David Leonard Congdon (born 16 October 1949) is a former British Conservative Party politician. He was the member of parliament (MP) for Croydon North East,

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

from 1992 to 1997.

Political career

Congdon had served as a councillor for many years and served as Deputy Leader of

Croydon Council Croydon London Borough Council, which styles itself Croydon Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, elect ...

. He was first elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1992 general selection, succeeding the outgoing speaker

Bernard Weatherill Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, (25 November 1920 – 6 May 2007) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1983 and 1992. Background Born in Sunningdale in 1920, he was the ...

who was retiring from the Commons. The Croydon seats were reorganised ahead of the 1997 general election, with the loss of one seat. Congdon competed against Paul Beresford, then-MP for

Croydon Central Croydon Central was a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2017 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Labour MP Sarah Jones. The seat bucked the trend in national result ...

, for the Conservative Party nomination for the new merged seat and won. He then lost in the ensuing election in 1997 to Labour's Geraint Davies. Beresford, meanwhile, successfully contested

Mole Valley Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking, and the district's other town is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district. ...

and continued as an MP. Congdon stood once again against Geraint Davies at the 2001 general election and lost. He then worked for MENCAP, and did not stand again at the 2005 election, when the Conservative candidate Andrew Pelling recaptured the seat from Davies.

Personal life

Congdon is now retired and lives, with his wife Theresa, in Old Coulsdon. He has one daughter Rebecca and two grandchildren.

References

External links

* 1949 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Croydon British charity and campaign group workers UK MPs 1992–1997 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub