69 Facts About David Amess

Sir David Anthony Andrew Amess was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament for Southend West from 1997 until his murder in 2021.

David Amess previously served as MP for Basildon from 1983 to 1997.

David Amess was elected a Conservative councillor for Redbridge in 1982 and MP for Basildon at the 1983 general election.

David Amess's position was seen as a bellwether seat, exemplifying the enthusiasm of the "Essex man" for the government of Margaret Thatcher.

David Amess held the seat in the election of 1992, but moved to the safer seat of Southend West at the 1997 general election and served the constituency as MP until his death.

David Amess was more prominent as a backbencher, serving on many select committees and sponsoring several pieces of legislation, including the Protection against Cruel Tethering Act 1988 and the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000.

David Amess was knighted in the 2015 New Year Honours for political and public service.

On 15 October 2021, David Amess was murdered at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea by Ali Harbi Ali.

David Anthony Andrew Amess was born on 26 March 1952 in Plaistow, Essex.

David Amess said later in life that his political interests stemmed from his time at St Bonaventure's, where he stood for the Revolutionist Party, whose key demands were for minimum pocket money and the abolition of homework; by the time he became an adult, he was a Conservative.

David Amess went on to Bournemouth College of Technology, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics and government.

David Amess taught disabled children at St John the Baptist Primary School in Bethnal Green for a year, and then spent a short time as an underwriter before becoming a recruitment consultant.

David Amess unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate for Newham North West in the 1977 Greater London Council election.

David Amess contested the safe Labour Party seat of Newham North West at the 1979 general election.

In 1982, David Amess was elected as a Conservative councillor to the London Borough of Redbridge's Mayfield ward, with his party forming the majority administration.

David Amess served as vice chairman of the Housing Committee from 1982 until 1985 and stood down for the 1986 local elections.

The incumbent Conservative MP for Basildon, Harvey Proctor, moved to Billericay in the 1983 general election; David Amess was selected to replace him and was elected Member of Parliament for Basildon on 9 June 1983.

David Amess exemplified the new demographic of "Essex man" who supported Margaret Thatcher enthusiastically.

David Amess continued serving as an MP and a local councillor until 1986, when he stood down from Redbridge Borough Council to concentrate on his Westminster seat.

David Amess held his Basildon seat narrowly at the 1987 general election, partly by developing a significant personal following.

David Amess held his seat again at the 1992 general election, which was the first sign that the Conservatives would unexpectedly win that election; the Basildon constituency was viewed as the make-or-break milestone.

In June 1995, David Amess was selected for Southend West after the retirement of former Cabinet minister Paul Channon.

David Amess was consequently returned to Westminster again in the 1997 general election.

David Amess was known for being at the centre of a long-running campaign to make Southend-on-Sea, the main town of his constituency, a city.

David Amess sponsored many bills in Parliament, including the Protection against Cruel Tethering Act 1988, and the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000.

David Amess stated in the House of Commons that the Ten Minute Rule bill was "inspired by the Essex Horse and Pony Protection Society".

David Amess's most publicised legislative success came in 2000 with the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act.

David Amess met with Martyn Williams, a campaigner from Friends of the Earth, who convinced him of the need for the Act following on from the death of a constituent in a cold house.

David Amess served on the Health Select Committee from 1998 until 2007.

David Amess maintained an interest in the issue, tabling a series of Parliamentary Questions in July 2013.

David Amess was a member of the Panel of Chairs, which comprises the chairman and two deputy chairmen of Ways and Means, as well as ten members nominated at the start of each session by the Speaker of the House of Commons.

David Amess was last appointed on 26 May 2010, but had been on the Panel since 2001.

David Amess was elected onto the newly formed Backbench Business Committee in 2010; he stood down in 2015.

David Amess became a member of the Administration Committee in 2015.

David Amess stepped down from the committee following the 2019 general election.

David Amess campaigned for many years to have a statue erected in honour of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary, an endeavour for which Wallenberg eventually lost his life.

David Amess began asking parliamentary questions in the late 1980s regarding Wallenberg, campaigning for him to be awarded honorary British nationality.

David Amess held an adjournment debate in Wallenberg's honour in 1996.

In March 2018, David Amess launched an all-party parliamentary group on endometriosis to raise awareness of the condition and to investigate how those who have endometriosis can get the support that they need.

David Amess chaired the group, with Emma Hardy, Jackie Doyle-Price and Hannah Bardell as vice-chairs.

David Amess became a Fellow of the Industry and Parliament Trust in 1994.

David Amess completed an IPT Post-Graduate Fellowship I in 2012, specialising in the Cultural and Creative Industries at BRIT School, ITN and the Royal Opera House.

David Amess became chairman of the board of trustees in 2014 and stood down at the end of his term in 2017.

David Amess later retracted the statement and apologised "for any upset", saying that his staff had issued the statement without his authorisation.

David Amess compiled a pamphlet titled Party of Opportunity with the Renewal Group, containing thirteen short biographical accounts of Conservative MPs who identify as working class or from a working-class background.

David Amess appeared in the February 1997 "Drugs" episode of the spoof current affairs television programme Brass Eye, and was fooled into filming an elaborate warning against the dangers of a fictional Eastern European drug called "cake".

David Amess later asked a question about "cake" in Parliament, alongside real substances khat and GHB.

In 2001, when Brass Eye was repeated and released on DVD, a disclaimer was added to the "Drugs" episode at David Amess's request reiterating his disapproval of recreational drug use.

David Amess normally adhered to Conservative party policy when voting in the Commons.

David Amess voted for the 2003 invasion of Iraq but was afterwards critical of the Labour government's failure to find the weapons of mass destruction with which they justified the action at the time.

David Amess was one of the few Conservative MPs to support the campaign to impeach Tony Blair.

David Amess was one of 30 Conservatives who voted against military action in Syria in August 2013.

David Amess later commented that he felt the way he and his colleagues voted "made a difference" and if he had previously voted against the war in Iraq "things might be different" there as well.

David Amess was a critic of the government of Iran, and advocated for the National Council of Resistance of Iran; he publicly endorsed Maryam Rajavi's 10-point manifesto.

In June 2005, David Amess supported the Prohibition of Abortion Bill introduced by Laurence Robertson that sought to almost entirely ban abortion.

David Amess consistently voted to ban foxhunting and hare coursing.

David Amess was a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation.

David Amess supported many campaigns, including banning cages for game birds, animal testing, puppy farming and smuggling, and ending the transport of live animals for export.

In September 2011, David Amess accused the BBC of being biased regarding its reporting of events in Israel, which he said was covered in a "highly disproportionate manner", showing the state in a "poor light".

Amess criticised then United States president Barack Obama's intervention in the EU referendum campaign when he met with David Cameron, stating that he had "absolutely no right whatsoever getting involved".

David Amess was knighted in the 2015 New Year Honours for political and public service.

At the Dods Charity Champion Awards 2011, David Amess won the Animal Welfare and Environment Champion award, in which he was recognised formally for his leading role in and commitment to animal welfare, and was presented with the award by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, in the State Rooms of the Speaker's House.

David Amess received the "Outstanding Achievement Award" at the Charity Champion Parliamentary reception hosted by Dods in 2012 in recognition of his lifetime commitment to charitable work.

David Amess was nominated for the Policy Driver for Animal Rights Protection award at the Grassroot Diplomat Awards 2014 for his longstanding dedication to animal rights.

David Amess was a lifelong supporter of Premier League team West Ham United and attended their final game at the Boleyn Ground in May 2016.

David Amess was the president of the Music Man Project, a local charity that provides musical opportunities to people with learning disabilities.

David Amess appeared with the group in performances at the Royal Albert Hall and the London Palladium.

On 15 October 2021, David Amess was fatally stabbed at his constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church Hall in Leigh-on-Sea.

David Amess's murder was later declared a "terrorist incident" by the Metropolitan Police.