Anthony Mangnall | |
|---|---|
 Mangnall in 2020 | |
| Member of Parliament forTotnes | |
| In office 12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Sarah Wollaston |
| Succeeded by | Caroline Voaden (South Devon[a]) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1989-08-12)12 August 1989 (age 36) London, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | University of Exeter |
Anthony James Holland Mangnall (born 12 August 1989), is a BritishConservative Party politician,[1] who served as theMember of Parliament (MP) forTotnes from2019[2] to 2024. After minor boundary changes, Mangnall stood again for the seat, now named South Devon, in 2024, and become the first Conservative to lose the seat since 1923.
Mangnall worked in London and Singapore as ashipbroker before entering politics as aSpecial Adviser onforeign affairs.[3]
The youngest son of Colonel Nicholas MangnallOBE[4] and Carolanée Sayers, he was brought up inZimbabwe thenNorthern Ireland. After attendingShrewsbury School inShropshire,[5] he read history, politics, and sociology at theUniversity of Exeter, graduating asBA.[6]
Mangnall served anundergraduateinternship as aparliamentary researcher forWilliam Hague,[7] then after graduating he embarked upon a career inshipbroking.
Joining Braemar ACM'sSingapore office in 2012, Mangnall trained as a shipbroker charteringsmall tankers.[8] In 2014 he returned toLondon with Poten & Partners establishing himself in theWest Africasmall tankersmarket, thus gaining experience in evaluating national fuel security levels.
AppointedPrivate Secretary to William Hague in 2016,[6][9] Mangnall then managed Lord Hague's private and public interests including working on the closure of the UK’s domestic trade of ivory. A passionateconservationist, he also helped to establish a Transport Taskforce directed at eradicating the movement of illegally poached goods.[10]
At the2017 general election Mangnall contested the traditionally safeLabourseat ofWarley, where although unsuccessful he did achieve the biggestswing to theTories.[11] Prior to his selection on 20 July 2019 as the ConservativePPC for Totnes,[12] he was working as aSpecial Adviser to thenSecretary of State for Wales,Alun Cairns.[10][6] At the 2019 general election Magnall was returned to parliament as Conservative MP for Totnes with a majority of 12,724.[10] He defeated the incumbentDrSarah Wollaston who had defected from the Conservatives in Februarycrossing the floor to sit as aChange UKMP, before standing at the general election as aLiberal Democrat candidate.[13]
After his election to Parliament in 2019 Mangnall was a regular contributor in debates on Bills regardingfishing, farming,international trade, development,foreign policy and defence. He briefly served as a Member of theRegulatory Reform Committee between March 2020 and May 2021, then theProcedures Committee between March 2020 to July 2020, before joining theInternational Trade Select Committee in November 2020.[14][15] The Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) merged to form the Department for Business and Trade, Mangnall joined the Business and Trade Committee.[16]
Mangnall voted against the Government in 10 votes out of 889, 1.1% of his votes.[17] He was the first of the2019 Conservative intake to defy theGovernment Whip during theTelecommunications Bill which proposed thatHuawei provide the UK'stelecommunication infrastructure network.[18] The Government then reversed its position after this vote and blockedHuawei from building the UK's 5G network. Mangnall was a vocal opponent of the cut toForeign Aid believing the UK's role ininternational development to be globally leading and in the national interest. Despite failing to win this vote on Foreign Aid, the then-ChancellorRishi SunakMP agreed to return the Foreign Aid budget to 0.7% when the independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s fiscal forecast stated that, on a sustainable basis, the UK is not borrowing to finance day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling.[19]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic Mangnall persistently rebelled on COVID measures and opposed the second and third nationallockdowns. He also advocated against NHS staff being forced to have vaccinations and the mandate extending the wearing of face-coverings to most indoor settings. Mangnall stated in Parliament that"no government should ever use fear as a tool to try and persuade its citizens", and that the UK needs to "build up its resilience and reduce its restrictions."
On the International Trade Committee Mangnall was a vocal contributor about the need for Parliament to have greater scrutiny overUK trade deals. He gained cross-party support in the House of Commons for all new free trade deals to be given significant debating time before a vote. Despite having supported UK's departure from the European Union, Mangnall has claimed to be a strong proponent offree trade and in 2020 he co-authored a paper with right-wing think tankPolicy Exchange on the benefits of UK membership of theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.[20]
In February 2022 Mangnall declared that he had submitted aletter of no confidence in the then-Prime Minister, Boris Johnson MP, to the1922 Committee. He asserted that"standards in public life matter", concluding thatBoris Johnson's behaviour had fallen short of the mark expected by the British public. Mangnall gave oneinterview to theDaily Telegraph journalist Chris Hope outlining his reasons.[21]
Mangnall was Chairman of theAll-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Action on Conflict and Global Britain, Vice-Chairman of the APPG on Photonics and Quantum and of the APPG on Shellfish Aquaculture, and a member of the APPG on Ukraine. He was formerly the Chairman of the APPG for the UK's Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. He also co-chaired theConservative Friends of International Development.[22][23] In 2020 he co-authored a paper for theOne Nation Conservatives exploring how to spend Aid more effectively.[24] Mangnall is also an Ambassador forthe HALO Trust.
In 2020, Mangnall introduced aPrivate Member's Bill to theCommons called the "Recall of MPs (Change of Party Affiliation) Bill" intending to create arecall process should a Member of Parliament voluntarily change party affiliation without mandate from the electorate. The bill did not progress beyond its second reading in the Commons.[25][26]
On 12 May 2023, Mangnall married Harriet, only daughter of Paul Cherry, of Hertfordshire, and Carolinenée Nall-Cain,[27] theHon. David Nall-Cain, and Lady Katherine Palmer, sister of the4th Earl of SelborneGBE DL FRS.[28]
Scion of aCheshiregentry family formerlyseated atChristleton Grange, his father, Colonel Nicholas MangnallOBE,[29] whose maternal grandfather was Colonel Jack HollandDSO MC, ofHolland & Holland "fame", served in theRoyal Green Jackets. His aunt, Carolinenée Mangnall (Lady Bunbury) is married toSir Michael BunburyBt KCVO, having by him two sons and a daughter.[30]Richmal Mangnall was a collateral ancestor andErnest Mangnall (the only person to have been manager of both Manchester United and Manchester City association football teams) a kinsman.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forTotnes 2019–2024 | Succeeded by Caroline Voaden[1] |