Will Quince

After his defeat in 2010, Quince was successful at the 2015 general election and was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Colchester, replacing the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Sir Bob Russell.[2] In May 2016, it was reported that Quince was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police in the 2015 party spending investigation, for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses.[7] 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.[8] He campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union during the 2016 referendum.[9]

On 6 September 2016, after a bet on Twitter by a local constituent, Quince auditioned for the TV show Britain's Got Talent in order to raise money for charity. £1000 was raised for local charities.[10]

In March 2017, The Daily Telegraph reported that Quince 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 he had claimed the TV package in error and was repaying the cost.[11]

In August 2017, Quince was criticised after he complained on social media about having to pay a fine for parking beyond his paid time period whilst on holiday. After initially receiving criticism that his complaint was selfish and suggestions that he should just pay the fine, the MP said that his concern was not for his own parking fine, but for "those on lower incomes [who] are disproportionately affected by high parking fines." Critics questioned this after it was reported he had consistently voted for a reduction in spending on welfare benefits since becoming an MP.[12]

In December 2017, he was one of three MPs warned by the UK's data privacy regulator about sharing work computer passwords. Quince has stated that his computer is routinely left unlocked to enable staff to use it if they want to.[13][14]

In 2018, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson.[15] Quince has sat on the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion, on the Home Affairs Committee and on the Transport Committee.[16] On 23 October 2018, he resigned from the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion citing lack of confidence in Bercow's ability to tackle bullying and sexual harassment problems in Parliament.[17][18][19][20] Quince resigned as PPS on 8 December 2018, in opposition to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration.[21]