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| Anna Turley - little tern enthusiast |
A total of 17 MPs were so-called 'bird champions', committed to flying the flag for individual species.
They included Angela Smith (hen harrier), Caroline Spelman (willow tit) Anna Turley (little tern) and former GP Dr Sarah Wollaston (cirl bunting).
But Dr Wollaston lost out at Totnes after defecting from the Conservatives to Devon over her opposition to Brexit, while Ms Turley (Redcar) was a victim of the swing from Labour to Conservative.
Ms Smith formerly represented Penistone, but, after falling out with the Labour Party, she joined the Liberal Democrats for whom she fought, unsuccessfully, the Altrincham and Sale constituency.
Meanwhile, Ms Spelman decided not to seek re-election in the Meridien constituency because of the barrage of abuse she and staff encountered over her opposition to Brexit
The former Father of the House, Ken Clarke, was not a species champion, but is an enthusiastic birdwatcher.
After a successful political career with the Conservatives, he was shown the door by his party over his opposition to Brexit and did not stand for re-election in the Rushcliffe constituency.
Safely returned to Parliament by electors are the following:
Jake Berry: curlew
James Cartlidge: turtle dove
Therese Coffey: bittern
Mark Garnier: lesser spotted woodpecker
Nick Herbert: lapwing
Kevin Hollinrake: puffin
Kerry McCarthy: swift
Jess Phillips: dunnock
Derek Thomas: Manx shearwater
Kelly Tolhurst: nightingale
Matt Warman: redshank
Gavin Williamson: barn owl
* Available (price 0.99) as a Kindle ebook:
Birds and Politicians
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