I am Patrick Spencer, the Member of Parliament for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.
I live in Suffolk with my wife Anna and two sons. My family arrived in Suffolk from Essex in the 80s. I live in the same village my grandparents moved to all those years ago. My happiest childhood memories were spent on the Aldeburgh seafront, playing golf at Ufford Park, or watching Ipswich at Portman Road.
Suffolk is indeed a wonderful place to live, and as the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich I want to work to keep it that way. We have stunning countryside, beautiful market towns, sites of huge historic importance, some great local businesses that export around the country and globe, as well as Ipswich, which I believe can become one of the growth engines in East Anglia.
At the General Election in 2024 I made 6 pledges:
- Deliver better quality health services for people across Central Suffolk and North Ipswich - This includes increasing availability of GP appointments, especially in Needham Market and North Ipswich, and improving access to dental services.
- Improve services for children and young people – This includes campaigning against unfair funding of schools in Suffolk, delivering great outdoor activities for young people of all age groups, and driving an improvement in SEND services across the county.
- Reduce crime and create safe neighbourhoods – This includes fighting for fairer funding for Suffolk Constabulary, increasing the number of police officers operating in Suffolk and campaigning for greater commitment to tackle rural crime.
- Deliver better support for people at risk of and impacted by flooding – This includes pushing Environment Agency and Suffolk County Council to invest more in flood mitigation, reducing house building on flood plane and risky areas, as well as giving landowners more power to take action to reduce risk of flooding.
- Protect our countryside – This includes standing up for our farming community, pushing back against plans to build unnecessary developments on rural land, and campaigning against the Norwich to Tilbury Pylon line.
- Back Suffolk business - I want to champion businesses across the constituency, large and small, so that we continue to create jobs and economic opportunity here in Suffolk. This means standing up for lower taxes and lighter regulation of business, as well campaigning for more public investment in our high streets.
I began my career in finance and business, sitting as a Director of a family-owned private equity company for 7 years. In 2016 I went to work at the Centre for Social Justice, before becoming a Senior Adviser at the Department for Education and a Director at the Jobs Foundation. Outside of work I was a Governor at a Federation of local Primary Schools, a mentor with the Social Mobility Foundation and I sat on the Advisory Council for the Living Wage Foundation.
I am a Conservative because I believe the state does not know best, that free-enterprise is the engine for economic growth, that individual responsibility is a fundamental value, that Britain should play a pro-active role on the world stage, and that social mobility comes from a leg-up, and not a hand-out.
Since getting to Parliament I have joined the Education Select Committee, the APPGs for Flood Prevention, Private Capital, Babies, and Care Experienced Children and Young People. I have spoken in debates around taxation, police funding, rural mental health, the small business economy, and the environment. I have asked Minister’s questions in the house on increasing prison places, ensuring a community benefit scheme for people affected by Pylons, making Flood Risk Activity Permits cheaper, how the Government plans to address child poverty as well as plans to change the National Curriculum.