Ian has been a Member of Parliament for Bridgwater and West Somerset since June 2001 General Election. He was re-elected at the General Election in December 2019.
Following the 2019 Election he was elected to the International Development Select Committee in the Commons.
In December 2010, he was appointed to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe as a Westminster representative. He has been reappointed at subsequent General Elections and is now President of the Conservative Aligned Groups from all Member States on the Council.
He is Chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s UK Branch and a number of All Party Parliamentary Groups which include Nuclear Energy; Energy Studies; Taxation; Open Banking; Gardening and Horticulture; and, importantly for a Somerset and West County MP, Cider.
His interests in the House include the economy, taxation, education, international affairs, defence, law and order, farming, countryside and rural matters, tourism, and all energy issues with a particular interest in nuclear energy.
