John Stevenson has been the Member of Parliament for Carlisle since 2010. He was the first Conservative to be elected as MP in the seat since 1959.
Aside from his duties as a constituency MP, John is the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Food and Drink Manufacturing, Chair of the West Coast Mainline APPG, Chair of the APPG on Family Businesses and a member of the APPG on the Nuclear Industry. He has also been appointed as “Champion” for the Borderlands Growth Deal.
John has a keen interest in business, education and local government reform and was a member of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee and the Committee on Standards. He is a strong supporter of unitary authorities, devolution, and Elected Mayors. This Parliament he is serving on the Constitutional Affairs Committee and is also a member of the Conservative Backbench 1922 Committee.
Within his constituency John has organised events on growth, education, planning, manufacturing, and nuclear power. Each year he organises and hosts a skills fair for students and jobseekers in Carlisle to meet with local employers where more than 70 businesses and 2,000 jobseekers take part.
John was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and Dundee University. After graduating from Dundee, John went to Chester College of Law where he studied English Law and subsequently qualified as a solicitor in 1990. He went on to become a partner in Bendles Solicitors, Carlisle, where he still practices.
In the first year of being elected John cycled from Carlisle to Westminster to raise money for the local Hospice, and he has subsequently cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats for the same cause.
