Bisexual Tory Michael Fabricant loses seat to Labour after more than 30 years as an MP
Bisexual Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has lost his seat in Lichfield, formerly Mid Staffordshire. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Michael Fabricant has lost his seat in the House of Commons, having been an MP since 1992.
Labour’s Dave Robertson overturned a Tory majority of more than 23,600 to oust bisexual Fabricant in Lichfield, formerly Mid Staffordshire.
Robertson received 17,232 votes while Fabricant picked up 16,422, giving Labour a majority of 810.
In 2019, Fabricant gained 34,844 votes and 64.5 per cent of the vote. That percentage dropped to 33.4 on Thursday (4 July) and his loss was another blow for the Conservatives with Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt and Johnny Mercer also losing their seats.
Robertson won 35.1 per cent of the vote on a 65.4 per cent turnout.
Fabricant said he was “disappointed” but had “suspected it might happen”. He claimed there had been some tactical voting and issues with his literature not being distributed which did not help.
According to Lichfield Live, he said: “I like to think it’s not a personal referendum on my performance as an MP but rather the failure of the [past] few years of the Conservative government.”
Fabricant wished his successor well, adding: “Dave Robertson is a decent guy and I’m sure he’ll do his best to represent Lichfield, Burntwood and the surrounding villages. I want him to do well for the people of the constituency who have elected me over all of these years.”
A former vice-chairman of the Conservative Party for parliamentary campaigning, Fabricant used his platform to campaign for LGBTQ+ rights, including for the ban on gay men donating blood to be lifted.
Speaking of his 2017 appearance on Channel 4’s Celebrity First Dates, he said of his sexuality: “They wanted to pair me with a guy, people assume I’m gay. I’m not gay, I’m bisexual, if you’ve got to define these things,” Staffordshire Live reported.
Fabricant was among 124 Conservative MPs who voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act at a second reading in 2013. In 2022, he was forced to deny claims that he was assaulted by left-wing protestors at the Conservative Party conference after a video showing him being approached was posted on X/Twitter.
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