As the newly elected parliament is opened, over the coming days we will be profiling some of the new LGBTQ+ MPs who have been elected to the House of Commons.
Their inclusion on our site does not indicate that they campaigned on LGBTQ+ issues, although we will report as such if they have, but that they are openly ‘out’ and as such have the opportunity to represent our broadening communities in parliament.
Antony Higginbotham was 29 years old when newly elected as the Conservative MP for Burnley Lancashire. A constituency that had not returned a Tory politician in more than 100 years. He turned 30 this week. Born in nearby Haslingden, he campaigned on a pro-Brexit platform in an area that voted almost 67% in favour of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum. He is the first Conservative MP for the constituency since Gerald Arbuthnot in 1910. Previously working as a banker in London, he unsuccessfully contested the Peninsula ward in the 2018 Greenwich London Borough Council election returning to his home turf to represent the Conservatives in 2019.
Although Higginbothan did not campaign on LGBT issues he is listed amongst the Conservatives LGBT+ published candidate profile, although he may have his work cut out locally. Former Liberal Democrat MP for the town Gordon Birtwistle was a rare breed within the Lib Dem party in voting against same sex marriage. Describing ‘gay’ marriage as “just not on” won him support in the town and he was the elected MP there from 2010 until 2015.
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