Mel Stride was first elected as the Conservative MP for Central Devon in 2010, being reelected with a majority of 17,721 in 2019.
The central Devon constituency to the north west of Exeter straddles four separate district council areas in the centre of Devon, and includes the towns of Teignbridge and Okehampton. The seat is heavily rural. It includes a large part of the Dartmoor National Park and has very high levels of self employment.
Although when the boundaries of this seat were first created in 2010, it was thought it might be a tight Liberal Democrat and Conservative marginal, this seat has been far from marginal in recent years. The Conservative Party have won comfortably here in recent year with majorities ranging from 9,230 to 21,365. UKIP came second in this seat in 2015.
Mel Stride was appointed secretary of state for work and pensions by Rishi Sunak in October 2022. Mr Stride was the campaign manager behind Mr Sunak’s successful October 2022 bid for the conservative leadership.
Stride served as a government whip between 2015 and 2017, and then as Paymaster General between 2017-2019. He was briefly a member of the Cabinet acting as Leader of the House of Commons for two months in 2019. He was sacked by Boris Johnson when he became Prime Minister.
Stride was formerly the Chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee. In the role he was one of the most outspoken critics of former prime minister, Liz Truss’, 2022 mini budget.
Born in 1961, Stride attended Oxford University where he was President of the Oxford Union.
Prior to entering politics, he ran his own business specialising in trade exhibitions, conferences and publishing. According to the Register of Members Interests, he remains a shareholder in the publishing and exhibition firm, Venture Marketing Group Ltd.
Stride supported Remain in the 2016 EU referendum. He backed Michael Gove in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.
Email: mel.stride.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: melstridemp.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mel-Stride/
