In Richard Childs talk on 8 January he proposed that our current concept of an MP being elected for a constituency and in some way representing and supporting that constituency is a relatively recent one.
For centuries being elected as an MP for Chichester was simply a means to an end and to a seat in parliament. The aim of the talk was twofold, first to give biographical information about some of the city’s MPs, and second to see whether they did anything for the benefit of Chichester.
The talk covered some 400 years from the 17th to 20th centuries. Starting with William Cawley, who signed Charles I’s death warrant, to William Huskisson, the world’s first railway fatality, and to Christopher Chataway, world record holding athlete and ITV’s very first news presenter.
The talk concluded by deciding that most of Chichester’s did very little for the city – with one exception.
Richard Childs proposed that Andrew Tyrie who was the city’s MP from 1997 – 2017 did more for Chichester than all his predecessors.
Official portrait 2020