Julian Knight was first elected as the Conservative MP for Solihull in 2015, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 21,273.
The constituency of Solihull is found in the West Midlands to the east of Birmingham. Containing the towns of Solihull, Shirley and Olton, this is one of the most affluent areas of the West Midlands. Reportedly the constituency in the UK which is furthest from the coast, a fifth of the population are said to be retired. Home to a number of Birmingham commuters, and close to Birmingham airport, this seat also contains the Jaguar Land Rover factory. Unemployment in this constituency is low.
Solihull had been held by the Conservatives solidly between 1945 and 2005, before the Liberal Democrats won it in in both 2005 and 2010 with majorities of just a couple of hundred votes each time. However that short Liberal interlude appears over for now, with the Conservatives gaining the seat with five figure majorities in the last three elections, and the Lib Dems falling back into third place.
In December 2022, Mr Knight lost the Conservative whip after a complaint was made to the Metropolitan Police. Mr Knight also announced that he would be recusing himself from Parliament until a complaint made about him with the police had been resolved. In March 2023, the Met Police announced that they were dropping their investigation, but Julian Knight did not have the Conservative whip restored. Mr Knight claimed he was the victim of a ‘witch hunt’ by the whips.
Mr Knight has served as Chair of the Commons culture committee.
Born on a council estate in 1972, Julian Knight was educated at Hull University. Before being elected to Parliament, Knight was a journalist. He previously worked as campaigning consumer journalist for BBC News, and then as the Money and Property Editor for the Independent newspaper.
Knight is a campaigner for animal welfare, He was active in calling for CCTV to be introduced into slaughterhouses.
He supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum. Despite having worked for the BBC, he is opposed to the BBC licence fee. He has though been very critical of the government’s current plans to privatise Channel 4.
He has previously written a number of books ‘for dummies’ including, ‘Cricket for dummies’, ‘Wills, probate and inheritance tax for dummies’, and of course, ‘Politics for dummies’.
Julian Knight is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Alternative Lending; Cricket; Financial Education for Young People.
He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Fair Business Banking; Golf; Infant Feeding and inequalities; Motor; the Night Time Economy; Pension Clawback; and Snooker.
Email: julian.knight.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.julianknight.org.uk/
Twitter: twitter.com/julianknight15
