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Jack Lopresti

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Jack Lopresti
Official portrait, 2017
Member of Parliament
for Filton and Bradley Stoke
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byClaire Hazelgrove
Personal details
Born
Giacomo Lopresti

(1969-08-23) 23 August 1969 (age 55)
Southmead, Bristol, England
Political partyConservative
Spouses
  • Lucy Cope
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1993; div. 2016)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 2017, divorced)​
Children4
Websitejacklopresti.com
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/serviceArmy Reserve
Years of service2007–present
RankCorporal

Giacomo "Jack" Lopresti[1] (born 23 August 1969)[2] is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Filton and Bradley Stoke from the 2010 general election until 2024. Lopresti was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party in February 2023.

Early life and career

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Lopresti was born on 23 August 1969 in Southmead in Bristol. After leaving school, Lopresti worked in his father's ice cream business for over ten years. A former estate agent and mortgage broker,[3] he worked for the Conservative Party as a Regional Development Officer and in the Conservative Party Treasurer's Department.

Lopresti served in the Territorial Army as a gunner with 266 Commando Battery, Royal Artillery from 2007. He served, as a mobilised reservist, with 29 Commando RA for a year and was deployed in Helmand Province, in Afghanistan, on Operation Herrick 9 for five months over Christmas and New Year 2008/9. While in Afghanistan, Lopresti ran the Camp Bastion Half Marathon, for Help for Heroes, on New Years Day 2009.[4][5] From 2011 to 2013, Lopresti served as a trooper in the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, an army reserve cavalry unit.

Political career

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Lopresti unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate in the Bedminster ward of Bristol City Council in 1995. He was again unsuccessful when he stood in Hartcliffe ward in 1997 and Redland ward in 1998, but was subsequently elected in the Stockwood Ward in 1999. He worked as councillor in that ward until May 2007, when he stood down and a new Conservative candidate won the seat.[6]

He stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative Party candidate for the Bristol East constituency in 2001, and for the South West at the European Parliament elections in 2004. Although the Conservative Party did win three seats in the region, Lopresti was the sixth candidate for the seven seats that were available.

Lopresti was a member of the Conservative Party's A-List in 2006.[7][8] At the 2010 general election, he was first elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Filton and Bradley Stoke, a constituency newly created after boundary changes.[9]

In 2011, he was a member of the special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill that became the Armed Forces Act 2011.[10] He also served on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee[11]

Lopresti is a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel group,[12] and has attended delegations of that group[13] including during the Operation Defensive Shield conflict when he visited in 2014 for an Israeli military briefing on the Iron Dome air defence system.[14]

At the 2015 general election, he retained his seat with an increased majority of almost 10,000 votes.[15]

Lopresti supported Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.[16]

In July 2016, Lopresti was criticised for sponsoring and hosting a parliamentary event at which Bahrain's relationship with the UK was to be celebrated, after the MP had received several thousand pounds' worth of funding for foreign trips to the country. Opposition MPs objected to him taking gifts from a country whose human rights record had been criticised. Lopresti had faced further questions over one of the trips to Bahrain, which was paid for by the state's foreign affairs ministry, when it was reported he had attended it with fellow MP Andrea Jenkyns a month after their affair had been revealed. Neither of them were members of The Conservative Middle East Council (who had organised the trip from the UK side). Lopresti responded that the trip centred around the Bahraini Airshow, which was relevant to his defence brief, while he argued more generally that Bahrain is one of the country's key strategic allies in the Gulf and that the Bahrainis were in the process of building the UK's first naval base east of Suez since the 1970s.[17][18]

Lopresti was subject to a failed attempt before the 2017 general election by some members of his local party to deselect him as the Conservative Candidate for Filton and Bradley Stoke. This followed reports in the press that he had been having an extramarital affair with a fellow MP.[19] There was, he said, a "vicious smear campaign" in the constituency and an "attempt to destroy my character and reputation" after revelations about his private life.[20] Lopresti said he had made a complaint to the police over a letter urging Lopresti's deselection, which had been circulated by a "former very bitter party member and possibly a disgruntled employee", and appeared to have broken data protection laws. He was re-selected.[21]

At the 2017 UK general election, he retained his seat, but with a decreased majority.

In Parliament, Lopresti has served on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Armed Forces Bill Committee and Defence Committee.[22]

In December 2017, BBC News Online reported that Lopresti was facing an investigation after his ex-office manager made a formal complaint about his behaviour, following her resignation. A senior Conservative councillor in Bristol subsequently claimed there was "ample grounds" to believe the bullying allegations surrounding the MP due to his "character flaws" and past behaviour. However, two former staff members said they had had a good relationship with Lopresti, and that he was a good employer.[23][24] Subsequent to this, the BBC reported on 11 July 2019 that the ex-office manager, Jo Kinsey, felt she had been 'vindicated' following her complaint, having received a letter of apology from Lopresti following an internal Conservative party investigation. Lopresti said he categorically rejected the allegations, and had concerns about the inquiry process.[25]

In the December 2019 general election, Lopresti retained his seat once again, with a slightly greater majority than in 2017.

On 8 April 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, Lopresti sent a letter to cabinet minister Robert Jenrick asking him to reopen churches for Easter.[26][27]

Jack was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, serving alongside Nickie Aiken, Lee Anderson, Luke Hall and Matthew Vickers since 2023.

Lopresti lost his seat in parliament in the general election of 4 July 2024, gaining 12,905 votes compared to Labour's Claire Hazelgrove with 22,905.

Personal life

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Lopresti, who is of Sicilian ancestry, is divorced from his former wife Lucy, the daughter of Lord Cope of Berkeley; the couple had three children.[28]

Following his divorce from Lucy Cope, Lopresti married Andrea Jenkyns MP in St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster on 22 December 2017 and they have a son named Clifford George, born on 29 March 2017.[29] However, according to a tweet by Jenkyns on 16 April 2024, the couple are divorced, “To those lefty trolls trying to deflect from Rayner by saying Jack and I are doing something dodgy with accommodation. This is complete rubbish, and there is nothing to see here, I am divorced!” [30] It is unclear when their divorce was finalised.

Lopresti was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2013. He has received treatment at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.[31]

References

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  1. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8745.
  2. ^ "Lopresti, Jack, (born 23 Aug. 1969), MP (C) Filton and Bradley Stoke, since 2010". Who's Who. 2010. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.251250.
  3. ^ "Filton and Bradley Stoke". UK Polling Report. Retrieved 1 November 2017.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Jack Lopresti, Biography". politics.co.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Biography". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2010.[dead link]
  6. ^ "Bristol Council Election Results 1995-2011" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  7. ^ Woolf, Marie (27 May 2006). "Cameron woos 'political virgins'". The Independent. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  8. ^ "ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Where are the original A-Listers now? The 18 who have been selected for Conservative seats". conservativehome.blogs.com.
  9. ^ "Election 2010: Filton and Bradley Stoke result". politics.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2010..
  10. ^ "Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill". parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Jack Lopresti". Parliament UK. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  12. ^ "CFI delegation attends UK Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group launch in Knesset". Conservative Friends of Israel. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Recent Delegations".
  14. ^ Rowena Mason (30 July 2014). "Tory MPs' visit to Israel condemned as bad timing". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  15. ^ "FILTON & BRADLEY STOKE". UK Polling Report. Retrieved 10 May 2015.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC News. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  17. ^ "MP Criticised For Hosting Celebration Of Bahrain In Parliament After Taking Funding From The Kingdom". Buzz Feed. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  18. ^ "Atticus: Pub is Bloom's tonic after university bar". The Times. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  19. ^ "Bristol MP Jack Lopresti having affair with Tory colleague, Conservative party confirms". ITV News. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  20. ^ "Tory MP Jack Lopresti blames 'smear campaign' for deselection call". BBC News. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  21. ^ Ashcroft, Esme (28 April 2017). "Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti contacts police over 'racist smear campaign' to oust him". Bradford Post. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  22. ^ "Jack Lopresti MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  23. ^ "'Ample grounds' to believe MP Jack Lopresti bullying claims says Bristol Tory". Bristol Post. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  24. ^ "Conservative MP Jack Lopresti faces investigation over behaviour". BBC News. 1 December 2017.
  25. ^ "MP Jack Loresti's ex-employee 'vindicated' by apology". BBC News. 11 July 2019.
  26. ^ Grimshaw, Emma (8 April 2020). "'Have a word with yourself' - Backlash as Filton and Bradley Stoke MP calls for churches to open for Easter". Bristol Live. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  27. ^ Swerling, Gabriella (9 April 2020). "If off-licences and takeawayys are open, churches should be, Tory MP claims". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  28. ^ "Bristol MP Jack Lopresti having affair with Tory colleague, Conservative party confirms". ITV News. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  29. ^ "Brexit baby brings the Commons together in laughter". ITV News. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  30. ^ https://x.com/andreajenkyns/status/1780147952616411601?s=46&t=cprYLjIgqiP6jrhqxteXBw. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  31. ^ "Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti has cancer". 6 June 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
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