Ian Levy (politician)

Ian Levy (born 14 February 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Blyth Valley at the 2019 general election. He is the first Conservative to represent Blyth Valley since the constituency was created in 1950.

Not to be confused with Ian Lavery, Labour MP for neighbouring Wansbeck.
Ian Levy

MP
Levy in 2019
Member of Parliament
for Blyth Valley
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byRonnie Campbell
Majority712 (1.7%)
Personal details
Born (1966-02-14) 14 February 1966[1]
Blyth, Northumberland, England
Political partyConservative
Websitewww.ianlevy.org.uk

Early career

Prior to his election, Levy had worked as a healthcare assistant on an inpatient mental health rehabilitation ward in St Nicholas Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne.[2] He first contested the Blyth Valley constituency at the 2017 general election but was unsuccessful by 7,915 votes.

Parliamentary career

Levy was elected for Blyth Valley at the 2019 general election with a majority of 712 votes. He was the first Conservative to represent the constituency since its creation in 1950.[3] It had previously been a safe Labour seat.[4] He had campaigned on returning passenger railway services to the area and for a relief road in Blyth.[5] Blyth's railway station had closed in 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts.[6] After his election, he was accused of misleading the public after the Nursing Times reported his social media posts during the campaign stating he had worked as a mental health nurse. The posts were later amended. Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust confirmed he had worked as a healthcare assistant. The term "nurse" is not legally protected so his posts had not violated the Nurses Registration Act 1919.[2][7]

Levy won the Newcomer of the Year award at The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards.[8]

In October 2020, Levy voted against the temporary extension of free school meals during school holidays for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. This stirred up strong feeling in his Blyth Valley constituency.[9]

Personal life

Levy is of Jewish descent.[10]

References
  1. "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  2. Snug, Ian; Beadle, Esther (13 December 2019). "Newly-elected MP falsely claims he is a 'mental health nurse". Nursing Notes. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  3. "Blyth Valley". BBC News. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  4. "The 24 Labour heartland seats lost to the Tories for the first time in decades". The Daily Telegraph. 14 December 2019.(subscription required)
  5. "Who is Ian Levy? New Conservative MP for Blyth Valley". Evening Chronicle. 12 December 2019.
  6. "Blyth Valley: A constituency that changed its mind". 15 December 2019.
  7. "Shock win Tory candidate 'deceived' voters by claiming to be a nurse". Nursing Times. 13 December 2019.
  8. "The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards: The Winners". The Spectator. 22 January 2020.
  9. Meechan, Simon (25 October 2020). "Ian Levy slammed for defence of vote to deny poor kids free school holiday meals". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  10. "The logic of democracy in this country is iron, as is our rejection of extremism". The Daily Telegraph. 13 December 2019.(subscription required)
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ronnie Campbell		 Member of Parliament for Blyth Valley
2019–present		 Incumbent


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.