Sir Michael Louis David Fabricant (born 12 June 1950) is a British politician. A member of the
Conservative Party, he served as the
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
in Staffordshire, formerly
Mid Staffordshire, from
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
until his defeat in
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
.
Fabricant was the vice-chairman of the Conservative Party for parliamentary campaigning, responsible for the
Conservative Campaign Headquarters
The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and man ...
strategy on
marginal seat
A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. T ...
s at the
2015 general election, as well as
UK parliamentary by-elections. In April 2014, he was dismissed from this position over comments he had made about his colleague
Maria Miller
Dame Maria Frances Miller'MILLER, Rt Hon. Maria (Frances Lewis)',
Who's Who 2013,
A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc,
2013;
online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012;
online edn, November 2012
...
's resignation. Fabricant also served as Shadow Minister for
Trade and Industry Trade and Economic Affairs from 2003-2005 and
Opposition Whip from 2005-2010.
Early life and career
Michael Louis David Fabricant was born on 12 June 1950 in
Rottingdean, Brighton, into a Jewish family,
to Helena (née Freed; 1911–2004) and Rabbi Isaac Fabricant (1906–1989), rabbi of the Brighton and Hove Synagogue.
Fabricant attended Brighton Secondary Technical School and Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School. He studied economics at
Loughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...
, receiving a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree. He went on to study at the
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
, where he was awarded a master's degree in
operations research
Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a branch of applied mathematics that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve management and ...
in 1974, and undertook research at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
,
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, and the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
in economics and
econometrics
Econometrics is an application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics", '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
.
He was director and co-founder of an international broadcast manufacturing and management group for 11 years prior to his election to Parliament.
Fabricant was the
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 ...
candidate in
South Shields
South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...
at the
1987 general election, coming second with 25.7% of the vote behind the incumbent
Labour MP
David Clark.
Fabricant was appointed the chairman of the
Brighton Pavilion Conservative Association in 1990 and remained chairman until his election 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 ...
.
Parliamentary career
Fabricant was elected to Parliament at the
1992 general election as MP for
Mid Staffordshire with 49.7% of the vote and a majority of 6,236.
He made his
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
on 2 July 1992.
In Parliament, Fabricant joined the European Legislation
Select Committee in 1992, and served on it until the 1997 general election. He joined the
National Heritage Select Committee in 1993 and was a member of that committee until his appointment as the
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the ch ...
Michael Jack in 1996.
Prior to the
1997 general election, Fabricant's constituency of Mid Staffordshire was abolished, and replaced with
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
. At the election, Fabricant was elected as MP for Lichfield with 42.9% of the vote and a majority of 238.
Following the Conservative defeat at the 1997 general election, Fabricant joined the
Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee until moving to the
Home Affairs
An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...
Select Committee in 1999.
At the
2001 general election, Fabricant was re-elected as MP for Lichfield with an increased vote share of 49.1% and an increased majority of 4,426.
Fabricant rejoined the Culture, Media and Sport committee following the 2001 general election, and also at this time became the chairman of the Information Committee. He moved up to the opposition
frontbench as a
trade and industry spokesman under
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...
in 2003. Later in the year he was moved to the post of spokesman on
economic affairs.
Fabricant was again re-elected at the
2005 general election, with a decreased vote share of 48.6% and an increased majority of 7,080.
He became an
opposition whip following the 2005 general election and remained in the position following the appointment of new leader
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
. In 2008, Fabricant founded
Conservative Friends of America.
Also in 2008, Fabricant took part in a series of
adjournment debate
In the Westminster system, an adjournment debate is a debate on the motion, "That this House do now adjourn." In practice, this is a way of enabling the House to have a debate on a subject without considering a substantive motion.
Types of deba ...
s on government funding for
inland waterways, and called for heavy goods freight to move off Britain's roads and back onto the restored canal network.
At the
2010 general election, Fabricant was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 54.4% and an increased majority of 17,683.
In November 2012, Fabricant published a pamphlet entitled "The Pact", which called for a political pact between
UKIP
The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...
and the Conservative Party, in exchange for an
In/out EU referendum.
Fabricant was sacked as vice-chairman of the
Conservative Party in April 2014 after he tweeted "about time" with regard to
Maria Miller
Dame Maria Frances Miller'MILLER, Rt Hon. Maria (Frances Lewis)',
Who's Who 2013,
A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc,
2013;
online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012;
online edn, November 2012
...
's resignation as cabinet minister.
[Oliver Wrigh]
"Michael Fabricant: Llamas, incest, bestiality, and the demise of the Tories' Deputy Chairman"
, ''The Independent'', 11 April 2014 George Eaton of the ''
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' believed his sacking related to his threat to rebel over the
HS2 rail development and was necessary to deter other potential Conservative rebels on the same issue. He opposes HS2 on the grounds of its financial and environmental cost.
At the
2015 general election, Fabricant was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 55.2% and an increased majority of 18,189.
In a 2016 debate, Fabricant yelled "bollocks" over a discussion of the impacts of
Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
. He was expressing disagreement with the former justice minister
Jonathan Djanogly's statement that UK law firms could lose £1.7 billion in earnings if the UK were to leave the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. In the 2016
EU Referendum campaign Fabricant said he would be voting to leave the EU. A staunch believer in free trade, he commented: "I think we are part of a global economy and that we will be far wealthier trading globally than the current situation".
Fabricant was again re-elected at the snap
2017 general election with an increased vote share of 63.6% and an increased majority of 18,581.
Fabricant wrote in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' in November 2017 to rebut claims about him that had appeared on a Westminster dossier making assertions about the behaviour of Conservative MPs. He wrote that no one he had contacted, including lobby journalists and a former chief whip with an "elephantine memory", had previously heard the claim made against him of "inappropriate behaviour with a male journalist in a taxi".
In 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 ...
, he sat on the Administration Committee and previously sat on the Committee of Selection, the Finance and Services Committee, the Liaison Committee (Commons), the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the Home Affairs Committee and the National Heritage Committee.
Fabricant attracted media attention for having an apartheid-era flag of South Africa on display on the mantelpiece of his parliamentary office. He responded that he had several flags on display from countries where his former company had clients in the 1980s. Asked in 2018 if he regretted working for what was effectively an arm of the apartheid state in South Africa, he replied: "There is so much we can all regret with hindsight" and said he did not condone what was going on at the time.
At the
2019 general election, Fabricant was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 64.5% and an increased majority of 23,638.
On 12 April 2022, Fabricant urged
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
to apologise after he was fined for a breach of Covid rules. Fabricant said: "I don't think at any time he thought he was breaking the law. I think that at the time he just thought like many teachers and nurses who after a very long shift would tend to go back to the staff room and have a quiet drink". The remark was criticised by official bodies representing teachers and nurses, who said they did no such thing, and Fabricant said he had not intended to cause offence.
Fabricant endorsed
Penny Mordaunt
Dame Penelope Mary "Penny" Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons from 2022 until 2024. She was the Memb ...
during the
July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. He was knighted in
Johnson's resignation honours.
In March 2024, Fabricant was re-selected as the Conservative candidate for Lichfield at the
2024 general election, in which he lost his seat.
Use of social media
In June 2014, Fabricant came under criticism when, following an exchange between
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and
Rod Liddle
Rod Liddle (born 1 April 1960) is an English journalist, and an associate editor of ''The Spectator''. He was an editor of BBC Radio 4's '' Today'' programme. His published works include ''Too Beautiful for You'' (2003), ''Love Will Destroy Ev ...
on ''
Channel 4 News
''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982.
Current productions ''Channel 4 News''
''Channel 4 News'' ...
'' the evening before, he tweeted that he "could never appear" on a discussion programme with her, as he "would either end up with a brain haemorrhage or by punching her in the throat."
Gloria De Piero, then
Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, described the tweet as "utterly appalling"
[Alexandra Topping, et a]
"Tory MP Michael Fabricant apologises for tweet saying he might punch female journalist"
, ''The Guardian'', 20 June 2014 while a Conservative Party spokesman commented that the MP's comment was "completely unacceptable". Fabricant subsequently apologised,
but Alibhai-Brown thought his apology was "useless". A few days later, Fabricant wrote that he was "still deeply embarrassed and ashamed" and his tweet "appeared to have undone" his socially liberal voting record over the last 20 years.
In August 2014, after
Sayeeda Warsi resigned from
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
's government over its policy towards Israel's
Operation Protective Edge, Fabricant was criticised for a Twitter remark that appeared to suggest Gaza was a "Muslim issue".
He subsequently clarified that he believed that Gaza was a humanitarian issue and that his comment about Warsi's "strong views on Muslim issues" was more general.
In May 2018, Fabricant called a teenage constituent a 'complete twat' on Twitter after she had questioned his commitment to working in part of the constituency. Fabricant criticised the constituent for not being clearer in detailing who she was and stated that he thought the post came from a 'Russian troll'.
In July 2018, Fabricant was accused of being Islamophobic over a subsequently-deleted tweet he shared depicting London mayor
Sadiq Khan
Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...
, who is a Muslim, in a sex act with a pig. Some Labour MPs called for Fabricant's suspension and former Conservative Party chairman Sayeeda Warsi responded, describing Islamophobia in the Conservative party as "widespread". Fabricant said he had been distracted in a meeting when he sent it and did not spot what the image actually showed.
In May 2021, Fabricant was accused by
Hope not Hate of racism, after he tweeted that pro-Palestinian protesters in London were "primitives" that are "trying to bring to London what they do in the Middle East". Fabricant subsequently deleted the tweet, stating that "attacks on the British police as shown in the video are disgraceful". The Conservative party was asked by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' for comment but declined.
In March 2022, Fabricant commented on social media that a proposed bill outlawing
cyberflashing should include an exemption for dating apps. This was criticised by local councillor Joanne Grange.
In May 2022 Fabricant commented in relation to the arrest of an anonymous Conservative MP for rape, tweeting: "I am expecting a strong turnout of Conservative MPs at PMQs today, not only to demonstrate their strong support for
Boris! BUT also to prove they are NOT the one told by the Chief Whip to stay at home. I'll be there!" The tweet was described by Labour Deputy Leader
Angela Rayner
Angela Rayner (' Bowen; born 28 March 1980) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since 2024 United Kingdom general election, Jul ...
as "grotesque". Fabricant said: "No-one is making light of rape or assault. Far from it. But those who want to read something into a comment will contrive to do so whatever. They are professional offence takers." Fabricant deleted his original tweet just over two hours later.
Media work
Fabricant was political adviser to the 1995
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
drama series ''
The Final Cut'' and made a cameo appearance in the broadcast. During
Prime Minister's Question Time on 13 September 2017,
the prime minister, Theresa May, said that Fabricant would be appearing on the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
series ''Celebrity'' ''
First Dates''. She asked: "What I'm not sure about is whether my honourable friend is the celebrity or the first date". Nearly two months later, at the beginning of November 2017, Fabricant came out as
bisexual
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
on the show.
In April 2025, Fabricant entered the ''
Celebrity Big Brother
''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...
'' house to appear as a housemate on the
twenty-fourth series and was the first contestant to be voted out.
Personal life
Fabricant lives in London and Lichfield. He co-owns a holiday home in
Snowdonia
Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...
with his partner
Andy Street, the former Mayor of the West Midlands.
Fabricant, who in December 2021 described Street as his 'life partner', is
bisexual
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
.
In 2015 Fabricant was diagnosed with
skin cancer
Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the Human skin, skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells (biology), cells that have the ability to invade or metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. It occurs when skin cells grow ...
and
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...
, undergoing a
prostatectomy
Prostatectomy (from the Ancient Greek language, Greek , "prostate" and , "excision") is the surgical removal of all or part of the prostate gland. This operation is done for benignity, benign conditions that cause urinary retention, as well as ...
as treatment for the latter. He spoke of his treatment for prostate cancer in the House of Commons the following year, highlighting the shortage of specialist prostate cancer nurses in the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
. Then Labour Party leader
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
responded to Fabricant's illness by stating he hoped "the treatment he got is the same treatment everyone else got". Following criticism, Corbyn apologised for his remarks.
Fabricant's blond hair has been the subject of speculation, with some people suggesting he wears a wig. He has stated his hair is a personal matter, and has refused to confirm whether it is his natural hair or a wig while reiterating this stance, most recently in his 2025 appearance on ''Celebrity Big Brother.''
Honours
Fabricant was appointed a
Knight Bachelor
The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...
on 9 June 2023 as part of the
2022 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.
References
External links
Michael Fabricant MPofficial site
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabricant, Michael
1950 births
Living people
20th-century English LGBTQ people
21st-century English LGBTQ people
Alumni of Loughborough University
Alumni of the University of Sussex
Bisexual male politicians
British Eurosceptics
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Jewish English politicians
Bisexual Jews
British bisexual men
LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
English bisexual politicians
People educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School
Politicians from Brighton
Politics of Lichfield
Knights Bachelor
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–2024
University of Southern California alumni
LGBTQ conservatism