Steve Double

Steve Double MP
Member of Parliament for St Austell and Newquay
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 May 2015
Preceded by	Steve Gilbert
Majority	8,173 (16.2%)
Personal details
Born	19 December 1966
Political party	Conservative
Website	Official website

Stephen Daniel Double^[1] (born 19 December 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Austell and Newquay in 2015.^[2][3]

Political career

Double served on Cornwall Council and as a town councillor and Deputy Mayor of St Austell before his selection as Conservative candidate for St Austell and Newquay.^[4]

As of June 2015, Double is one of 125 MPs who employ a member of their family; he employs his wife as a senior caseworker and diary secretary.^[5]

He is a member of the Petitions Committee.^[6]

Personal life

In June 2016 Double, an evangelical Christian, admitted an affair with a married 26 year old caseworker.^[7] He'd kept his double life secret from his wife of 30 years.^[8] The BBC reported that Double's constituency party deputy chairman had resigned suggesting Double, who had claimed to promote family life should do the same. They also examined the public's changing view of morality and quoted political historian Matt Cole who said that whilst the public was now more tolerant of infidelity, it did object to hypocrisy.^[9]

References

1. The London Gazette: no. 61230. p. 9120. 18 May 2015.
2. "St Austell and Newquay Parliamentary constituency". BBC. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
3. "Steve Double profile". parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
4. "Conservative Party selects Steve Double to stand for St Austell and Newquay seat at next election". West Briton. 30 January 2013.
5. Mason, Rowena (29 June 2015). "Keeping it in the family: new MPs continue to hire relatives as staff". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
6. "New Petitions Committee offers the public a platform to press government and Commons for action". Office of the Leader of the House of Commons. GOV.UK. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
7. Harry Yorke and Sophie Jamieson (6 June 2016). "Married Christian Tory MP apologises for behaving 'completely inappropriately' amid reports of 'tryst' with blonde assistant, 26". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 June 2016.|
8. "Married Christian Tory MP, 49, apologises for behaving 'completely inappropriately' amid reports of 'tryst' with assistant, 26". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2016-07-07.
9. Rachael Thorn (11 June 2016). "Why MP sex scandals no longer shock". BBC news. Retrieved 11 June 2016.