PRITCHARD
Mark
(Mark
Mallon)

• 1. Parliamentary career

Mark Andrew Pritchard (formerly known as Mark Mallon) is a British Conservative politician and consultant. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for The Wrekin in Shropshire since the 2005 general election.

Parliamentary career

Pritchard unsuccessfully contested the constituency of Warley in the West Midlands for the Conservative Party in the 2001 general election where he was defeated by John Spellar of the Labour party.

Pritchard was first elected to parliament for The Wrekin constituency in 2005, defeating Peter Bradley, the incumbent Labour MP, by just 942 votes although this represented a 5.4% swing from Labour to Conservative. He was one of 130 candidates who received help from 20,000 countryside campaigners from the Countryside Party who "poured into marginal seats all over Britain" in an attempt to unseat anti-hunting Labour MPs. During the campaign pro-hunt supporters "delivered 3.4 million leaflets, addressed 2.1 million envelopes, put up 55,000 posters and provided 170,000 hours of campaigning." Pritchard was also one of 30 Conservative MPs who benefited from large "below the radar" donations paid to candidates from a secret Conservative Party donors' fund set up by Lord Ashcroft, Lord Steinberg and the Midlands Industrial Council.

After retaining his seat at the 2010 general election, he was joint secretary of the 1922 Committee between 2010 and 2012.

Pritchard was at the centre of a political story in 2010 when he had a public confrontation with John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, who had told him to stand aside in a corridor. Pritchard then told him, "You are not fucking royalty, Mr Speaker!"

Pritchard was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron as a member of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy 2010–2015. He was appointed by Foreign Secretary, William Hague to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly 2005–2010. He was a Member of the House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights 2015–2017.

He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme (Army). He has visited Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pritchard was appointed to the post of deputy chairman of the Conservative Party's International Office in 2010 but resigned in January 2012 over policy differences on: "a lack of national and individual aspiration, immigration, and Europe" – what some commentators called "the Holy Trinity of the Conservative right".

He is the vice-chairman of the Conservative Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. He formerly served as 'backbench support' to William Hague and to Dr Liam Fox, the former Defence Secretary, whilst in opposition.

In November 2013, Pritchard was subject to a series of articles in The Daily Telegraph regarding revelations from undercover investigations that he had offered to use his political contacts to set up business deals with foreign officials and ministers in return for being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds. Following the revelations Pritchard referred himself to the Standards Commissioner. Kathryn Hudson, the Standards Commissioner, subsequently announced that she would not investigate Pritchard, because there was "insufficient evidence", although the Daily Telegraph protested that the Commissioner has failed to contact the newspaper for its evidence. Pritchard maintained that he had not broken the Code of Conduct and that his business contacts were unconnected to his parliamentary work.

In December 2014, he was arrested and later bailed over an allegation of rape. On 6 January 2015, the police inquiry was dropped on the basis that there was insufficient evidence for a case to proceed. Pritchard urged a review of the law on anonymity for people accused of rape, saying that it was unfair that he was publicly identified whilst his accuser remained anonymous.

He was appointed by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond as a member of the British delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a 47-nation body – separate to the EU – which upholds human rights, democracy and the rule of law, from 2014 to 2017.

In January 2017, it was reported that an inquiry had been launched into all-party parliamentary groups amid concerns they were being used to bypass lobbying rules. Pritchard was singled out in reports as the parliamentarian who sits on the most APPGs, with membership of 41 separate groups.

In June 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May appointed Pritchard as Leader of the UK delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.

In December 2017, UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, appointed him to be the Leader of the UK's delegation to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Also in 2017, he was appointed as the UK's first Trade Envoy to Georgia and Armenia working with the Department for International Trade.

In the House of Commons he sits on the Panel of Chairs. Pritchard has served on several select committees: Transport, Works & Pensions, Wales, and Environmental Audit. He is chairman or vice-chairman of several all-party parliamentary groups, including the ASEAN region, and Africa. Pritchard is also an executive member of the British Parliamentary Group. In 2015, Pritchard succeeded Michael Connarty MP as the joint-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group.

Although a eurosceptic, Pritchard supported the official position of his party and campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union before the EU membership referendum on 23 June 2016. Since the result was announced, Pritchard has continued to support the party leadership and now advocates leaving the European Union. He has never rebelled against the Government in the current Parliament.

In March 2018, he was one of three MPs accused of using threatening and intimidating behaviour towards parliamentary clerks. An investigation by the BBC claimed Pritchard used foul language in an exchange with a clerk and was known for having a bad temper. He responded that "there was no truth in the claims whatsoever", saying that he never used foul language and had never had a complaint levelled against him.

In June 2018 Pritchard was appointed by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's President as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative to South East Europe. Acting as the OSCE's diplomatic interlocutor to the Western Balkans, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. He retired from the role in June 2020 having been appointed to the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee.

Pritchard previously employed his wife as his Office Manager on a salary up to £45,000. The practice of MPs employing family members has been criticised by some sections of the media on the lines that it promotes nepotism.

He is Director of Mark Pritchard Advisory Ltd, a consultancy, from which he earns an annual income of over £65,000. Additional employment for MPs as consultants has been criticised and his Labour Party opponents have called for the practice to be outlawed, but it is currently legal.

In July 2020 he was appointed to Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee.

In February 2021 he was appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the Privy Council.