Swayne taught economics at Charterhouse School for one year followed by seven years at Wrekin College (both independent boarding schools).[7] On 22 November 1986, as a prospective parliamentary candidate for a South Wales constituency, he was quoted in the Western Mail saying that "the surest way to protect the public from AIDS is to outlaw homosexuality and lock up offenders".[8] From 1987 to 1997, he was a computer systems manager at Royal Bank of Scotland.[7][9]
At the 2001 general election, Swayne was re-elected as MP for New Forest West with an increased vote share of 55.7% and an increased majority of 13,191.[23] He was again re-elected at the 2005 general election with an increased vote share of 56.4% and an increased majority of 17,285.[24]
Following the election of David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party in December 2005, Swayne was appointed as his PPS.[6] In 2006, a series of Swayne's e-mails to Cameron with unflattering descriptions of fellow Conservatives was leaked to the media.[25]
As a result of the expenses scandal, Swayne repaid the £6,131 that he claimed for a new kitchen at his second-home flat in North Kensington in 2006, and £60.66 over claimed for a water bill.[26] Swayne employs his wife Moira as part-time Executive Secretary/Office Manager.[27] Swayne provided a full breakdown of his expenses on his website, and was found by local media in South Dorset to be the lowest claiming of the local MP expenses' league table, after claiming £94,754 expenses in 2007/08, compared with £91,737 in 2006/07.[28]
In addition to his salary as an MP, in 2009 Swayne reportedly earned £12,000 a year as a director of property development firm Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund, which predominantly specialises in holiday developments in Bulgaria; and around £5,000 in his role as a major in the Army Reserve.[26]
At the 2010 general election, Swayne was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 58.8% and a decreased majority of 16,896.[29] After the election, Swayne maintained his role as a PPS in government.[30]
In the Commons he sits on the Ecclesiastical Committee (Joint Committee). He has previously sat on the International Trade Committee, the Administration Committee, the Defence Committee, the Procedure Committee, the Social Security Committee and Scottish Affairs Committee.[34]
At the 2015 general election, Swayne was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 59.9% and an increased majority of 20,604.[35] He was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 66.8% and an increased majority of 23,431.[36]
Swayne poses with British Red Cross ChairmanDavid Bernstein at the 150 Years of International Humanitarian Law: The UK Perspective event in London on 29 October 2014.
On 28 September 2019, Swayne remarked that "blackface" was an "entirely acceptable bit of fun".[37] On 30 September, it was reported that he wore blackface while attending a Blues Brothers themed party, where he was pictured posing as James Brown.[38] Swayne said he "went to some trouble to be as authentic as possible" in creating the costume. After initially declining to apologise, Swayne later said he was sorry for any offence that he gave.[39]
At the 2019 general election, Swayne was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 63.8% and an increased majority of 24,403.[40]
In June 2020, responding to a question about the policing of protests following the police murder of George Floyd in the US, Swayne said "looters, arsonists and rioters have it coming".[41]
On 18 August 2021, Swayne suggested in Parliament that Afghan refugees should have been joining "the resistance" against a brutal regime rather than "queuing at the airport" after the fall of Kabul.[42]
Swayne was again re-elected at the 2024 general election, with a decreased vote share of 35.4% and a decreased majority of 5,600.[43]
COVID-19 pandemic
Swayne has been critical of the UK government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the lockdown response after 24 March 2020. Swayne believes that the government should have taken a softer approach, including keeping shops and public spaces open as had the Swedish government, and that the government's lockdown measures and policies were disproportionate to the threat posed by the virus.
Speaking to parliament in July 2020, Swayne described the Coronavirus law requiring the public to wear face masks in indoor public places as "a monstrous imposition", and said that it would make him less likely to go shopping.[44] In a television interview in December 2020 he called for the health and scientific lobby to be "put in its place" and said: "they cannot go on telling us how we must live our lives forever."[45]
In a speech in parliament on 28 September 2020, Swayne stated that "the policy of the government has been disproportionate in response to this threat. There may be a virus one day that threatens our very way of life, but this is not it, even if we are behaving as if it were." Furthermore, he argued that the government had been following the advice of small group of scientists without doing their job as politicians and imposing "a sense of proportion" and "not be in thrall" of science.[4][46]
Swayne believes that there has been "censorship" of opposing arguments or criticisms of the lockdown policies. On 15 October 2020 Swayne asked the Leader of the House of Commons if a debate could be held on censorship due to "the sinister disappearance of the link from Google to the Great Barrington declaration".[47][48][49] He has donated money to anti-lockdown demonstration organiser Piers Corbyn who had been fined for his breaching lockdown regulations.[50]
It was reported in January 2021 that Swayne had said that some COVID-19 figures were being "manipulated",[51] and that it was "difficult to reconcile" occupation levels of intensive care units with being "told there is a deathly, deadly pandemic proceeding".[52] Swayne said that the NHS was "bouncing round at the typical level of deaths for the time of year", although at the time he spoke the Office for National Statistics was reporting deaths as 14% above the five-year average.[52] The comments were made in a November 2020 interview with Save Our Rights, an anti-mask and anti-lockdown movement that had made false claims about COVID vaccines, during which Swayne urged the group to "persist" in its work.[52] When questioned on the matter in January 2021, Swayne stated that "anyone who wants to talk to me about vaccines can consult my website or indeed my question I put to the Prime Minister yesterday [...] and you will see that you will see that I am the most enthusiastic vaxxer"[53] and said that he "spoke to [Save Our Rights] exclusively about their campaign about lockdown because I share their objective. I'm against lockdown."[53] Swayne's comments were criticised by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), arguing such comments would "cost lives", and Deputy leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner.[52]
On 28 January 2021 the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Michael Gove, said that Swayne was "completely out of order" and should apologise.[54][51] On the same day, Swayne responded to these comments on talkRADIO[53] and Sky News.[55]Angela Rayner urged action be taken against Swayne for endorsing conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and suggesting that the official figures had been manipulated, "a deeply dangerous claim for which there is absolutely no evidence". Swayne said that "we are getting very close to thought crime [...] that the deputy leader of the Labour Party is complaining about what another member of Parliament says and things as if this was some sort of criminal activity."[53]:10:51
Swayne said that "What really worries me is the grip the scientists still have on driving policy. The government needs to recognise that this is coming at a devastating cost. At some stage someone has to have a more realistic point of view."[51]
In a 2021 interview with anti-vaccination filmmaker Del Bigtree, Swayne said that Britain had become "a police state" and accused the government of attempting to enact "social control". When questioned about this by Sky News, Swayne stated that he had never heard of Bigtree.[52] In January 2021, Swayne was criticised by the Board of Deputies of British Jews for his 2020 appearance on The Richie Allen Show, which has been accused of anti-Semitism.[56][57]
In December 2021, Swayne was criticised for his arguments against compulsory vaccine passports, which included factually inaccurate comparisons between COVID deaths and those from flu and traffic accidents.[58] Swayne questioned whether the health measures were proportionate, characterising the Health Protection Agency as a "Ministry of Fear" and saying that he felt his government had "abandoned any principle of social democracy or liberal democracy".[59][60]
Personal life
Swayne married Moira Cecily Teek in 1987. They have one son and two daughters.[5][9] He is a Christian and a member of Christians in Parliament.[61]
John Charles Baron is a British Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon and Billericay, previously Billericay, from 2001 to 2024. He has frequently rebelled against his party, specifically in his calling for a referendum on the European Union (EU) before the 2015 election and in opposing military intervention in Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
Sir Peter James Bottomley is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1975 until 2024, last representing Worthing West. First elected at a by-election in the former constituency of Woolwich West, he served as its MP until its abolition at the 1983 general election, and then for the Eltham constituency which replaced it, until 1997. He moved to his last constituency at the 1997 general election, winning seven times before losing to Labour's Beccy Cooper in the 2024 general election.
Graham Stuart Brady, Baron Brady of Altrincham,, is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Altrincham and Sale West from 1997 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the chairman of the 1922 Committee from 2010 to 2024, except for a brief period during the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.
Sir Geoffrey Robert Clifton-Brown is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Cotswolds, formerly Cirencester and Tewkesbury, since 1992.
Sir Michael Louis David Fabricant is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lichfield in Staffordshire, formerly Mid Staffordshire, from 1992 until his defeat in 2024.
Mark Gino Francois is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford since 2001. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Shadow Minister for Defence since 2024.
Sir Roger James Gale is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Herne Bay and Sandwich, previously North Thanet, since 1983. He had a career in journalism and broadcasting from 1964, around the same time as he joined the Conservative Party, until 1983.
Sir Bernard Christison Jenkin is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harwich and North Essex, previously Colchester North, since 1992. He also served as chair of the Liaison Committee.
Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh is a British Conservative Party politician who has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gainsborough, previously Gainsborough and Horncastle, since 1983. As the longest serving MP in Parliament, since 2024 Leigh is the incumbent Father of the House.
Sir John Henry Hayes is a British Conservative Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South Holland and The Deepings since 1997. He has held five ministerial positions and six shadow ministerial positions. Hayes was appointed as a Privy Councillor in April 2013 and a Knight Bachelor in November 2018.
Sir Oliver Heald, is a British barrister and Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Hertfordshire, formerly North Hertfordshire, from 1992 to 2024.
Sir Robert Andrew Raymond Syms is a Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Poole from 1997 to 2024. He received a knighthood in 2017.
Adam Mensah Osei Afriyie is a British politician who served as the member of parliament (MP) for Windsor from 2005 to 2024. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
Sir Charles Ashley Rupert Walker is a British politician who served as chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee from 2012 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxbourne in Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2024.
Colonel Robert Alexander Stewart is a British politician and former soldier. He was the member of Parliament (MP) for Beckenham from 2010 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he also is a former British Army officer and United Nations commander in Bosnia, commentator, author and public speaker.
Dame Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin, is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for West Worcestershire since 2010 and Shadow Minister for Development since July 2024. She was Minister of State for Africa and International Development between January 2018 and July 2019. In 2022, Baldwin was elected Chair of the Treasury Select Committee.
Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax is a British Conservative Party politician, landowner, journalist, and former Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dorset between 2010 and 2024.
Nigel Paul Huddleston is a British politician who has served as co-chairman of the Conservative Party since November 2024, serving alongside The Lord Johnson of Lainston. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Droitwich and Evesham, previously Mid Worcestershire, since 2015 and was Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury from July to November 2024. He served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from November 2023 to July 2024. He previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2020 to 2022 and as Minister of State for International Trade from February to November 2023.
Simon James Hoare is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Dorset since 2015. He was formerly Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government from November 2023 until July 2024.
William Peter Wragg, is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester from 2015 to 2024. As a member of the Conservative Party, he previously served as a vice-chairman of its 1922 Committee. From April 2024 until parliament was dissolved in May 2024, he sat as an independent.
↑ Swayne, Sir Desmond (13 October 2020), "Business of the House – Hansard", Hansard, volume 682; column 513, retrieved 17 October 2020, Can we have a debate on censorship? Then we would be able to discuss the sinister disappearance of the link from Google to the Great Barrington declaration, couldn't we?
↑ Rees-Mogg, Jacob (13 October 2020), "Business of the House – Hansard", Hansard, volume 682; column 513, retrieved 17 October 2020, My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the question of censorship. The Government are sceptical about the Barrington declaration, but that does not mean that people should not be free to discuss it, and it is a worrying trend for large internet operators to think that they should be the arbiters of free speech. It is not for them to arbitrate over free speech. It is perhaps even more troubling that they are sometimes slow to take down material that could damage children, but they are not so slow to take down things that they do not agree with politically, and that raises important questions.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
