34 Facts About Andrew Rosindell

Andrew Richard Rosindell MP is a British Conservative politician.

Andrew Rosindell became the Member of Parliament for the Romford constituency in Greater London in 2001.

Andrew Rosindell was born in Romford, Greater London, as the son of a school dinner lady.

Andrew Rosindell joined the Conservative Party at the age of 14.

Andrew Rosindell was chairman of the Young Conservatives from 1993 to 1994, chairman of the International Young Democrat Union from 1998 to 2002, and from 1997 to 2001, he was director of the European Foundation think tank.

Former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited the constituency during the campaign, in which Andrew Rosindell canvassed with his Staffordshire Bull Terrier Spike, who wore a union flag waistcoat.

Andrew Rosindell was appointed by Michael Howard to be vice-chairman for Campaigning of the Conservative Party in 2004, and in December 2005 he became an Opposition Whip.

In 2010, the BBC reported that Andrew Rosindell had breached Parliamentary rules by accepting subsidised overseas trips to Gibraltar and subsequently raising multiple Gibraltar-related issues in Parliament without disclosing the trips in the Register of Members' Interests.

Andrew Rosindell maintained that he was promoting the hosts, a Romford-based business, as was his duty as the constituency MP.

In June 2012, Andrew Rosindell was criticised for expressing "huge admiration" for former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet.

Andrew Rosindell made the comments whilst defending a local colleague who had been criticised for apparently endorsing Pinochet, and stated that Pinochet had overthrown a "far worse" communist regime and that "we should be grateful" for the assistance Pinochet's Chile provided to the British forces retaking the Falkland Islands.

In February 2015, Andrew Rosindell cast doubt on the ability of Rachel Reeves to handle that ministerial responsibility in a putative post-election Labour cabinet, as she would be taking maternity leave soon after the election and would then have a young child to care for following her return to the post in September.

Andrew Rosindell was criticised for the remarks by Labour MPs, whilst Conservative leader and Prime Minister David Cameron described his comments as "outrageous".

Since the start of 2016, Andrew Rosindell has been a member of the Advisory Board of the UK-based 'Polar Regions' think-tank Polar Research and Policy Initiative.

In 2017, Andrew Rosindell co-sponsored a Bill with Lord Empey to use Libyan funds frozen under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, to compensate victims of IRA terrorism supported by the Gaddafi regime.

On 4 July 2018, Andrew Rosindell announced his bid to become the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London.

In January 2019, The Times discovered that Andrew Rosindell's Facebook account was a member of a group supporting far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Andrew Rosindell said that he had been added to the group without his knowledge; however, according to The Times, it would be necessary for a Facebook user to confirm acceptance before being added to a group.

On 21 October 2020, Andrew Rosindell was removed as trade envoy to Tanzania, a position to which he had been appointed to by Theresa May in 2018, because of his highly critical views against Boris Johnson's three-tier lockdown plan to tackle the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK.

In November 2021, during an interview on the BBC's Newsnight, Andrew Rosindell said he was cautious about the idea of MPs being banned from having second jobs.

Andrew Rosindell's political views are socially conservative and Thatcherite: he is a Eurosceptic, who supports the re-introduction of the death penalty and the detention of asylum seekers.

Andrew Rosindell is a member of right-wing groups The Freedom Association and a supporter of the Blue Collar Conservatives.

Andrew Rosindell was a member of the Monday Club, a Conservative-aligned organisation on the right of the party, until he was compelled to resign in 2001 by the party's then-leader Iain Duncan Smith.

Andrew Rosindell reiterated calls for preferential treatment of "Her Majesty's subjects" visiting Britain in 2015, whilst calling for the immigration system to favour Commonwealth citizens, as opposed to those from the EU.

Andrew Rosindell has spoken in favour of a federal UK and in 2014 proposed a bill calling for a separate English Parliament, whilst declaring himself opposed to the idea of imposing English votes for English laws restrictions on the Westminster Parliament.

In September 2015, Andrew Rosindell presented a Ten Minute Rule Bill to Parliament entitled the United Kingdom Borders Bill.

In July 2010, Andrew Rosindell was appointed by the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Sayeeda Warsi, onto the board of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Since 2015, Andrew Rosindell has served on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

Andrew Rosindell proposed in 2012 that Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories should be represented in the UK parliament, like dependencies of Australia, Denmark, France and the Netherlands have been.

In 2012, Andrew Rosindell became chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Zoos and Aquariums Group.

Andrew Rosindell joined Philip Davies and Christopher Chope in repeatedly blocking a backbench bill banning the use of wild animals in circuses from progressing through Parliament, finally blocking it by lodging an objection in March 2015.

Andrew Rosindell is well known for his interest in flags, being described by The Times in 2011 as a "flag fanatic".

Andrew Rosindell is a member of the Flag Institute, an educational organisation that offers advice and guidance about flags and their usage.

On 5 February 2008, Andrew Rosindell became founding chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Flag Group, and proposed a Union Flag Bill under the Ten Minute Rule.