Chris Matheson (politician)

Christian John Patrick Matheson (born 2 January 1968) is a former Labour Party politician. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of City of Chester from winning the seat in the 2015 general election[2] until his resignation in October 2022 following sexual misconduct allegations.[3] Matheson has been described as having "slightly left-of-centre views".[4]

Chris Matheson
Official portrait, 2019
Shadow Minister for Media
In office
9 April 2020 – 4 December 2021
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byPosition Established
Succeeded byChris Elmore
Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
In office
12 January 2018 – 9 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byHelen Hayes
Member of Parliament
for City of Chester
In office
7 May 2015 – 21 October 2022
Preceded byStephen Mosley
Succeeded bySamantha Dixon
Personal details
Born
Christian John Patrick Matheson

(1968-01-02) 2 January 1968
Warrington, Lancashire, England
Political partyLabour (suspended)[1]
Alma materLondon School of Economics
Websitechrismatheson.mystrikingly.com

Early life

Christian John Patrick Matheson[5] was born on 2 January 1968[6] in Warrington, Lancashire.[7] He grew up in rural Cheshire, attended Manchester Grammar School and went on to gain a degree in economics and politics from the London School of Economics.[8][9][10]

Political career

Parliamentary career

Matheson was selected as the Labour Party parliamentary candidate for the City of Chester in June 2013.[11] After 7 May 2015, he gained the seat from Conservative Stephen Mosley with a majority of 93 votes, having the third smallest majority of a parliamentary constituency in the UK after the 2015 general election.[12] In July 2015, he became a member of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.[8]

In the 2015 Labour Party leadership election, Matheson nominated Andy Burnham to be leader of the Labour Party.[13]

On 27 June 2016, Matheson resigned from his role as Justice Parliamentary Private Secretary, joining many members of Jeremy Corbyn's shadow team who resigned following the result of the EU referendum result.[14] He went on to nominate Owen Smith for the leadership in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.[15][16] He rejoined the shadow cabinet team following the result and joined the shadow cabinet housing team as Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Healey.[17]

At the 2017 election, Matheson increased his majority from 93 to 9,176, turning Chester from a super-marginal seat into a safe seat.[18] In the 2019 election, Matheson held onto his seat for a second successive election, by a majority of 6,164.[19]

Resignation from Parliament

On 21 October 2022, The Independent Expert Panel recommended that Matheson be suspended from the House of Commons for four weeks over allegations of "serious sexual misconduct" towards a junior member of staff.[20][21][22] He would have faced a recall from Parliament under the Recall of MPs Act 2015, but he announced his resignation shortly after news of the findings were made public.[23][24][3] Matheson continued to deny any sexual misconduct but said he felt obliged to resign for health and family reasons.[25] Following the findings, the Labour Party suspended his membership and withdrew the parliamentary whip.[26]

His resignation was effected later that day following his appointment to the Chiltern Hundreds.[27] He was succeeded by Labour candidate Samantha Dixon at the December 2022 by-election.[28]

Political views

Matheson was a vocal supporter of the People's Vote campaign in 2019.[29] Writing in The Guardian in January 2019, Matheson called Brexit a "hard rightwing coup". Warning of Brexit extremist plans "to tie the UK to Trump's US", Matheson called for the defence of the "values of fairness, decency and internationalism".[30] Despite his stated views regarding Brexit, Matheson voted in Parliament to empower the Prime Minister to trigger Article 50 by giving notification of the United Kingdom's intention to leave the European Union.[31]

Personal life

Matheson was brought up in rural Cheshire and lives in Hoole with his family. He is married to Katherine and they have two children, both at school in Chester.[10] Matheson is an avid football fan, supporting both his local Chester F.C. and Everton F.C.[32]

References
  1. Bloom, Dan (21 October 2022). "MP Christian Matheson quits over sexual misconduct triggering by-election". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  2. "City of Chester Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  3. "Labour MP resigns after facing Commons suspension for 'serious sexual misconduct'". The Independent. London. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  4. Holmes, David (20 May 2015). "Chester Labour MP Chris Matheson back from his first week at Parliament". CheshireLive.
  5. "Three Hundreds of Chiltern". GOV.UK. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  6. Watson, Chris; Fawcett, Mark (13 March 2018). "Members of the House of Commons since 1979" (PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom. p. 161. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  7. Carr, Tim; Dale, Iain; Waller, Robert, eds. (2015). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015: Profiles of the New MPs and Analysis of the 2015 General Election Results. London: Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1849549233.
  8. "Christian Matheson MP". Parliament of the United Kingdom.
  9. "About". Chris Matheson MP.
  10. "Labour chooses candidate to fight General Election in Chester". Chester Chronicle. 8 June 2013.
  11. "Labour picks union man to fight City of Chester constituency in 2015". Chester Chronicle. 12 June 2013.
  12. "Members of Parliament 2015 - 2020 in order of majority". politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  13. "Who nominated who for the 2015 Labour leadership election?". New Statesman. London. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  14. Holmes, David (18 April 2017). "Chester Labour MP Chris Matheson says: 'I will win'". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  15. Pope, Conor (21 July 2016). "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  16. "Chester MP Chris Matheson resigns from Shadow Cabinet role following mass resignations within Labour party - Dee 106.3". 27 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  17. Apps, Peter (19 October 2016). "Labour reveals full shadow housing team". Inside Housing. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  18. Holmes, David (9 June 2017). "Chester MP Chris Matheson celebrates big majority". Chester Chronicle.
  19. "Chester, City of parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News.
  20. The Independent Expert Panel. "The Conduct of Mr Christian Matheson MP" (PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom.
  21. "Labour MP Christian Matheson suspended for 'serious sexual misconduct'". Sky News. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  22. "Labour MP Christian Matheson resigns over sexual misconduct". BBC News. 21 October 2022.
  23. "Independent Expert Panel recommends suspending Christian Matheson MP for "serious sexual misconduct"". Parliament of the United Kingdom.
  24. "Labour MP Christian Matheson stands down over sexual misconduct". BBC News. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  25. "Labour MP Christian Matheson resigns over sexual misconduct". BBC News. 21 October 2022.
  26. Bloom, Dan (21 October 2022). "MP Christian Matheson quits over sexual misconduct triggering by-election". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  27. "Three Hundreds of Chiltern". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  28. "Labour easily holds City of Chester seat in first byelection test for Sunak". the Guardian. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  29. Holmes, Dave (8 January 2019). "Chester MP Chris Matheson: Why I support a second vote on EU membership". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  30. Matheson, Chris (7 January 2019). "There is no leftwing justification for Brexit. We must fight it to the last". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  31. "European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  32. Rousseau, Dominique (7 February 2017). "Chris Matheson: 'They are passing around responsibility like a hot a potato.'". Les Coulisses du Foot Business. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
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