraint Davies. Sir

, meanwhile, successfully contested

Mole Valley Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking. The other town in the district is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district. ...

and continued as an MP. Congdon stood once again against Geraint Davies at the 2001 general election and lost. He then worked for

MENCAP The Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the United Kingdom that works with people with a learning disability. Its Charity Number is 222377. History Established by Judy Fryd in 1946 as The National Association of Parents of Backwards Ch ...

, and did not stand again at the 2005 election, when the Conservative candidate

Andrew Pelling Andrew John Pelling (born 20 August 1959) is a British politician. First elected as a Conservative he was an independent Member of Parliament for Croydon Central and on 30 March 2010 announced his intention to contest the seat as an Independen ...

recaptured the seat from Davies.

Personal life

Congdon is now retired and lives, with his wife Theresa, in

Old Coulsdon Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

. He has one daughter Rebecca and two grandchildren.

References

External links

* 1949 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Croydon British charity and campaign group workers UK MPs 1992–1997 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub