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Profile: Matthew Green MP
April 2004
Shropshire born and bred, Matthew Green is the MP for Ludlow. He once harboured ambitions to play cricket at Lords – little did he know that he’d fulfil his wish by becoming an MP.
Married with a baby daughter, he might once have seemed an unlikely politician. With a passion for cricket and rugby, Matthew even tried out for Warwickshire Cricket Club. After graduating from Birmingham University with a degree in Medieval Studies and failing a second trial for Sussex he decided to hang up his pads and go into business.
Matthew started his working career in the timber industry and ran his own firm for a while before trying his hand as a restaurateur. He has also earned a crust by giving advice to people on how to deal with the media – an industry he learned from his parents who, until recently, owned and produced The Shropshire Magazine.
So how did he end up being a politician?
“Well at the age of 23 I was standing in a pub, in Bridges, Ratlinghope,” explained Matthew, “and a chap who was standing for the county council for the Liberal Democrats who I’d got to know said why don’t I join the party? I did and I’m one of these people that when I get involved in something I’m not going to put it down.”
After a stint in local council, Matthew decided that Parliament was the only way to make a real difference and in 2001 he won the Ludlow seat. Luckily help was at hand when it came to learning the ropes.
“Lembit Opic, the member for Montgomery, is a good friend,” he said, “so I’d known him for a while. I also knew Paul Keetch, the MP for Hereford, fairly well so I’d been down to Westminster on a few occasions to see them. I’d also spent a week with Paul down in Hereford seeing how he did his job so I wouldn’t just get elected and think crikey!
“Also the staff at the house of commons, the sergeant at arms staff, the doorkeepers, are just incredibly knowledgeable and incredibly helpful,” he added, “They know that you’re the new MP and you begin to realise very quickly that you can just go up to them and say how do I do such and such and they’ll just tell you, so it didn’t feel quite as daunting as you might imagine.”
But becoming an MP did hold some unexpected rewards like fulfilling his childhood dream of playing cricket at Lords.
“I play for Lords and Commons occasionally but I only managed one game last year. That was against the MCC and it’s quite ironic really that I wanted to be a professional cricketer, wanted to play at Lords. Having become an MP, I’ve been able to play at Lords against England – it was actually the women and we beat them.”
As a front bench MP for the Lib Dems, Matthew works closely with party leader Charles Kennedy, so is he a genuinely nice guy or is it just an act?
“Charles is great,” beamed Matthew, “He’s exactly as he comes across on the television. He isn’t particularly comfortable standing up in the House of Commons but he’s got good political judgement as he showed over Iraq, over Butler, over quite a number of issues and that’s why I like him as our leader and he is just a very nice friendly person.”
Matthew Green is the Liberal Democrat MP for Ludlow.
Related Links: Matthew Green The Liberal Democrats Houses of Parliament More election stories
Profile: Richard Burden MP (Lab)
