Code of Conduct and Modernisation Committee

Debate between Lincoln Jopp and Caroline Nokes

Thursday 25th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

I join others in welcoming you to your place, Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you for giving me the chance to make my maiden speech, and to contribute to this important debate on second jobs, speaking for the people of Spelthorne. I pay tribute to all Members who have made their maiden speeches, in particular my immediate predecessor, the hon. Member for Ipswich (Jack Abbott). He is clearly going to be a fearsome and fearless advocate for his constituents, based purely on the fact that he is prepared to risk the opprobrium of the people of Colchester, the people of Norwich, and perhaps most impressively of all, Mr Ed Balls. I congratulate him.

I thank the House staff for the impeccable welcome that they gave us all as new Members. I was, for quite a long time, a soldier, so I was brought up on the mantra that two minutes early is three minutes late. It was therefore no surprise that at five minutes to 7 on the Monday after the election, I was the first in the queue at the top of the ramp. I saw two armed police officers, but there was also a Doorkeeper, resplendent in his uniform of morning coat and gold badge, and his beard. Not knowing what to expect, I approached him. He said, “Good morning, Mr Jopp.” I was beyond impressed. He continued, “You might not recognise me under this beard, sir, but I’m Matt, and I was with you in the Scots Guards in Afghanistan.” I went from being impressed to being deeply touched.

Having had the chance to listen to a large number of maiden speeches, I have noticed that when the name of the Member and their constituency flashes up on the screen, that is sometimes met with a knowing smile and sometimes not, depending on the name of the seat. It is like that excellent episode of “Yes, Prime Minister” when Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby start discussing somewhere called St George’s Island. Both of them suggest that they have some form of superior insight into St George’s Island, but it quickly becomes apparent that neither of them have any idea where on earth it is. Lest my maiden speech become something like that, I thought that I ought to tell the House where Spelthorne is.

Spelthorne is everything south of Heathrow airport until the Thames. We are in the administrative county of Surrey and the historic county of Middlesex. We are inside the M25 but not in London. Crazily, you can use an Oyster card to take a London bus there, but not the train. We are outside the clutches of the Mayor of London’s dreaded ultra low emission zone charge, but according to the Church of England, we report to the Bishop of Kensington. Hon. Members might think that all those special circumstances would give rise to something of an identity crisis for the people of Spelthorne, but not a bit of it, because no one who lives there actually calls it Spelthorne anyway. Instead, people say they live in Staines, Stanwell or Stanwell Moor; in Ashford, Shepperton or Laleham; in Halliford, Charlton Village or Sunbury.

By the way, all hon. Members sitting in Parliament today are here thanks to a notable resident of Stanwell: Thomas, later Lord, Knyvet. It was he whom the King dispatched to search the cellars beneath Parliament, resulting in the capture of the treacherous gunpowder plotters. Clearly, Lord Knyvet’s ability to navigate this place was a great deal better than mine.

I pay full tribute to my immediate predecessor as Member of Parliament for Spelthorne, Kwasi Kwarteng, who had represented the constituency since 2010. Hon. Members will not be surprised to hear that his name came up frequently on the doorstep in the last general election. Kwasi was a much-respected Back Bencher and Minister, as well as being a charismatic performer in this Chamber. A strong advocate for small businesses in Spelthorne, he instigated the Spelthorne business plan competition, now in its 10th year.

Spelthorne people are some of the hardest-working people in the country, so it is appropriate that I should be making this speech in a debate on second jobs; many of my constituents have them. I too have had a selection of jobs. As a friend of mine recently remarked, “Blimey, Lincoln, 25 years in the Army and 10 years in private equity. Where did you see more violence?” Now I am in Parliament, with the huge honour of representing the people of Spelthorne, and I am struck by just how important that is, particularly at the moment. I am sure that all Members want to be a strong voice for their constituents and a local champion for their area, and I do too, passionately.

However, we are also here to fulfil our second jobs: to make thoughtful contributions to the national and international debate on issues of great moment, none of which is more important, in my view, than the defence of the realm, given that the world is the most dangerous it has been since the end of the cold war. We are having a defence review, which will take time; but time may be running out, and the right course of action—increasing defence expenditure—is all too clear now, let alone in 12 months’ time when the review reports. I gently suggest to all Members of this House that to govern may be to choose, but it is also to act, and that the answer to autocracy is rarely more bureaucracy.

To finish on a lighter note, I hope that hon. Members now know a little bit more about Spelthorne. They are welcome to visit any time, whether to hear about the work of BP’s global technology centre as it seeks to decarbonise the world, or to see the largest film studios in Europe and the second biggest in the world after Hollywood. They might instead be interested in a flutter on the horses at Kempton Park—not that we on the Conservative side of the House are allowed to bet any more—or maybe just to potter along the Thames like “Three Men in a Boat”.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I said I would finish, and I do not make promises I cannot keep. I made one promise to the people of Spelthorne. It was that if they elected me, we would move to the constituency. Thanks solely to the efforts of my amazing wife Caroline, we picked up the keys to our new home in Spelthorne on Tuesday, and will have moved there by the end of the weekend. That is the first promise I have kept to the people of Spelthorne. I look forward, as I serve them, to there being many more.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call Shaun Davies to make his maiden speech.