Patrick McLoughlin MP

Patrick McLoughlin is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Derbyshire Dales, and was elected for the previous constitency, West Derbyshire, in a by-election that was triggered by the sitting MP, Matthew Parris, stepping down to take a role on the ITV political television programme, Weekend World.

McLoughlin was born in 1957 in Stafford, and was educated at Cardinal Griffin Roman Catholic School in Cannock, and then Staffordshire College of Agriculture at Rodbaston College, before spending five years working on farms, and in 1979, started to work at Littleton Colliery in Cannock.  Littleton Colliery was one of the few collieries that avoided the huge round of pit closures in the early 1990’s.  It finally ceased production in 2009.

At the 1983 General Election, he stood for the Wolverhampton South East constituency at the 1983 General Election, although he was beaten into second place by the incumbent Labour MP, Robert Edwards.  He was elected for West Derbyshire in a 1986 by-election, with a narrow 100 majority, a seat that he successfully retained in 1987, with an increased majority of 10,527.

He served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for Education and Science as well as the Department for Trade and Industry between 1987 and 1989, before taking roles as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, and the Department for Education.

McLoughlin defended West Derbyshire in 1992, with an increased majority of 18,769, and this year brought a new role as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Trade and Industry.  1995 saw McLoughlin moved to the Whip’s office as an assistant in 1995, becoming a Lord Commissioner a year later, and after the 1997 General Election, he became Opposition Deputy Chief Whip, along with retaining his seat, but with a greatly reduced majority of 4,885.  A majority that increased at the following General Election of 2001 to 7,370.

He remained as Opposition Deputy Chief Whip until he was promoted to Opposition Chief Whip in 2005.  The 2005 General Election saw another increase in his majority in West Derbyshire to 10,753, beating the Labour candidate, David Menon, into second place.

Electoral boundary changes saw West Derbyshire abolished for 2010, and McLoughlin successfully stood for it’s replacement, Derbyshire Dales, gaining 24,378 votes, the same number of votes as in 2005.

He continued as Chief Whip, replacing Nick Brown until he was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport in the reshuffle of September 2012, a role he continues to hold.

As Secretary of State for Transport, he is responsible for overall transport strategy, including economic growth, climate change, and security.  One of the major infrastructure projects that is covered by the role is the upcoming plans for HS2 and HS3.