Mark Field - Parliamentary Career

Parliamentary Career

In December 1999 he was selected to contest the safe Conservative seat of the Cities of London and Westminster following the retirement of the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Brooke at the 2001 General Election. Field won the seat with a majority of 4,499 and has been returned to Parliament with an increased majority twice since (2005 - 8095; 2010 - 11076). His constituency includes many of London's famous and iconic sights, such as St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Bank of England, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, the Royal Courts of Justice, as well as the Houses of Parliament.

Field made his maiden speech on 27 June 2001, when he announced his great political hero was the former Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law.

In Parliament, Mark Field was a member of the Lord Chancellor's Department and the renamed Constitutional Affairs Select Committee for a year from 2003. He was made an Opposition Whip by Iain Duncan Smith in 2003, becoming the Shadow Minister for London later that year. Between May and December 2005 he was Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In the eleven months to November 2006 he was the Conservative Party's spokesman on Culture, Media and Sport under the new leadership of David Cameron in 2005. During his tenure he led for the Opposition on the National Lottery Act 2006 and promoted the policy of safeguarding lottery funds for the four original causes of the arts, heritage, charities and sport. He also led debates and opposition to the lack of leadership and vision in Britain's declining public library service. His other responsibilities included the Arts, Heritage, Architecture and Design, Museums and Galleries, the Royal Parks, Regional Policy and Local Government as well as aspects of broadcasting.

In September 2010, Field was appointed by the Prime Minister to the prestigious Intelligence & Security Committee, chaired by former Foreign Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind. He is the youngest MP on this Committee, which reports directly to 10 Downing Street and oversees the UK’s intelligence and security services.

He takes a special interest in economic matters, financial services, foreign trade and international development and is currently Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Venture Capital & Private Equity as well as Vice Chairman of the Groups on Football and Bangladesh. He previously served as Chairman of the APPGs for Azerbaijan and Business Services. He has served on the Standing Committees of several important pieces of legislation, including the Business Rates Supplements Act and the Finance Acts in 2008 and 2009. He has also written for the Daily Telegraph about City of London financial regulatory reform, rewards for failure, the need for Britain to be open for business, the continuation of New Labour's rhetoric, expenses, and English football. As a backbencher, Field has tabled a number of debates on issues of local and national importance such as homelessness, Government debt, Heathrow airport, policing in London, social housing, home education and population estimates. He has run local campaigns on business rates, St Bartholomew's Hospital, assisting the creative industries, the control of rickshaws in the West End, social housing rent rises, the independence of the City of London Police and in July 2011 successfully argued in Parliament for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's continuing control of the Royal Parks.

Field was also an outspoken critic of the previous system governing MPs' second home allowances. Field was found not to be making excessive claims by the Daily Telegraph's investigation of MPs’ expenses.

Since 2007 Mark Field has been a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour. He also appears frequently on various other BBC TV programmes, including Daily Politics, Sunday Politics & Newsnight, ITV’s Late Debate (panellist since 2009) and Sky News as a newspaper reviewer. He makes regular contributions, to the influential political blog, ConservativeHome, particularly on economic matters. He articulated the thoughts of many following the overwhelming "No to AV" referendum which was held on 5 May 2011, saying: “I’m pretty sure that David Cameron will be very energised by what’s happened. Clearly there will be an effort to try to sure up Nick Clegg’s position but I think the idea now that there will be a whole lot of policy concessions allowing the Liberals to look good in the months to come is way, way short of the mark.”

Field is Patron of the Bishopsgate Institute and St Andrew's Club. He is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors.

In October 2011, Field voiced opposition to Occupy London protestors camped in his constituency. He expressed concern that their "tent city" was turning into a "semi-permanent encampment" which was disrupting St Paul's, a "key iconic tourist site" and place of worship. He suggested that police should clear the camp at night and went on record in the Daily Telegaph, stating: "While no one expects anti-capitalism to be a 24-hour activity, I would have hoped the protesters would show a little more respect for the sanctity of St Paul’s." On 28 February 2012, after 137 days of occupation, Field's initial recommendation became reality following a Court order when the site was cleared by the City of London Police in just 137 minutes.

The day after the resignation of Cllr Colin Barrow's resignation as Leader of Westminster City Council in January 2012 on the BBC's inaugural Sunday Politics, Field said about the West End parking charges plan: "Given the furore, given the strength of the campaign by the Evening Standard, I would be very surprised if his successor runs along with this."