Three new doctors elected to parliament

Parliament gained three new doctor members in this month’s election, and all are representing the Conservative party.

Philip Lee, 40, a part time general practitioner in Berkshire, is now MP for Bracknell. He polled 52.4% of the vote, a slight increase on the Tory share of 49.9% of the vote in 2005. Dr Lee studied human biology and biological anthropology at King’s College, London and Keble College, Oxford before going on to study medicine at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, part of Imperial College London. He worked at St Mary’s Hospital in London, Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, and Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury before qualifying as a general practitioner in the Thames Valley region.

Daniel Poulter has been elected to Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. He polled 50.8% of the vote, a 6.2% increase on the Tory majority in 2003. A hospital doctor specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology, he also holds a law degree. Dr Poulter says: “I see every day the many problems that local people face: the consequences of family breakdown; the impact of anti-social behaviour; the difficulties of accessing social care for older people; the results of people losing their jobs; and the damaging effects of cuts to frontline NHS services in Suffolk.”

Sarah Wollaston—a GP based in Dartmoor, Devon—also joins parliament. She has held the Totnes seat for the Tories with 45.9% of the vote, compared with 42.8% in 2005. Until recently she taught junior doctors and medical students and worked as an examiner for the Royal College of General Practitioners. Dr Wollaston has also worked as forensic medical examiner for Devon and Cornwall Police, mostly with victims of physical and sexual assault. Her husband, Adrian, is a consultant forensic psychiatrist.

Three other doctors who were already in parliament have retained their seats: Liam Fox (Conservative, North Somerset); Alasdair McDonell (Social Democratic and Labour Party, South Belfast); and Andrew Murrison (Conservative, South West Wiltshire).

Evan Harris, who stood for the Liberal Democrats in Oxford West and Abingdon, lost his seat by just 176 votes. Richard Taylor, the independent MP who was voted into parliament in 2001 for leading a local campaign to save Kidderminster hospital, lost his seat in Wyre Forest.