David Glynn Ashby (born 14 May 1940) was the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
in the United Kingdom for
North West Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock.
The d ...
from 1983 until he stood down in 1997.
Ashby was both a criminal barrister (1963-2001) and a British politician. His political career spanned over twenty years, starting in 1968 as a local Conservative councillor for Hammersmith (Greater London) where he was Chairman for Housing and then progressing as a Conservative Councillor for the Greater London Council (GLC) representing Eltham from 1977 to 1981. While at the GLC (subsequently dissolved under Margaret Thatcher's government in 1986), he was Chairman of Housing and Management and campaigned fervently for a fairer system of council house distribution by moving power to the boroughs and decentralising.
In 1983 he was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Leicestershire NW, seen as a marginal seat. He was a back-bench MP under both the Thatcher and the Major governments and sat on many committees including the Home Affairs and Freedom of Information committees.
During the "
Back to Basics" campaign run in 1994 by the Major government, Ashby came under media scrutiny after his wife claimed that during a trip he had shared a hotel bed with another man supposedly due to the unavailability of a twin-bedded room.
Ashby refused to name the other man concerned, but later stated he was seeking legal advice about newspaper articles that reported his wife as saying that Ashby had left her for another man, attributing his marriage breakdown instead to the long hours in Parliament and to a growing rift between them.
References
Further reading
* ''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', Times Newspapers Limited, 1992 and 1997 editions.
External links
*
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Members of the Greater London Council
People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe
UK MPs 1983–1987
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1992–1997
1940 births
Living people
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