Neil Quentin Gordon Parish (born 26 May 1956) is a British farmer and former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tiverton and Honiton from 2010 until his resignation in 2022.
Parish chaired the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee from 2015 until his resignation from the House of Commons.
In April 2022, Parish had the Conservative party whip suspended pending an investigation into allegations that he had watched pornography in the Commons chamber during a debate.
His departure triggered a by-election held on 23 June, which was won by the Liberal Democrat candidate, Richard Foord.
[16] Parish was one of 79 Conservative MPs who, on 24 October 2011, rebelled against a three-line whip by voting for a referendum on the UK's relationship with the European Union.
[17] In July 2012, Parish relaunched and was elected the chairman of both the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Beef and Lamb and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pig and Poultry, which ensure that parliamentarians are briefed by industry experts on the latest developments in the industry, including supply chains, exports, sustainability, health and nutrition.
[19] Parish opposes, and voted against the implementation of same-sex marriage, stating that he felt the issue was "for the Church and Christians to decide [upon], not for parliament to legislate.
[21][22] After the 2015 general election, he was returned unopposed as the chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.
[26][27] On 25 April 2022, a group of female Conservative MPs met with the Government Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris to complain about sexism in parliament.
In the course of the discussion one female MP spoke out alleging that an unnamed male colleague had been watching pornography next to her in the House of Commons.
[29][30] On 29 April Parish had the Conservative whip withdrawn after being accused of watching pornography on a personal mobile phone in the Commons chamber.
[41] Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, tweeted: "He was looking for tractors but ended up with porn actors?
[44] In an interview with LBC in June 2022, Parish said that he had experienced suicidal thoughts after the incident and that the police had "very kindly and rightly" confiscated his guns to prevent him from killing himself.