Martin John Vickers (born 13 September 1950) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

Conservative Party politician. He was elected as the

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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then devel ...

at the 2010 general election.

Early life

Born in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...

, Vickers was educated at Havelock School and Grimsby College. He gained a politics degree at the

University of Lincoln , mottoeng = Freedom through wisdom , established = 1861 – Hull School of Art1905 – Endsleigh College1976 – Hull College1992 – University of Humberside1996 – University of Lincolnshire and Humberside2001 � ...

after six years as a part-time student in 2004. In 1979, he stood as a Conservative candidate for the Cromwell ward on Great Grimsby Borough Council, but was not successful. The following year, he elected as a councillor for the Weelsby ward on that council. Having only narrowly held his seat in 1986 by just 74 votes, he changed seats in 1990 to the Scartho ward (even then, only winning by an even narrower 30 votes) while Labour comfortably gained his old seat. In 1994, he lost his seat in Scartho to the Liberal Democrats. In 1995, he stood for the Scartho ward (with boundaries similar to the former Humberside County Council division) on the then-newly created unitary authority

North East Lincolnshire Council North East Lincolnshire Council is the local authority of North East Lincolnshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It was established following the abolition of Humberside ...

which replaced the Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes borough councils, but was unsuccessful. He did, however, gain the seat from Labour in 1999 and remained on the authority until 2011 Before being elected an MP, he served as full-time Conservative agent for

Edward Leigh Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (born 20 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983. Leigh has represented Gainsborough, Lincolnshire in the House of Commons since 1983 (rep ...

Parliamentary career

Vickers was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

(MP) for

in the 2010 general election, by a majority of 4,298. On 24 October 2011, Vickers was one of 81 MPs to rebel against the government to vote for a national referendum on the European Union. He was re-elected in the 2015 election and 2017 election.

Political views and parliamentary voting record

Vickers opposes the legalisation of same-sex marriage. He voted against

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom, same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Background Civil partnerships were Civil par ...

which introduced it in England and Wales. Vickers also voted against similar legislation which introduced it in Northern Ireland in 2019. In the same year, Vickers was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools. He also voted against the legalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland in 2019. Despite his social conservative views on gay rights and abortions, Vickers has maintained he opposes the reintroduction of the death penalty. Vickers supported

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

in the

2016 EU membership referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

. He voted for then Prime Minister Theresa May's

withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Un ...

. He is a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship. As of 31 July 2019, Vickers is the vice chair of the APPGs for Albania, Azerbaijan, Central America, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Isle of Man, East Coast Main Line, Economic Development, Fair Fuel for UK Motorists and UK Hauliers, Fisheries, Football, Rail in the North, Transport Across the North, and Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. He is the secretary of the APPG for Australia and New Zealand and the treasurer for the APPG for Heritage Rail. He is also the chair of the APPG for Kosovo, North Macedonia, Freeports, Oil Refining Sector, Rail. Vickers is co-chair of the APPG for Montenegro and an officer for the APPG for Serbia and River Thames. Following an interim report on the connections between

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their rel ...

and properties now in the care of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, including links with historic slavery, Vickers was among the signatories of a letter to '' The Telegraph'' in November 2020 from the "

Common Sense Group The Common Sense Group is an informal group of Conservative MPs in the United Kingdom who advocate a broad range of ideals that they think the Conservative Party and the country ought to be following. The group was inspired by the euro-sceptic ...

" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by

cultural Marxist The term "Cultural Marxism" refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory which claims that Western Marxism is the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert Western culture. The conspiracy theory misrepresents the ...

dogma, colloquially known as the '

woke ''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sex ...

agenda'".

Personal life

He is married to Ann, and they have one daughter. His wife works in his parliamentary office as a part-time junior secretary.

References

External links

Martin Vickers MP
''Martin Vickers MP official constituency website''
Martin Vickers MP
Conservative Party profile
Cleethorpes Conservatives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers, Martin 1950 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present People from Cleethorpes Alumni of the University of Lincoln Councillors in the Borough of North East Lincolnshire