Simon Fell (politician)
{{Short description|British Conservative politician (born 1981)}}
{{other uses|Simon Fell (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Simon Fell
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Official portrait of Simon Fell MP.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 2019
| office = Member of Parliament
for Barrow and Furness
| party = Conservative Party
| termstart = 12 December 2019
| termend = 30 May 2024
| predecessor = John Woodcock
| successor = Michelle Scrogham
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1981|02|09}}
| birth_place = Preston, Lancashire, England
| website = {{URL|simonfell.org}}
| alma_mater = University of Warwick
}}
Simon Richard James Fell (born 9 February 1981){{Cite book|last=Brunskill|first=Ian|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1129682574|title=The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election|date=19 March 2020|isbn=978-0-00-839258-1|pages=90|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Limited |oclc=1129682574}} is a British Conservative Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barrow and Furness from 2019 to 2024.{{Cite web|title=Fell, Simon Richard James, (born 9 Feb. 1981), MP (C) Barrow and Furness, since 2019|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-293908|access-date=2021-05-05|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2020|language=en|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293908|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4}}{{cite news |title=Barrow & Furness |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000543 |website=BBC |accessdate=16 December 2019}}
Early life and career
Fell was born in Preston in 1981, the son of Peter and Meriel Fell. He graduated with honours from the University of Warwick with a bachelor's degree in English literature.{{Cite web|url=https://www.simonfell.org/about-simon|title=About Simon|website=Simon Fell|language=en-US|access-date=7 January 2020}}{{Cite web |title=About Simon |url=https://www.simonfell.org/about |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Simon Fell MP |language=en-GB}} After his studies, he worked in the telecommunications sector, running a communications business, Irton-Fell Consultants, from 2006 to 2008.
He was then a regulatory affairs manager for Hutchison H3g from 2008 to 2011. He then began a period working for Cifas, a not-for-profit anti-fraud organisation.{{Cite web|date=25 February 2020|title=Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs|url=https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/class-of-2019-meet-the-new-mps|access-date=13 May 2020|website=Politics Home|language=en}} From 2011 to 2019, he was assistant director of strategy and policy, and in 2019, became director of external relations. Fell was chair of Barrow and District Credit Union from 2017 to 2019.
Political career
Fell contested the marginal seat of Barrow and Furness at the 2015 and 2017 general elections, before winning the seat at his third attempt in 2019. At a 2015 hustings in Ulverston, he described himself as 'mildly-Eurosceptic'. However, he has since made clear that he supports Brexit, stating before his election in 2019 that "Brexit was the right decision for Barrow and Furness – it now needs a Conservative majority to see it delivered".{{Cite web|url=https://brexitcentral.com/brexit-was-the-right-decision-for-barrow-and-furness-it-now-needs-a-conservative-majority-to-see-it-delivered/|title=Brexit was the right decision for Barrow and Furness - it now needs a Conservative majority to see it delivered|date=24 November 2019|website=BrexitCentral|language=en-GB|access-date=7 January 2020}} He was the first Conservative MP to be elected for the seat since 1987.
In 2020, Fell supported the Transport Secretary's decision to revoke the franchise of Arriva Rail North "after years of poor performance."{{Cite web|url=https://www.simonfell.org/news|title=News|website=Simon Fell|language=en-US|access-date=7 January 2020}}
In 2020, Fell organised a successful petition to prevent the closure of the Askam GP Practice.{{Cite web|title=Saving Askam's GP Surgery|url=https://www.simonfell.org/saveourgp|access-date=2021-07-09|website=Simon Fell|language=en-US}}
From March 2020, Fell served on the Home Affairs Select Committee.{{Cite web|title=Parliamentary career for Simon Fell - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/4744/career|access-date=2021-07-09|website=members.parliament.uk|language=en}}
Fell withdrew his support of Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 6 July 2022 due to the recent controversies including Partygate and the Chris Pincher scandal{{cite tweet|title="Chris's Fell Annocuement on Boris Johnson"|user=simonfell|number=1544634391166607361|url=https://twitter.com/simonfell/status/1544634391166607361}}
In June 2023, Fell was appointed as the UK’s first ever Rural Connectivity Champion. {{Cite press release |title=First Rural Connectivity Champion announced to help drive growth |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-rural-connectivity-champion-announced-to-help-drive-growth |date = 6 June 2023|access-date=20 March 2025|website=GOV.UK |language=en}}
Fell lost his seat in the 2024 general election to Labour candidate Michelle Scrogham.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001076 |title=Barrow and Furness results |publisher=BBC |work=BBC Democracy Live }}
Personal life
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{UK MP links |parliament=4744 |publicwhip=Simon_Fell |theywork=simon_fell}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=John Woodcock}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament
for Barrow and Furness|years=2019–2024}}
{{s-aft|after=Michelle Scrogham}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fell, Simon}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Warwick
Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies