Alberto Costa
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for South Leicestershire
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byAndrew Robathan
Majority24,004 (41.8%)
Personal details
Born
Alberto Castrenze Costa

(1971-11-13) 13 November 1971
Scotland
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
Websitealbertocosta.org.uk

Alberto Castrenze Costa[1] (born 13 November 1971) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Leicestershire since the 2015 general election.[2]

Early life

Costa was born to Italian parents who have lived in Scotland for 50 years.[3][4] He grew up in Bishopbriggs attending Turnbull High School. He trained as a solicitor and worked at the Treasury Solicitor's Department.[5]

Political career

At the 2010 general election, Costa unsuccessfully contested the Angus constituency; where he finished in second place behind the sitting MP Mike Weir of the Scottish National Party.[6]

Costa was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 EU referendum.[7]

He currently leads the House of Commons delegation of MPs affiliated to the Conservative Friends of Greece parliamentary group,[8] he is also co-Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Italy,[9] co-Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Medical Cannabis under Prescription[10] and Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Microplastics.[11]

Since 2018, he has campaigned against the release of the convicted child-killer Colin Pitchfork, who murdered two girls in the South Leicestershire constituency in the 1980s.[12] Pitchfork was released from prison on 1 September 2021 before being recalled to prison weeks later for breaching his licence conditions.[13] On 13 July 2022, Costa asked the Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the Government's help in intervening in Pitchfork's next parole hearing which was scheduled to take place in September 2022.

On 27 February 2019, he was asked to resign, and did so, from his role as parliamentary private secretary in the Scotland Office following his tabling of an amendment to protect rights of EU citizens. Shortly before his resignation, Home Secretary Sajid Javid backed the amendment in a committee meeting and said that the Government would support it.[14] It was later passed unopposed, approved 'on the nod' by the Commons.[15]

In 2019, Costa sent a survey to 11,000 residents in villages close to the site of the proposed Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange.[16] In February 2020, he held a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament to discuss the plans and local concerns in more detail,[17] in June 2022 he held a further debate in Parliament on the proposals.[18]

He has also been campaigned for safety improvements to be made to the A5 road in South Leicestershire, specifically the High Cross and Smockington Hollow junctions which are known locally as accident blackspots,[19] in January 2020 he welcomed £3 million improvements put forward by National Highways to improve safety.[20]

In January 2021, he asked the then Vaccination Minister Nadhim Zahawi to reopen the Feilding Palmer Hospital in Lutterworth as a vaccination hub during the COVID-19 pandemic,[21] the hospital was then reopened as a vaccination hub in February 2021.[22] In June 2021, Costa asked the then Health Secretary Sajid Javid for his help in keeping the Feilding Palmer Hospital in Lutterworth open.[23]

In November 2021, he called on the government to allow more prescriptions of medical cannabis to children with rare forms of epilepsy, citing the case of two of his young constituents.[24]

Linked to his work as Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Microplastics, Costa introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill in Parliament on 30 November 2021, the 'Microplastic Filters (Washing Machine) Bill' required washing machine manufacturers to fit microplastic catching filters in new washing machines to help stop microplastic pollution.[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9123.
  2. ↑ "Leicestershire South Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017. BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. ↑ Rhodes, Mandy (3 March 2019). "It cost him his job but MP Alberto Costa revealed a common decency despite Brexit". The Sunday Post. DC Thomson Media. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "British MP of Italian origin makes plea to PM for parents' right to remain". New Europeans. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Simmons, Richard (10 April 2015). "Meet the lawyers standing for Parliament". The Lawyer. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Tories choose Alberto Costa to stand for South Leicestershire in 2015 General Election, after Andrew Robathan decided not to defend his seat". Leicester Mercury. Local World. 6 December 2014. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Who we are". Conservative Friends of Greece. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "Italy APPG". www.parallelparliament.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Medical Cannabis under Prescription APPG". www.parallelparliament.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "Microplastics APPG". www.parallelparliament.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  12. ↑ Fagan, Ciaran (11 January 2018). "This is all we're allowed to know about Pitchfork's time in jail". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Double child killer Colin Pitchfork sent back to prison". BBC News. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  14. ↑ O'Carroll, Lisa (27 February 2019). "Confusion reigns over Brexit amendment as Tory MP sacked". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  15. ↑ Sparrow, Andrew (27 February 2019). "Hardline Tory Brexiters split as MPs overwhelmingly back move to allow vote to extend article 50 – Politics live". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  16. ↑ Dawson, Nick (30 August 2019). "Most residents oppose Hinckley rail hub plans, survey finds". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange". Parliament of the United Kingdom. 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  18. ↑ "Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange". Parliament of the United Kingdom. 14 June 2022. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  19. ↑ Dawson, Nick (20 November 2021). "Call for action on A5 crash blackspot after another death". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  20. ↑ Jones, Chris (20 January 2020). "Highways England to make £3m safety improvements to A5". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Feilding Palmer Hospital". Parliament of the United Kingdom. 12 January 2021. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  22. ↑ "Lutterworth hospital's reopening praised by local MP". InYourArea.co.uk. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "Covid-19 Update". Parliament of the United Kingdom. 28 June 2021. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  24. ↑ Patel, Asha (10 November 2021). "MP says medical cannabis should be prescribed more freely". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  25. ↑ "Microplastic Filters (Washing Machines) Bill". Conservative Environment Network. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  26. ↑ Dunphy, Finvola (1 December 2021). "Washing machines could help tackle microplastics, says MP". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
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