Michael Fabricant

Michael Fabricant MP
Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Bob Blizzard
Member of Parliament for Lichfield Mid Staffordshire (1992-1997)
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Sylvia Heal
Majority	17,683 (34.3%)
Personal details
Born	12 June 1950 (1950-06-12) (age 61) Brighton, Sussex, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Website	michael.fabricant.mp.co.uk

Michael Louis David Fabricant (born 12 June 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lichfield in Staffordshire.

Early life

Fabricant was born in Brighton, in a British Jewish family,^[1] and attended Brighton Secondary Technical School and Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School. He studied economics at Loughborough University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree. He went on to study at the University of Sussex, where he was awarded a master's degree in systems and econometrics in 1974, and continued his studies at the University of Oxford, University of London and the University of Southern California.

He was appointed director of the International Broadcasting Electronics and Investment Group in 1979, remaining there until 1991, by which time his work had taken him to Moscow, the Netherlands, Uganda, Italy and Iceland. He unsuccessfully contested the safe Labour stronghold of South Shields at the 1987 general election, coming in 13,851 votes behind victor David Clark. Fabricant was appointed the chairman of the Brighton Pavilion Conservative Association in 1990 and remained chairman until his election to Westminster.

Political career

Fabricant was first elected at the 1992 General Election for Mid Staffordshire, regaining the seat for the Conservatives following Sylvia Heal's victory at the 1990 by-election. He took the seat with a majority of 6,236 and has remained a Member of Parliament since. He made his maiden speech on 2 July 1992.^[2] The Mid Staffordshire seat was abolished at the 1997 General Election, but Fabricant contested and won the Lichfield constituency, which partially replaced it, by just 238 votes. He has remained the Lichfield MP since, increasing his majority to 4,426 in 2001, 7,080 in 2005 and 17,683 in 2010.

In Parliament, Fabricant joined the European Legislation Select Committee in 1992 on which he served until the 1997 General Election. He also joined the National Heritage Select Committee in 1993 and was a member of that committee until his appointment as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Michael Jack in 1996. Following the Conservative defeat at the 1997 General Election, Fabricant joined the (renamed) Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee until moving to the Home Affairs Select Committee in 1999. He rejoined the Culture, Media and Sport committee following the 2001 General Election, and also at this time became the chairman of the Information Committee. He moved up to the Opposition frontbench as a trade and industry spokesman under Michael Howard in 2003. Later in the year he was moved to the post of spokesman on economic affairs. He became an Opposition Whip following the 2005 General Election and remained in the position following the appointment of new leader David Cameron.

Fabricant was the 'political adviser' to the BBC series The Final Cut, the last of the House of Cards trilogy starring Ian Richardson the infamous machiavellian Prime Minister, Francis Urquhart. In the 'crossing the floor' speech scene from disgruntled Tom Makepeace (actor Paul Freeman), Fabricant can clearly be seen sitting next to Makepeace in a cameo. Fabricant is easily recognisable in the Commons with his bright blond hair, which sketchwriters and fellow Members of Parliament have frequently suggested is a wig.^[3][4] The former Cabinet Office Minister Ian McCartney once retorted "provided he doesn't mention my Glaswegian accent, I won't mention his wig."

When on holiday walking along a jungle trail near the coastal town of Santa Marta in Colombia in August 2008, a patrol of armed Colombian soldiers stopped him, suspecting him of cocaine possession when they discovered a jar of white powder in his rucksack. In spite of him trying to explain that the jar did not contain cocaine he was forced to eat several mouthfuls. On suffering no ill effects the soldiers also tried it with no ill effects, realising that it was dried milk. He stated that the reason that he had the dried milk is that although he thought that Colombian coffee was "really very, very good", he did not trust the local milk.^[5]

His website lists his interests as fell-walking, canal-boating, skiing, Mozart operas, listening to the Archers^{[disambiguation needed ]} and eating out. He has taken part in a series of adjournment debates on government funding for inland waterways,^[6] and has called for heavy goods freight to move off Britain's roads and back onto the restored canal network.^[7] Fabricant is able to speak reasonable French and German, and also speaks some Dutch and Russian.^[8]

Fabricant has said that he was a "moderniser when Notting Hill was a dump",^[9] referring to the "Notting Hill Set", a group of young Conservative modernisers that came to prominence under David Cameron.

Notes

1. ^ Jessica Elgot. "New Jewish ministers and the Miliband rivalry". The Jewish Chronicle. http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/31823/new-jewish-ministers-and-miliband-rivalry. 
2. ^ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 2 Jul 1992". Publications.parliament.uk. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1992-07-02/Debate-5.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16. 
3. ^ Assinder, Nick (2000-05-19). "Ken's Latest Challenge to Blair". BBC News (London). http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/754150.stm. Retrieved 2007-01-25. 
4. ^ "Hansard: Commons Hansard Debates for 23 January 2007". http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070123/debtext/70123-0003.htm#07012338000543. Retrieved 2007-01-25. 
5. ^ Naughton, Philippe (2008-09-05). "Coffee-loving MP Michael Fabricant mistaken for cocaine trafficker". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4683141.ece. Retrieved 13 November 2010. 
6. ^ "Adjournment debate on future of canals". Boating Business. http://www.boatingbusiness.com/archive101/2008/november/news/the_future_of_the_canals. Retrieved 2008-10-28. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Canals better for freight says MP". Lichfield Mercury. November 26, 2008. http://www.thisislichfield.co.uk/news/Canals-better-freight-says-MP/article-504088-detail/article.html. Retrieved 2008-11-27. 
8. ^ http://www.michael.fabricant.mp.co.uk/
9. ^ "Twitter / Michael Fabricant: Re my 'Chairs' vote, I tol". Twitter.com. http://twitter.com/Mike_Fabricant/status/9978882525. Retrieved 2010-03-16. 

External links

• Michael Fabricant MP official site
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sylvia Heal	Member of Parliament for Mid Staffordshire 1992–1997	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Lichfield 1997–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Fabricant, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1950-06-12
Place of birth	Brighton, United Kingdom
Date of death
Place of death