Scott Mann (politician)

Member of Parliament (North Cornwall)

In 2013, Mann was named as the Conservative Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for North Cornwall in the run up to the 2015 General Election.^[12]

Mann was subsequently elected as the Member of Parliament for the constituency of North Cornwall after winning the seat in the 2015 General Election. Mann received 21,689 votes, beating the previous MP, Dan Rogerson, by 6,621 with an approximate 9,000 vote swing. He became the first Conservative MP for the area since 1992, as well as contributing to all six Cornwall constituencies electing Conservative candidates—the first time in over a hundred years.^[13] Along with Sarah Newton, MP for Truro & Falmouth, he took his parliamentary oath in the Cornish language.^[14][15]

Following his election as an MP he resigned as a Councillor in February 2016, after he had come under pressure to resign for his poor attendance at council meetings.^[16] At the subsequent by-election in April 2016, his former seat was won by the Liberal Democrat candidate Karen McHugh.^[17]

In November 2015, Mann introduced a Private Member's Bill to give Town and Parish Councils the power to hold community referendums to alter speed limits.^[18] The Bill received its second reading in February 2016, but as it was opposed by both the Government and the Opposition, it was subsequently withdrawn.^[19]

Mann campaigned for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union in the 2016 European Union Referendum. ^[20]

In December 2016, Mann was elected (unopposed) to the House of Commons' Environmental Audit Select Committee,a role he served in until May 2017.^{[21] [22]}

In June 2017, Mann was re-elected as MP for North Cornwall following a snap General Election, garnering 23,835 votes and a 50.7% share of the vote. His majority also increased to 7,200.^[23] Mann was subsequently appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) for Transport - an un-paid role to assist and support government ministers in the Department for Transport.^[24] Following the government reshuffle in January 2018, Mann was appointed as PPS to HM Treasury.^[25]

In July 2018, Mann introduced his second Private Member's Bill - namely the Bathing Waters Bill - to introduce penalties which could be levied against water companies who pump sewage into the sea. During heavy rainfall, sewage is sometimes pumped into the sea through Combined Sewafe Overflow systems to reduce pressure on sewage systems.^[26]

On 16 July 2018, Mann resigned from his role as Parliamentary Private Secretary to HM Treasury in protest at the Prime Minister Theresa May's "watered down" Brexit plan.^[27] In September 2018, he agreed with fellow Conservative MP Johnny Mercer that the Prime Minister Theresa May 'could not lead their party into the next general election'.^[28]

Controversies

Mann employs his partner as a part time Secretary on a salary up to £30,000.^{[29] [30]} He was listed in articles in the Daily Telegraph and Guardian criticising the practice of MPs employing family members, on the lines that it promotes nepotism.^{[31] [32]} Although MPs who were first elected in 2017 have been banned from employing family members, the restriction is not retrospective - meaning that Mann's employment of his partner is lawful.^[33]

In May 2016, it emerged that Mann was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police in the United Kingdom general election, 2015 party spending investigation, for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses.^[34] However, in May 2017, the Crown Prosecution Service said that while there was evidence of inaccurate spending returns, it did not "meet the test" for further action.^[35]

In March 2017, the Daily Telegraph revealed that Mann was one of nine MPs who had claimed Amazon Prime subscriptions on their parliamentary expenses. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, responsible for handling expenses claims, told the paper subscriptions could be claimed but MPs must "justify the subscription is primarily used for parliamentary purposes". He responded that Amazon had refunded him when he took out subscriptions in previous years.^[36]