David Porter (UK politician)

David John Porter^[1] (born 16 April 1948), was Conservative Member of Parliament for Waveney from 1987 to 1997.

Before going into parliament he was a drama teacher at Kirkley High School. After the 1997 election, he concentrated his efforts on supporting the British film industry. During his time in office, he never managed to completely step out of the shadow of his predecessor, the Conservative Minister from Lowestoft, Jim Prior.

David Porter had an in-depth knowledge of the fishing industry, and was considered to be a single-issue politician and a rebel.^{[citation needed]} On several occasions he was threatened with suspension, and once actually suspended, from the Conservative party over the government's fishing policy, which Porter argued would result in overfishing and the end of fish stocks, and thus fishing, in the United Kingdom. Although the national party tried to select a different candidate, at the time, the local Conservative Associations had total power of selection. He regularly campaigned for Britain to leave the European Common Fisheries Policy, preferring a system of local control with a yearly 'Sabbath' (ban of fishing) rotating around each sea area around the United Kingdom waters.

Although he always remained popular locally, he lost his seat in the Labour landslide to Bob Blizzard, a local councillor. In Lowestoft, this was considered to represent the final passing of the fishing industry in the town, an industry which by 1997 had long ceased to be a major employer or otherwise of any significance to the local economy.

David is now head of the performing arts department at Kirkley High School.

Notes

1. ^ http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U31175/

References

• The Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Ltd, 1997
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by James Prior	Member of Parliament for Waveney 1987 – 1997	Succeeded by Bob Blizzard

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Name	Porter, David
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Date of birth	16 April 1948
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