Amess, David

**David Amess was tragically killed in a stabbing incident during a meeting at his constituency on October 15th 2021. Full story.**

David Amess was a Conservative Member of Parliament for nearly forty years having first been elected for Basildon in 1983.  Despite exclaiming his love for Basildon, he moved to the neighbouring seat of Southend West in 1997. Amess was reelected in 2019 with a majority of 14,459.

Covering the small town of Leigh on Sea, and the west of Southend itself, this constituency was formerly represented by the Channon family in Parliament between 1918 and 1997. It has a large London commuter population, and has been held by the Conservatives ever since the Second World War.

Born in Plaistow in 1952, and raised as a Roman Catholic, Amess was socially conservative. He attended St Anthony’s Junior and Infant School, then St. Bonaventure Grammar School (now St Bonaventure’s Catholic Comprehensive School) in Forest Gate, and then Bournemouth College of Technology, where he earned a BSc degree with honours in Economics and Government.

Before becoming an MP, Amess taught at the St John the Baptist Primary School in Bethnal Green for a year from 1970, and then spent a short time as an underwriter before becoming a recruitment consultant.

Amess supported Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum. Strongly anti abortion, he was also long an opponent of fox hunting and was a keen campaigner for animal welfare.

He was married with five children, and employed his wife as a part time case worker.

Amess supported Dominic Raab in the 2019 Conservative leadership election.

During his time at Westminster he sponsored a number of Bills including the Abortion (Amendment) Bill (1996-7), the Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act (1988) and the Warm Homes Bill (2000).

He was Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Endometriosis; Fairs and Showgrounds; Fire Safety and Rescue; Food and Health; Liver Health; Maternity; Photography; the Olympic and Paralympic Games; the Maldives; and Bermuda.  He was Vice Chair of the Groups on Epilepsy; Funerals and Bereavements; Japan; the British Overseas Territories; and Human Relevant Science.

Email: amessd@parliament.uk

Personal Website: http://www.davidamess.co.uk/