By stewartb

Speaking of Tories …. With the membership of the Scottish Affairs Committee in the House of Commons now announced (albeit one vacant place still to be formally allocated), it’s worth a moment getting to know better one member, namely Jack Rankin MP.

For contest, recall the remit of this Committee: ‘The Scottish Affairs Committee scrutinises the expenditure, administration and policies of the Scotland Office, and its associated bodies.

‘The Committee also examines the wider UK Government, to assess policies and legislation that lead to direct impacts on Scotland.’

Given this, it’s relevant firstly to note that Mr Rankin is the Tory MP for Windsor. From his wikipedia profile: ‘Jack Michael Rankin (born 19 August 1992) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Windsor since 2024. Before being elected, he worked as an energy markets professional, having a career background in commodity trading and corporate finance. He was a councillor for Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council between 2015 and 2019.’

There is zero reference in this profile or his House of Commons profile to any link to Scotland. And someone with only a few months experience in the House of Commons can hardly claim that lengthy experience of ‘wider UK Government’ business’ can mitigate his lack of evident knowledge and experience of our country.

From the online publication Conservative Home on September 4, 2024: ‘Rankin selected in Windsor in a ‘gruelling’ and ‘very divisive’ local contest’:

‘Rankin has local connections. He currently works for a renewable energy firm, contested his home seat of Ashton-under-Lyne in 2017 and then Warwick and Leamington in 2019. But he oversaw Vote Leave’s operation in Windsor in 2016, has served in various capacities in the local association, and, most importantly, was a local councillor from 2015 to 2019.’ (my emphasis)

Perhaps his most notable insertion into regular Commons debates so far has concerned horse racing! (See Hansard.)

From his maiden speech, these extracts perhaps give a further sense of this MP’s locus:

He stated: ‘In the handful of weeks I have been here, I have already lost count of the times this place has been incorrectly referred to as the “mother of Parliaments”—a misquoting of John Bright. It is England that Bright referred to as the mother of Parliaments. In that speech, Bright was arguing for what became the Reform Act of 1867, which, for the first time, enfranchised part of the urban male working class, from which I hail. England is the mother of Parliaments because of the principle, established in Anglo-Saxon England, that yes, we owe our allegiance to His Majesty the King—then in Old Windsor; now in new Windsor—but within a framework that protects our ancient individual liberties, as articulated in Magna Carta. That heritage is proudly ours.’

(For the avoidance of doubt, the Reform Act of 1867 post-dated the Treaty and Acts of Union!)

And Mr Rankin added: ‘It gives us enormous pride that King George V proclaimed: “Our House and Family shall be styled and known as…Windsor”. It was felt inappropriate during the first world war that the royal family be called Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as London was being bombed by aircraft of the same name. It was thought that Windsor sounded necessarily regal and English; I wholeheartedly agree.’

Mr Rankin signed an early day motion entitled ‘Gibraltar National Day’ tabled on 9 September 2024. It had this concluding phrase: ‘.. wishes the loyal people of the Rock a magnificent day of traditional red and white festivities, as all Gibraltarians display pride in their homeland, having the right of self-determination and the freedom to chose to remain British.’ I note that five British Labour Party MPs for Scottish constituencies also signed this motion acknowledging the right of self-determination enjoyed by Gibraltarians.

In his register of interests, Mr Rankin reports: ‘7. (i) Shareholdings: over 15% of issued share capital – Name of company or organisation: Crocus and Bluebell Limited 

Nature of business: Provides energy markets and environmental advisory services to the generators of renewable power, in particular the structuring of long-term power purchase agreements to reach financial close for new build renewable projects.’

From Companies House the find that Mr Rankin is one of two directors of this company whose date of incorporation is 12 August 2024. Preparing for professional life as a Tory MP?

This is such an inspired choice of MP to scrutinise the expenditure, administration and policies of the Scotland Office, and to examine the wider UK Government, its policies and legislation that have direct impacts on Scotland on our behalf – is it not? Don’t you feel so well served?