‘The man doesn’t like women’: Even Sir Christopher Chope’s constituents are angry with him i reporter Chloe Chaplain visited Christchurch to speak to the MP’s constituents who believe he is tainting the Dorset town’s reputation

Tory MP Sir Christopher Chope has earned himself the reputation for being somewhat of a political dinosaur due to his recent headline-grabbing antics in the House of Commons.

The 71-year-old MP for Christchurch, Dorset, previously stalled a new law that would make upskirting illegal – despite it having widespread support publicly and politically – and he is now doing the same to an amendment designed to help protect young girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM).

He decision to block such bills by shouting “object” from the backbenches has attracted scathing criticism from senior figures in his own party. Even the Prime Minister has made her disapproval known.

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‘The man doesn’t like women’

A brief analysis of Sir Christopher’s voting history reveals he has a tendency against equality and social mobility laws; he voted against gay marriage in 2013 and in support of a bill allowing employers to opt out of paying minimum wage in 2009.

Tory MP Zac Goldsmith said Sir Christopher’s argument that the proposed Bills need more scrutiny was a “pretence”, and accused him of “often allowing Bills put forward by his friends to pass through unchallenged”.



Read More Here’s what was in the Female Genital Mutilation bill that Christopher Chope blocked in the Commons

Yet in his Christchurch constituency, home to one of the oldest electorates in the UK where 30 per cent of residents are over the age of 65, he holds a majority of more than 25,000. He has held the seat since 1997 when he booted out the sitting Liberal Democrat, Diana Maddock.

i visited the quaint market town and found it surprisingly hard, however, to find someone who has a positive word to say about him. Mention of their MP invokes, at worst, angry outbursts from locals and, at best, eye-rolls.

“He hates women!” one retired female resident said exasperatedly as soon Sir Christopher’s name was mentioned. “The man does not like women. First he is turning down bills on upskirting and now this female genital mutilation, which is just dreadful,” she said.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, volunteers regularly at community event along with several other over-65s – the age group presumed to be the Sir Christopher’s key electorate.

Local anger

“He is going to turn the people of Christchurch against him if he keeps on like this,” she added. “There are a lot of people over 65-years-old who, for years and years, voted Conservative, but they are going to go elsewhere.”

I urge others in my constituency to show our MP, Christopher Chope, that blocking stricter laws to prevent the mutillation of girls' genitals is not what we want him to do. Why would we? #getchopeout https://t.co/zas4DWSFWd — Lindsey Kinsella (@KinsellaLindsey) February 8, 2019

One couple, who own a shop on the high street selling local produce, were so disdainful of Sir Christopher’s recent actions that they couldn’t bring themselves to discuss their representative. The husband said they did not want to discuss the matter because, as local business owners, they “do not want to talk badly of the local MP”. He just sighed and shook his head.



Another constituent, who only wanted to be named as Alex, works locally in finance and lives in the area with her husband, a business owner and fireman. As soon she was asked about Sir Christopher she shot a colleague an angry look and burst out with: “It’s outrageous! He is outrageous.

“I just do not think he represents Christchurch at all and I think this latest incident has brought it to light,” she said.

So why does he keep winning elections? Does he provide exceptional local support in his capacity as an MP? Alex, for one, has “no idea”.

“I have never seen him around Christchurch,” she said. “And have no idea what he has done to earn his knighthood. I do not know he gets voted in year after year after year. The mayor is more of a notable presence.”

Concern for the reputation of the town

Set on the south coast, the pretty town centre of Christchurch boasts one of the largest parish churches in the country and – as i was told twice – two castles. The locals are clearly proud of their home and, on a quiet, sunny day, it is easy to see why.

But there appears to be genuine concern that their MP is dragging the reputation of the area down with his controversial behaviour.

Lindsey Kinsella, who works as an English teacher in Poole, grew up in Dorset. She moved to a village called West Moors in Sir Christopher’s constituency around four years ago, after her grown up children had moved out of the family home and has lived their with her property developer partner ever since.

She believes that people in the area vote for the Tory party, not Sir Christopher himself, and said she would not regard him as a notable presence in the constituency.

‘He should show more social responsibility’ Lindsey Kinsella, local resident

“I doubt many knew his name before putting an X next to it,” she said. “The population is older in much of this constituency, too, and own their own homes. Labour candidates seem to be tested out here rather than expect to win.”

She, on the other hand, decided to research Sir Christopher’s voting record during the last election because “his campaign was lazy and uninformative”.

“It’s a Conservative stronghold so I wanted to know who I’d likely end up with,” she said.

Elderly electorate

Through Ms Kinsella’s job in further education, she has taught many adults from low income backgrounds or who receive benefits. She also discusses current events, social issues and politics regularly with her colleagues, who are other teachers that agree Sir Christopher does not share their values “at all”.



Read More Sir Christopher Chope faces official questioning from Tory colleagues after blocking FGM bill to protect young girls

She said he is “out of touch with modern society”, adding that he is “inconsistent” over his insistence that Private Members’ Bills should be stopped from going through the Commons on the grounds they need more scrutiny.

“I dislike how he votes against gay rights, student fee capping and the bedroom tax,” she said.

“A wealthy man in his position should show more social responsibility.”

Commenting on recent headlines about Sir Christopher, she said: “I’m avoiding jumping on the misogyny bandwagon here but I am appalled. I doubt he’s tried very hard to be aware of this issue and wonder if he contacted anyone about it before objecting.”

Luke Ridout, a nurse at nearby Bournemouth Hospital, said he believes that much of the elderly electorate of Christchurch could be unaware of the extent of Sir Christopher’s actions.

“I think the area has an older population who may not be very tech-savvy,” he said, “so, as a result, they often do not know what something like upskirting actually is”.

Campaign against him went viral

“I feel there is an element of people also getting all their main news from one newspaper – which might not feature the story so prominently – so [they are] not seeing the online coverage of everything,” he added.

Mr Ridout was spending a rare sunny day off at the Christchurch Sailing Club, doing some repair work on the Hunter Sonata cruiser boat he shares with his father John.

The pair have been members of the club, based on the River Stour, for nineteen years but they do not discuss political issues with their boating friends because “people are just here to sail”.

While tinkering on his boat, however, Mr Ridout senior pointed out that Sir Christopher has been an MP “for so long that people feel there is no alternative”.

“Yes,” his son agreed. “There is definitely an element of not wanting to upset the apple cart – to use an old saying. They do not want to vote differently, change scares people.”

One constituent who is certainly ready for that change is Lorna Rees, a theatre director and artist. Ms Rees grew up locally and, after studying at drama school in London, decided to move back to Christchurch with her husband, a headteacher, to raise their two sons.

She made the news after carrying out an impulsive prank in which she hung underwear outside his constituency office went “viral”, and is now calling for Sir Christopher to be de-selected as an MP.

Time for a by-election?

Ms Rees believes that the reason Sir Christopher has been elected is “because the population here was so scared of getting Ukip that they all voted Tory”, but added that “in all honestly the Ukip guy seems to be more liberal compared with Chope”.

‘He is bringing this beautiful town down’ Campaigner Lorna Rees

And, like many others in the constituency, she spends a lot of her spare time involved in the community and never sees her MP doing the same.

“I am not a Conservative voter but I look longingly at the Conservative MPs all around us who are much more involved in their community,” she said.

“It is being implied that no one in the area cares about this or is doing anything, and this frustrates me because Christchurch is better than this,” she said. “I think it is so frustrating that we have such a despicable dinosaur as an MP. His contribution to society makes it worse and increases the iniquity. He is villainous.

“His name keeps coming up and, every time it does, our lovely town is being associated with upskirting and blocking legitimate legislation. He is bringing this beautiful town down.”

Ms Rees said there is a flurry of media attention every time Sir Christopher blocks a sensitive bill, but then “Brexit takes over the agenda again”. She believes the Tories won’t de-select the MP and risk losing a by-election while everything is so fraught in the Commons.

But despite his election victory there is still widespread anger over his behaviour.”It is people of all ages really. I protested with toy dinosaurs outside his constituncy office in the summer […] so many people stopped and had a chat about it with me and said they agreed.



“I remember this older woman coming up to me looking angry and I thought, ‘Oh here we go’ but she was angry about what he had done and fully supported me.”

Tory MPs are said to be “enraged” by Sir Christopher’s latest objection to the FGM amendment. The MP said in a column for The Telegraph he did it because he felt the proposals had not been properly debated and has accused his critics of “virtue signalling”.

He has been asked to attend a meeting of Christchurch and East Dorset Conservative Association to discuss his actions. Chairman of the association, Councillor Ray Bryan, told the Bournemouth Daily Echo that he had called an “urgent meeting” to discuss his obstruction of the bill.

i has contacted Sir Christopher for comment.