Ian David Twinn (born 26 April 1950) is a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician. He was educated at Cambridge Grammar School for Boys (now

Netherhall School The Netherhall School and The Oakes College is a Mixed-sex education, mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Queen Edith ward of Cambridge, England. Its logo is a modified version of the arms of the City of Cambridge. It is one of ...

), the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

and

Reading University The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

; he then worked as a lecturer. Twinn was elected as MP for

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, becoming the seat's first Conservative MP in 48 years, and serving from

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

until he lost his seat to Labour's Andy Love in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Twinn was also

Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...

from 1986 to 1988. He also became the first Conservative in Edmonton to be re-elected for a second term (in 1987) and a third (in 1992). He was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 2018 for political and voluntary service. In 1999, he was placed fifth on the Conservative Party list for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the

European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by Universal suffrage, universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after Electio ...

. The Conservatives secured only four seats, but Twinn served briefly as an MEP from 21 October 2003 until the 2004 elections, following the resignation of Lord Bethell due to ill health. Twinn was sixth on the Conservative list at the subsequent EU election, and lost his seat as the Conservatives won only three. He was listed eighth in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, and again was unsuccessful in being elected.

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* 1950 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Conservative Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for England 1999–2004 Alumni of the University of Wales Alumni of the University of Reading Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1950s-stub