New 'Baby of the House' is Tories youngest MP in 30 years
At just 27 years old Chloe Smith (Conservative) has become the House of Commons' youngest MP by winning the Norwich North seat vacated by Labour's Ian Gibson. Chloe beat the Labour candidate Chris Ostrowski by 13,591 votes to 6,243 - a swing of 16.5%. She is the Conservative's youngest MP in 30 years - and their youngest ever female MP. The previous 'baby of the House' was Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat) who is now 29 years old, but was only 25 when first elected in 2005.
Senior Conservative figure Theresa May told The Independent on Sunday that the party had recognised the need for more diversity and gender balance in Parliament. Whilst the election of Ms Smith is encouraging, she becomes only the second MP out of 646 who is under the age of 30.
On her website Chloe commented, "I'm certainly younger than the average MP, but I think that's a good
thing at the moment – we need some fresh blood in parliament, and
people with drive and energy … As far as I'm concerned: if you're good
enough, you're old enough."
Adam Wilkinson, Citizenship Education Programme