Christopher John Pincher[1] (born 24 September 1969)[2] is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamworth from 2010 until his resignation in 2023.

[8] In its investigation of his conduct, the Commons Select Committee on Standards censured Pincher in a report published on 6 July 2023, labelling his actions profoundly damaging both to the reputation of Parliament and his victims, and an abuse of power.

[12] He was tipped as a future cabinet member ahead of the 1997 general election,[12] in which he ran for Parliament for the newly created safe Labour seat of Warley, in Sandwell;[11] he came second, with 24% of the vote.

Although Brian Jenkins retained the seat, Pincher said he had won the arguments, after campaigning for more police and school discipline.

[16] He also successfully put pressure on Persimmon to resume and complete construction of the half-built Tame Alloys Estate in Wilnecote.

[17] Pincher was re-selected to contest Tamworth for the 2010 election, gaining the seat on a 9.5% swing, taking him to 45.8% of the vote and a majority of 6,090 or 13.1%, over Brian Jenkins.

[30] In 2013, he organised a campaign to get local people to knit "beanie hats" for soldiers of the 3rd Battalion (The Staffords) of the Mercian Regiment, for their pending deployment to Afghanistan.

During the 2020 British cabinet reshuffle, Pincher was appointed to succeed Esther McVey as the Minister of State for Housing.

On 8 February 2022, during Johnson's cabinet reshuffle, Pincher was moved back to his former role as Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons.

[37] On 5 November 2017, Pincher resigned as Comptroller of the Household (Assistant Whip) and voluntarily referred himself to the Conservative Party's complaints procedure and the police, as part of the 2017 Westminster sexual misconduct allegations.

One complainant reportedly provided details to Downing Street in February and expressed concerns over Pincher becoming a whip in charge of other MPs' welfare.

[47] Pincher's appointment to deputy chief whip in spite of his history triggered a political scandal, which evolved into a government crisis, as a result of which Johnson announced his forthcoming resignation as Conservative Party leader and prime minister on 7 July 2022.

[48] In its investigation of his conduct, the Commons Select Committee on Standards censured Pincher in a report published on 6 July 2023, recommending that he be suspended from Parliament for eight weeks.

The IEP concluded that the original House of Commons committee which investigated the sexual misconduct allegations had "approached this task properly, with the correct considerations in mind".

[52] He was sworn as a member of the Privy Council at Buckingham Palace on 12 December 2018, entitling him to the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable" for life.