The new parliament has brought in a new class of MPs. Almost a hundred seats changed hands, and many longstanding MPs left parliament. There were also many results listed building owners should take particular note of.

Listed buildings should be on the agenda of all MPs, especially those who’s majority is smaller than the number of local owners. The historic city of Canterbury is one such area, held by Labour’s Rosie Duffield, where her 1836 majority equals the number of historic buildings she represents. Equally, Tim Farron’s 1934 majority in Westmoreland and Lonsdale is significantly outnumbered by listed buildings.

In the North East, Dehenna Davison defeated Helen Goodman in Bishop Auckland. Goodman was a longstanding member of the APPG on Listed Properties, in recognition of the 1583 listed buildings in the area, which are a huge part of the local community. We hope to see Davison continue to support her local electorate and Bishop’s industrial heritage like her predecessor did.

In Scotland the most significant result was Wendy Chamberlain winning North East Fife back from the SNP, but on a 1316 majority with almost seven thousand listed building owners in the area. Elsewhere, the SNP’s Richard Thomson took the Aberdeenshire seat of Gordon. With a majority of just 819 in such a historic area, listed buildings could be an important swing issue for him too.

For Welsh members, Brecon and Radnorshire was taken back by Conservative Fay Jones after it was won by the Liberal Democrats earlier in 2019 in a by-election. The constituency covers both the historic Brecon town and much of Powys, and so includes some two thousand listed buildings. Ynys Mon also moved to Tory control, with Virginia Crosbie now representing Anglesey’s two thousand listed building owners.

All of these MPs would make great additions to the APPG on Listed Properties, so if you live in any of their constituencies then we would ask that you write to them and ask them to join.