Saqib Bhatti

MP for Meriden and Solihull East

Conservatives

Saqib Bhatti is the Conservative MP for Meriden and Solihull East, having first been elected to parliament for the predecessor seat of Meriden at the 2019 general election.

In the 2024 general election for Meriden and Solihull East, Bhatti received 16,792 votes, representing 38.1% of the vote share. The Labour candidate, Sarah Alan, received 12,208 votes (27.7%), while the Reform UK candidate, Malcolm Sedgley, secured 8,753 votes (19.9%). Bhatti was duly elected with a majority of 4,584 votes.

The Meriden and Solihull East constituency is located in the West Midlands, covering the rural area known as the Meriden Gap between Birmingham and Coventry, including the village of Meriden, Balsall Common, and parts of Solihull including Chelmsley Wood, Elmdon and Silhill. It is considered a safe Conservative seat.

Political Career

Bhatti was appointed as shadow minister of state for education following Kemi Badenoch’s July 2025 shadow ministerial reshuffle. Bhatti initially served as shadow minister for culture, media and sport, having been appointed in November 2024, following the Conservative leadership contest and Badenoch’s elevation as Tory leader.

Bhatti previously held shadow ministerial roles covering health and social care, and science, innovation and technology (July to November 2024) on the interim/caretaker Conservative frontbench created under Rishi Sunak after the 2024 general election.

Prior to the 2024 general election, which saw the Conservatives ejected from government, Bhatti served in government as parliamentary under-secretary of state for tech and the digital economy at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (November 2023 – July 2024). He was also vice chairman of the Conservative Party for business from September 2022 to November 2023.

Bhatti previously served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) at the Department for International Trade under Liz Truss (from 2020) and then at the Department of Health and Social Care to Sajid Javid.

In June 2022, Bhatti publicly declared their loyalty to the prime minister, Boris Johnson, ahead of a vote of no confidence in his leadership. The vote was triggered by discontent within the parliamentary party following the “partygate” scandal and the publication of the Sue Gray report. While the prime minister ultimately won the vote, the scale of the rebellion against him, with 148 of his own MPs voting to remove him, severely weakened his authority and presaged his resignation the following month.

In a post to social media at the time, Bhatti stated: “In my view Boris Johnson has got all the big calls right including the vaccination programme and our approach to Ukraine. Our focus must be to deal with high cost of living and deliver on the mandate given to us by the British people. He has my support.”

However, Bhatti resigned from his PPS role on 5 July 2022 as part of the mass walkout of ministers that ultimately forced Boris Johnson to announce his own resignation.

In his letter of resignation, Bhatti wrote: “The Conservative and Unionist Party has always been the party of integrity and honour. I feel that standards in public life are of the utmost importance, and the events of the past few months have undermined public trust in all of us.

“I have been grappling with these issues for some time and my conscience will not allow me to continue to support this administration. It is for this reason I must tender my resignation.”

Bhatti was a member of the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee from November 2022 to December 2023.

Bhatti is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) on antisemitism, baby loss and Belarus.

Bhatti delivered his maiden speech on 26 February 2020 during a debate on the Environment Bill.

In it, he stated: “As a former businessman and president of one of the largest chambers of commerce in the country, I have always advocated for social progress through economic progress, and for the role that business plays as a force for good in society.”

Bhatti supported leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum. He founded the “Muslims for Britain’”which campaigned for Brexit, arguing EU policy hindered immigration from South Asia. He also sat on the board of the official Vote Leave campaign group.

During the referendum campaign, Bhatti told the Guardian: “The EU forces Britain to discriminate against people who want to migrate here from non-EU countries. This isn’t fair and doesn’t make sense.”

In May 2016, Bhatti told the Financial Times that English-language leaflets had been sent out to Muslim voters, while others in different languages would follow. The pamphlets argued that people with EU passports can just “walk in” to Britain.

“South Asian immigrants have ancestors who fought in the world wars, they sacrificed a lot, they speak the language, they have the skills, they are well educated”, Bhatti told the FT. “But they find it hard to come in compared to other individuals from Europe who may not speak the language, understand the culture or have the skills.”

According to the newspaper, the leaflets also highlighted the rise of far-right politics in Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Germany and Denmark. Bhatti added: “We don’t want them influencing our laws and our policies.”

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Tory leadership 2024: Bhatti initially supported Priti Patel’s candidacy in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Rishi Sunak following the party’s defeat in the 2024 general election. Patel, the former home secretary, was eliminated in the first parliamentary ballot on 4 September after receiving 14 votes.

Bhatti is reported to have led Patel’s “whipping operation” alongside Conservative MP Greg Smith.

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Speaking to Times Radio in July 2024, Bhatti described Patel as a “wonderfully caring individual”, despite the former home secretary having faced bullying allegations stemming from her tenure in government.

In an article for the Express, Bhatti said that Patel was the candidate “to unite [the Conservative] party and get us ready to win the next election.”

He added: “Along with Priti’s deep sense of public service, integrity and her unmatched work ethic, I believe she is the one to unite our Party and get us ready to win the next election. Priti has experienced what it was like to be in Opposition, having served under William Hague in 1997. Having been here before, she knows what it takes to get us out of Opposition and into Government…

“Priti emphasises all that’s good about conservatism. She believes in our country and recognises that the majority of voters want to see a Government acting with the utmost integrity, delivering good public services for their families, lower immigration and encouraging the spirit of enterprise. She is the one to unite our party and show voters we are once more ready to serve the nation.”

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Bhatti went on to back James Cleverly’s unsuccessful candidacy.

Tory leadership 2022 (I): Bhatti initially supported Javid’s candidacy in the Conservative Party’s July-September 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson, following the mass exodus of more than 60 frontbenchers.

Javid, whose resignation as health secretary had helped spark the government crisis, pledged to reverse the recent national insurance rise. He argued that the party needed to restore its reputation for integrity and economic competence. Javid withdrew from the contest shortly before the nominations deadline, after failing to secure enough support from fellow MPs to reach the required 20-nomination threshold.

Bhatti went on to back Liz Truss’ successful candidacy.

At the time, Bhatti commented that Truss “understands that for businesses to thrive, the government needs to get out of the way.”

In an article for the Express newspaper, Bhatti added: “If we are to minimise the impact of inflation on our economy then nurturing economic growth by scrapping the corporation tax rise is vital and I welcome the fact Liz has committed to this along with an EU red tape bonfire which will absolutely trigger more investment.

“As I said, Liz gets it. She will make an excellent prime minister and I have no doubt she will be a champion for small businesses.”

Factional identity and party tradition

The Free Market Forum: Bhatti has been listed as a supporter of the Free Market Forum (FMF) of Conservative MPs and peers. The group, co-chaired by Dehenna Davison and Greg Smith in the 2019-2024 parliament, set out to “encourage free market thinking, winning over the unpersuaded and providing intellectual firepower and a public platform to proponents of classical liberalism.” Founded in 2021, the forum, associated with the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), was seen as aligned with the economic policies of the Liz Truss government.

Conservative Environment Network: Bhatti is listed as a member of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) parliamentary caucus. CEN is an independent forum for conservatives that supports conservation and decarbonisation. It calls for the environment to be given a higher profile at the heart of policy making, describing “biodiversity loss, climate change, and wasteful resource use are threats to our national security”, and promotes “market-based policies” to environmental challenges. Members of its parliamentary caucus, such as Bhatti, are thought to generally align with the group’s “green” message and environmentalism.

Blue Collar Conservatives: Bhatti was previously listed as a member of the Blue Collar Conservatives group. This faction within the Conservative party was founded in 2012 by the former cabinet minister Esther McVey, but came to greater prominence following the 2019 general election. The group aimed to “champion working people and develop a conservative agenda to benefit the voters and communities most neglected by Labour”. In October 2022, McVey was succeeded by Lee Anderson as the group’s chair.

Bright Blue: Bhatti is listed as a parliamentary supporter of Bright Blue, an independent centre-right think tank and membership organisation that champions liberal conservatism in the UK. Since its founding in 2014, the organisation has expanded its reach through a new cross-party strategy.

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Bhatti voted against the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the ten-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union.

Assisted dying

Bhatti voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

In a statement setting out his position, Bhatti said: “This is an issue which is immensely complex, and I do not believe there is a right or wrong answer. However, having had a long time to consider this bill in its entirety, I have concluded that I will not be voting in favour [of it]…

“Those in support of this bill argue that there are sufficient safeguards in place, but I remain unconvinced that those safeguards are sufficient enough. Crucially, as we have seen overseas, I also remain profoundly concerned that the goalposts will be moved further down the line.”

He added: “There have been strong warnings that this bill is a slippery slope and these examples highlight how quickly the bill we vote on today could change in the future. There are no guarantees a future bill will not be introduced which make the safeguards in this bill more lenient. I also fear legal challenges to this bill threaten to weaken the threshold further. This concerns me deeply and is a significant factor in my reasoning for voting against this bill today.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Bhatti voted against a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Before Politics

Born Mohammad Saqib Bhatti on 18 June 1985 in Walsall, West Midlands, to parents who emigrated from Pakistan, he was educated at the independent King Edwards VI School, Edgbaston.

He studied law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). While at university, he was president of the LSE Pakistan Society.

After university, Bhatti trained as a chartered accountant and financial auditor with Deloitte from 2007, specialising in the financial services sector. In 2010, he joined his family’s firm of chartered accountants, Younis Bhatti & Co, becoming a director in 2012.

Before entering parliament, he served as president of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce from 2018 to 2019, being the youngest person and first Muslim to hold the post. He was previously president of the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (2014-2018) and a board member of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP), involved in launching its Growth Hub business support service.

He has also served as a board member of the West Midlands Reserve Forces and Cadets Association.