38 Facts About Michael Fabricant

Michael Fabricant was born in Rottingdean, Brighton on 12 June 1950, into a Jewish family, to Helena and Rabbi Isaac Michael Fabricant, rabbi of the Brighton and Hove Synagogue.

Michael Fabricant studied economics at Loughborough University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree.

Michael Fabricant went on to study at the University of Sussex, where he was awarded a master's degree in operations research in 1974, and undertook doctoral research at the University of Oxford, University of London, and the University of Southern California in economics and econometrics.

Michael Fabricant was joint managing director of an international broadcasting electronics and Investment group in 1979, remaining there until 1991.

Michael Fabricant unsuccessfully contested the safe Labour stronghold of South Shields at the 1987 general election, coming in 13,851 votes behind victor David Clark.

Michael Fabricant was appointed the chairman of the Brighton Pavilion Conservative Association in 1990 and remained chairman until his election to the House of Commons.

Michael Fabricant was first elected at the 1992 general election for Mid Staffordshire, regaining the seat for the Conservatives following Sylvia Heal's gaining the seat for Labour at the 1990 by-election.

Michael Fabricant took the seat with a majority of 6,236 and has remained an MP since.

Michael Fabricant made his maiden speech on 2 July 1992.

The Mid Staffordshire seat was abolished at the 1997 general election, but Michael Fabricant contested and won the Lichfield constituency, which was the main seat to replace it, by just 238 votes.

Michael Fabricant has remained the Lichfield MP since, progressively increasing his majority to 4,426 in 2001,7,080 in 2005,17,683 in 2010,18,189 in 2015,18,581 in 2017 and 23,638 in 2019.

In Parliament, Michael Fabricant joined the European Legislation Select Committee in 1992, and served on it until the 1997 general election.

Michael Fabricant joined the National Heritage Select Committee in 1993 and was a member of that committee until his appointment as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Michael Jack in 1996.

Michael Fabricant rejoined the Culture, Media and Sport committee following the 2001 general election, and at this time became the chairman of the Information Committee.

Michael Fabricant moved up to the opposition frontbench as a trade and industry spokesman under Michael Howard in 2003.

Michael Fabricant became an opposition whip following the 2005 general election and remained in the position following the appointment of new leader David Cameron.

Michael Fabricant has taken part in a series of adjournment debates on government funding for inland waterways, and has called for heavy goods freight to move off Britain's roads and back onto the restored canal network.

Michael Fabricant was sacked as vice-chairman of the Conservative Party after he tweeted "about time" with regard to Maria Miller's resignation as cabinet minister.

Michael Fabricant opposes HS2 on the grounds of its financial and environmental cost.

Michael Fabricant wrote in The Guardian in November 2017 to rebut claims about him that had appeared on a Westminster dossier making assertions about the behaviour of Conservative MPs.

Michael Fabricant wrote that no one he had contacted, including lobby journalists and a former chief whip with an "elephantine memory", had previously heard the claim made against him of "inappropriate behaviour with a male journalist in a taxi".

Michael Fabricant attracted media attention for having an apartheid-era flag of South Africa on display on the mantelpiece of his parliamentary office.

Michael Fabricant responded that he had several flags on display from countries where his former company had clients in the 1980s.

On 12 April 2022, Michael Fabricant urged Boris Johnson to apologise after he was fined for a breach of Covid rules.

The remark was criticised by official bodies representing teachers and nurses, who said they did no such thing, and Michael Fabricant said he had not intended to cause offence.

Michael Fabricant has frequently caused controversy through his use of social media.

Michael Fabricant subsequently apologised, but Alibhai-Brown thought his apology was "useless".

Michael Fabricant subsequently clarified that he believed that Gaza was a humanitarian issue and that his comment about Warsi's "strong views on Muslim issues" was more general.

Michael Fabricant criticised the constituent for not being clearer in detailing who she was and stated that he thought the post came from a 'Russian troll'.

Michael Fabricant said he had been distracted in a meeting when he sent it and did not spot what the image actually showed.

In May 2021, Michael Fabricant was accused by Hope Not Hate of racism, after he tweeted that pro-Palestinian protesters in London were "primitives" that are "trying to bring to London what they do in the Middle East".

Michael Fabricant subsequently deleted the tweet, stating that "attacks on the British police as shown in the video are disgraceful".

In March 2022, Michael Fabricant commented on social media that a proposed bill outlawing cyberflashing should include an exemption for dating apps.

Michael Fabricant was political adviser to the 1995 BBC drama series The Final Cut and made a cameo appearance in the broadcast.

Michael Fabricant asked: "What I'm not sure about is whether my honourable friend is the celebrity or the first date".

In 2015 Michael Fabricant was diagnosed with skin cancer and prostate cancer, undergoing a prostatectomy as treatment for the latter.

Michael Fabricant spoke of his treatment for prostate cancer in the House of Commons the following year, highlighting the shortage of specialist prostate cancer nurses in the National Health Service.

Michael Fabricant is well known for his shock of blond hair, which some believe to be a wig, although he has never explicitly confirmed or denied this.