Andrew James Bridgen[2] (born 28 October 1964) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire from 2010 until 2024.

[3] He was a member of the Conservative Party until his expulsion in April 2023, having had the whip suspended in January after criticising the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and claiming that a cardiologist told him it constitutes "the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust".

During his parliamentary career, he supported efforts to remove Conservative prime ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss from office.

[14] In May 2009, he intervened in the "dirty tricks row" involving a councillor who had offered Conservative backing to ensure a village hall was built if an independent election candidate stood down.

[23] On 9 June 2011, allegations of sexual assault were made against Bridgen, leading to his arrest in London by the Metropolitan Police and subsequent release on bail.

[20][24][25] A week later the allegations were retracted as untrue, and police said no further action would be taken against Bridgen, or the woman concerned, Annabelle Fuller, a former employee of UKIP.

[28] In January 2013, Bridgen, interviewed on BBC Radio's PM programme, stated that good MPs were being put off by poor pay and were having to ask their families to make sacrifices.

It was reported that Bridgen received additional income from his family vegetable firm, and he was criticised by local Labour politicians for being 'out of touch'.

[29] In June 2015, following the announcement that MPs were to be awarded a 10% pay rise, Bridgen again spoke out, criticising wealthier cabinet ministers for publicly turning down the additional money, which he said he would take himself.

[30] In August 2014, AB Produce, of which Bridgen was director, was warned by the Environment Agency that it could lose its licence if it did not remove a "urine-like" smell from two "lagoons" of putrid vegetable matter on the site.

[33][34] He was criticised by local campaigners for selling at the early stage under an "exceptional hardship scheme", but Bridgen argued he had lost more money than anyone else.

[36] However, Bridgen argued that he had been a consistent critic of High Speed 2, casting doubt on the economic benefits associated with the proposals, and the costs of the programme regardless of his property interests.

[45] On 14 October 2018, on BBC 5 Live radio, Bridgen, during a discussion of Brexit, incorrectly said that he and any British citizen was entitled to an Irish passport as part of a special arrangement with the Republic of Ireland.

[50] In January 2024 Bridgen attracted criticism from other MPs after it emerged that he was planning to host an MEP from the German far-right party Alternative for Germany in parliament.

[51] Following a very serious injury to a constituent in July 2011, Bridgen called for legislation to ensure Britons travelling abroad have adequate medical insurance.

[59] Bridgen successfully lobbied the government to cut Air Passenger Duty for children in 2014, a move backed by travel operators and supported by a 2013 study report.

[62][note 1] The government later adopted Bridgen's proposal, which was also supported by the Labour Party, though the BBC said the potential loss of £200 million could lead to closure of channels.

However, the High Court ruled that the stories implied guilt of sexual assault, causing The Sunday Times to admit that the claims were false and it should not have published them, and paying substantial libel damages to Poulter.

In March 2018, he suggested Bercow should resign, and also reported him to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, to investigate whether he had broken the MPs' code of conduct.

[75][76][77] In March 2019, Bridgen clashed with Conservative MP Ken Clarke in the House of Commons over the nature of representative democracy.

[78] In January 2022, he submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson having previously backed him for leader in the 2019 leadership election, citing a "moral vacuum" at the heart of Government in relation to the lockdown parties, explaining his reasons for doing so in an article for The Telegraph.

[9][79] In November 2022, the Commons Select Committee on Standards confirmed Kathryn Stone's findings that Bridgen broke the MPs' code of conduct by approaching ministers and officials for a company that had given him a donation, a visit to Ghana, and offered him an advisory contract.

[82] The Independent Expert Panel did not accept his appeal and stated "In our view the sanctions for breach of the rule against paid advocacy and for the email letter could properly and fairly have been more severe.

[84] On 11 January 2023, Bridgen had the Conservative whip suspended after tweeting about COVID-19 vaccines: "As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust."

[94][95] Jackie was a Conservative councillor for the Oakthorpe and Donisthorpe ward of North West Leicestershire District Council from 2007 until losing her seat in 2011.

In April 2022, High Court Judge Brian Rawlings ruled against Bridgen, stating that he "lied under oath and behaved in an abusive, arrogant and aggressive manner", was "an unreliable and combative witness who tried to conceal his own misconduct", and "gave evasive and argumentative answers and tangential speeches that avoided answering the questions".