Robert Goodwill was first elected as the Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby in 2005, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 10,270.
The constituency of Scarborough and Witney is found on the north Yorkshire coast and includes the two coastal towns that make up the seat’s name, alongside a number of villages inland from the coast. Incomes in this area are said to be close to the national average, although over a quarter of the local population are without a car. Three fifths of the electorate here supported Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum. Although this is normally a Conservative seat, it is not universally so, and was won by Labour between 1997 and 2005.
Goodwill previously served in the government as Minister of State for Agriculture (2019), Minister of State for Children and Families (2017-2019), Minister of State for Immigration (2016-2017), Minister of State for Transport (2015-2016), and Under Secretary of State for Transport (2013-2015).
Robert Goodwill declared in April 2023 that he would not seek re-election to Westminster at the next election.
In May 2022, Mr Goodwill was elected Chair of the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
In 1999 he was elected to the European Parliament for the Yorkshire and Humber seat, serving in Brussels till 2004.
Robert Goodwill was born in 1956 in the North Riding of Yorkshire and was educated at the Quaker Bootham School in York. He went to the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture in 1979.
Goodwill worked as a farmer on his 250 acre family farm near Malton in North Yorkshire, before being entering politics. He has also served as the Managing Director of a firm which offered environmentally friendly burials.
Goodwill is a particular enthusiast for steam engines. In the past he has been said to have owned two steam traction engines and a steam waggon. He also owned a 1900 De Dion Bouton car.
Goodwill backed Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.
Robert Goodwill sits on the House of Commons Northern Ireland select committee.
Robert Goodwill is the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Game and Wildlife Conservation; and the Bus and Coach Industry. He is the Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Funerals and Bereavement; Gardening and Horticulture; Hajj and Umrah; Science and Technology in Agriculture; and Connected and Automated Mobility.
Email: robert.goodwill.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.robertgoodwill.co.uk
Twitter: @RGoodwill_MP
