Michael Fabricant

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Michael Louis David Fabricant (born June 12, 1950) British politician. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Lichfield.

Michael Fabricant was born in Brighton, the son of a rabbi, and attended the Brighton and Hove Grammar School. He was educated further at Loughborough University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 1973. He went on to study at the University of Sussex, where he received his master's degree in systems and econometrics in 1974. He continued his studies at both the University of Oxford and the University of London, before reaching the University of Southern California, where he received a PhD in economics in 1978.

He was appointed director of the International Broadcasting Electronics and Investment Group in 1979, remaining there until 1991, and had the opportunity to work all over the world, including Moscow, the Netherlands, Uganda, Italy and Iceland. He unuccessfully contested the safe Labour stronghold of South Shields at the 1987 general election, where he came second, some 13,851 votes behind the victor David Clark. He was appointed the chairman of the Brighton Pavilion Conservative Association in 1990, in which capacity he remained until his election to Westminster.

Michael Fabricant was first elected at the 1992 General Election for Mid Staffordshire, when he regained the seat for the Conservatives following Sylvia Heal's victory at a 1990 by-election. He took the seat with a majority of 6,236 and has remained a Member of Parliament since. He made his maiden speech on July 2, 1992 [1]. The Mid Staffordshire seat was abolished at the 1997 General Election, but he contested and won the Lichfield constituency which partially replaced it by just 238 votes, and he has remained the MP there since, increasing his majority first to 4,426 (in 2001) and then to 7,080 (in 2005).

In Parliament, Fabricant joined the European Legislation Select Committee in 1992 on which he served until the 1997 General Election, he also joined the National Heritage Select Committee in 1993 and was a member of that committee until his appointment as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Michael Jack in 1996. Following the Conservative defeat at the 1997 General Election, Fabricant joined the renamed Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee until he joined the Home Affairs Select Committee in 1999. He rejoined the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee following the 2001 General Election as well as becoming the chairman of the Information Committee.

He joined the Opposition frontbench as a trade and industry spokesman under the leadership of Michael Howard in 2003, later in the year he moved to be a spokesman on economic affairs spokesman. He became an Opposition Whip following the 2005 General Election and remained in position following the appointment of David Cameron as the new leader of the Conservative Party.

Fabricant was the 'political adviser' to the BBC series The Final Cut, the last of the House of Cards trilogy starring Ian Richardson the infamous machiavellian Prime Minister, Francis Urquhart. In the 'crossing the floor' speech scene from disgruntled Tom Makepeace (actor Paul Freeman), Fabricant can clearly be seen sitting next to Makepeace in a cameo.

Fabricant is easily recognisable in the Commons with his bright blond wig on top of a well tanned face. The former Cabinet Office Minister Ian McCartney once retorted "provided he doesn't mention my Glaswegian accent, I won't mention his wig." He is fluent in French and German, and also speaks some Dutch and Russian. He is also a regular listener to The Archers.

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by:
Sylvia Heal		 Member of Parliament for Mid Staffordshire
1992–1997		 Succeeded by:
constituency abolished
Preceded by:
new constituency		 Member of Parliament for Lichfield
1997 – present		 Incumbent
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