Charlie Elphicke

Charles Brett Anthony Elphicke (born 14 March 1971) is a former British politician, former solicitor and convicted sex offender.

Elphicke was elected to Lambeth London Borough Council in 1994, representing Gipsy Hill.

His election saw the defeat of the Labour leader of Lambeth Council, Stephen Whaley.

The report also showed that inequality in income had "barely changed" since 1996–1997, though a Treasury spokesman pointed out that the UK continued "to top global investment league tables".

He stood down in 1998 and became Chairman of Dulwich & West Norwood Conservative Association.

He served in that position until he was selected as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for St Albans, in Hertfordshire in 1999.

Before being elected to Parliament, he was a partner at the law firm Reed Smith (20012005) and a tax partner at Hunton & Williams (20062010).

He also had experience working in the pharmaceutical research industry.

At the 2001 general election Elphicke was not elected, with the incumbent Labour candidate holding the seat with a swing from the Conservatives of 0.7% compared to a swing of 1.7% to the Conservatives nationally, the Liberal Democrat vote falling by 3.1%.

He was Deputy Chairman of the Cities of London and Westminster Conservative Association from 2002 to 2006.

In 2007 he wrote a report for the centre-right think tank the Centre for Policy Studies showing that, while income for an average household rose annually by 4.7% from 1997 to 2001, it only rose by 0.35% in 2006, a slowdown which Elphicke attributed to increased National Insurance contributions in 2003.

Elphicke was selected as the Conservative candidate for Dover in June 2007.

Dover was the safest of Labour's seven seats in Kent.

In one investigation, Elphicke looked at Ordnance Survey (OS) expenses for 2007–2010 totalling £8.7 million.

Items included a stay at a luxury hotel which cost over £3,000 and a staff reward scheme which cost £32,100.

OS said that the expenses involved sales staff.

Work planned to start in 2009 was delayed because of flood risks, but the go-ahead was given in 2012 and the £24 million hospital was opened in June 2015.

Elphicke described it as "a defining moment for the community".

As a member of the Conservative Party and later an independent, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dover from 2010 to 2019.

Elphicke read law at the University of Nottingham before working as a solicitor.

He was first elected as Conservative MP for Dover at the 2010 general election and served as a government whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from 2015 to 2016.

At the 2010 general election Elphicke won with a 10.4% swing, the 31st-largest from Labour to Conservative and the seventh-highest figure in the South East excluding the Speaker.

He made his maiden speech in a debate on European affairs on 3 June 2010.

Upon his election, Elphicke served as a member of the Public Administration Select Committee (which scrutinises the civil service) and the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills.

During his time on the Public Administration Committee, it called for ministers to accelerate civil service reform.

In November 2010, Elphicke was named the overall winner at the British Computer Society's MP Web Awards which "recognise MPs who have embraced web technologies, and are using them to engage effectively with their constituents".

He was a finalist both in the usability and engagement categories.

Elphicke welcomed the announcement of the building of the new Buckland Hospital at Dover, as "it would save long journeys to hospitals in other parts of Kent".

In May 2012 Elphicke stood for the post of Secretary of the 1922 Committee.

In October 2012, the Public Accounts Committee reviewed the Charities Act 2006, which no longer assumed that advancement of religion was beneficial per se, but had to serve a public interest.

Following a tribunal ruling on public interest relating to private schools, the Charity Commission had decided that, unlike the druids, the Plymouth Brethren could not show it provided public worship for all as it was "exclusive".

Secondly they deemed that its doctrine of separation, which limits the time members spend with outsiders, may harm rather than benefit family life, though they accepted this was based on possibly outdated criticisms, not evidence.

He was regarded as a "leading light" of the modernising "301 group" of Conservative MPs, named after the number of MPs required to win a majority at the 2015 general election.

His defeat was seen as a blow to David Cameron, though 11 out of the other 12 posts went to new MPs and the election removed most of the "historic trouble makers".

Elphicke was suspended from the Conservatives in November 2017 after he was accused of sexual offences against two members of his staff but had the Conservative whip reinstated prior to a December 2018 confidence vote in Theresa May.

He did not stand for re-election at the 2019 general election and was succeeded by his then wife, Natalie Elphicke.

In July 2019, the whip was withdrawn again after he was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service with three counts of sexual assault against two women.

In July 2020, he was found guilty of all three counts, sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and ordered to pay £35,000 within a year towards the costs of the prosecution.

He served half of his term and was released in September 2021 from an open prison in Gloucestershire.

Born in Huntingdon, Elphicke was educated at the independent Felsted School in Essex and Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies (CCSS) before studying law at the University of Nottingham.