Sir Christopher Robert Chope was born on 19 May 1947 and is a British barrister and politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Christchurch in Dorset since 1997.
43 Facts About Christopher Chope
2.
Christopher Chope returned to Parliament in 1997 and has remained an MP ever since.
3.
Christopher Chope was born in Putney, the son of Pamela and Robert Charles Chope, a circuit judge and former judge of county courts.
4.
Christopher Chope was educated at the St Andrew's Preparatory School in Eastbourne and Marlborough College, before attending Queen's College at the University of St Andrews where he was awarded an LLB degree in 1970.
5.
Christopher Chope was a contemporary of Michael Fallon and Michael Forsyth, and was influenced by Madsen Pirie.
6.
Christopher Chope finished his education at the Inns of Court School of Law.
7.
Christopher Chope was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1972.
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Christopher Chope was elected as a councillor on the Wandsworth London Borough Council in 1974 and became the council leader in 1979; he left the council on his first election to Parliament in 1983.
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Christopher Chope was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1982 New Year Honours for services to local government.
10.
Christopher Chope was elected as an MP at the 1983 general election for Southampton Itchen where he defeated the Social Democratic Party MP Bob Mitchell by 5,290 votes and became the first Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen since the constituency was created in 1950.
11.
Christopher Chope was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Peter Brooke, the Minister of State at the Treasury in 1986, before being promoted by Margaret Thatcher to serve in her government as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment later in the same year, where he was responsible for steering through the Council Tax legislation, the replacement for the disastrous and derided Poll tax, which was withdrawn after a massive popular revolt.
12.
Christopher Chope was moved under the leadership of John Major to serve in the same rank at the Department of Transport from 1990 until he lost his Southampton Itchen seat to John Denham at the 1992 general election.
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Christopher Chope returned to the frontbench after the 2001 election as a spokesman on the Treasury.
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Christopher Chope was chairman of the Thatcherite Conservative Way Forward group and used to be a barrister in the Chambers of Peter Rawlinson.
15.
On 11 October 2011, Christopher Chope questioned the time allotted to a debate on MPs' pensions.
16.
Christopher Chope was criticised following remarks made on 17 January 2013 when he referred to House of Commons dining room staff as "servants" in a speech.
17.
Christopher Chope was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for political and public service.
18.
On 10 February 2009, Christopher Chope co-sponsored an Employment Opportunities Bill to the House of Commons, which would have enabled workers to opt out of the minimum wage.
19.
Christopher Chope is sceptical of climate change and attended a meeting of climate change sceptics in the Palace of Westminster in October 2010.
20.
Christopher Chope helped to lead backbench support for the motion calling for a referendum to leave the European Union.
21.
Christopher Chope has been heavily involved in the use of private member's bills to achieve this aim.
22.
Christopher Chope has consistently supported Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.
23.
Christopher Chope has supported Leave Means Leave, a Eurosceptic pressure group.
24.
Christopher Chope voted against the legislation for same-sex marriage in 2013.
25.
In 2014, Christopher Chope voted against requiring all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.
26.
In 1990, while a Southampton MP, Christopher Chope voted for the reintroduction of the death penalty for murder under certain circumstances.
27.
Christopher Chope's bills included legislation to privatise the BBC and Channel 4, limit the interest rate chargeable on student loan debt, reduce stamp duty, and decriminalise TV licence-dodging.
28.
Christopher Chope maintained Rishi Sunak would be unable to unite the Conservative Party as Prime Minister, and urged him to call a general election.
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Christopher Chope is a member of a group of backbench Conservative MPs who regularly object to private members bills which, in their view, have not received sufficient scrutiny.
30.
In December 2013, Christopher Chope objected to the second reading of the Alan Turing Bill in the House of Commons.
31.
In November 2014, Christopher Chope blocked a bill that would have banned the use of wild animals in circus performances, on the basis that a bill on EU membership should have been called before the bill.
32.
Christopher Chope was reported as having been a private landlord himself, but he denied these claims.
33.
On 15 June 2018, Christopher Chope blocked the passage of a private member's bill that would have made upskirting a specific offence.
34.
Christopher Chope said that his reason for blocking the passage was in objection to parliamentary procedure rather than to the bill itself: he stated that he would "wholeheartedly" support a government bill that outlawed upskirting.
35.
Christopher Chope's actions drew immediate criticism from fellow MPs, including some in his own party.
36.
Christopher Chope blocked a bill that would have given extra legal protection to police dogs and horses.
37.
On 16 July 2018, Christopher Chope blocked a motion calling for the House of Commons chamber to be used for a Women MPs of the World Conference on a day in November when MPs were not sitting.
38.
Alongside Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne, Christopher Chope tabled an amendment to the motion which would require the conference to invite only parliamentarians and hold a debate while using the chamber.
39.
On 23 November 2018, Christopher Chope objected to a bill that would have amended the Children Act 1989 in order to increase the protective power of courts over girls at risk of female genital mutilation.
40.
Lord Berkeley of Knighton, who had introduced the bill to the House of Lords, called for Christopher Chope to be deselected.
41.
On 15 November 2021, it was reported that Christopher Chope had objected to a motion from the Select Committee on Standards that would have passed the report regarding the lobbying rules breached by Owen Paterson.
42.
Christopher Chope's actions led to newspaper comments from MPs, describing both him and his action in unflattering terms.
43.
On 20 April 1987, Christopher Chope married Christine Mary, daughter of Robert Hutchinson, of Wimborne, in Wimborne Minster.