David Wilshire

Conservative MP Spelthorne

Date of birth

16 September 1943

Political profile

David Wilshire has been an MP since 1987 but until 2001 had not progressed far from the back benches.

He served as parliamentary private secretary to Alan Clark and Peter Lloyd, but did not make it onto the front bench.

Nonetheless, he has a strong Commons record in attendance and frequent questioning of ministers.

He was one of the group led by Eric Forth and David Maclean who delighted in making life difficult for the government by constantly impeding legislative progress and forcing late night sittings.

After 2001, he joined much of the same group in the opposition whips' office.

He also scored one of the most substantial hits against the government during the 1997 Parliament when he uncovered the leaking of a foreign affairs select committee report to Robin Cook.

Besides his partisan attacks, he is very interested in Northern Ireland's politics and is one of the most vociferous opponents in the Commons of the Good Friday Agreement.

He was one of the first Conservative MPs to declare that he would never support UK entry into the single currency.

Contact

Constituency office: 01784 450822