Toby Perkins MP

Shadow Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills

The hefty rugby-playing great-grandson of a famous Independent MP, Toby Perkins narrowly won Chesterfield back from the Liberal Democrats in 2010 at his first try, becoming the town's first Labour MP since the retirement of Tony Benn in 2001.

Five months later he converted his win into an astonishing early promotion and was the first of the new intake to stand at the Despatch Box, as a junior Shadow Education Minister. In October 2011 he was moved to the team shadowing Business, Innovation and Skills.

Toby comes from an academic background. His great-grandfather was the lawyer, author and playwright A P Herbert, Independent MP for Oxford University from 1935 until 1950, when the university seats were abolished by Attlee's Labour Government.

A Chesterfield Borough councillor since 2003, he gave up his councillor's allowance after being elected to Parliament. He helped set up the Chesterfield Flood Victims Appeal and is a director of a local co-operative which runs an early years nursery.

He quickly became a very regular debater and questioner, with twenty-six contributions in his first three months, including interventions on school funding, academies, unemployment, the Finance Bill, voluntary organisations, local government finance and sport.

He served on the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. He nominated David Miliband for the Labour Leadership.

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