It takes all types to make a parliament. The House of Commons is a veritable menagerie full of rich and exotic creatures – and few embody that better than Dr Jamie Wallis. Within mere weeks of his election in 2019, Wallis was forced to deny reports that he had been a co-owner of a ‘sugar daddy’ dating website.
Less than two years on, Wallis again hit the headlines in late 2021 after crashing his car in the early hours of the morning. He was eventually fined £2,500 and disqualified from driving for six months after being found guilty of failing to stop and report an accident; the District Judge Tan Ikram sniffed that he ‘didn’t find the defendant credible.’
And then of course there was his announcement in the early hours of a March morning that he had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and was a victim of rape and blackmail. Wallis wrote on Twitter that he is trans ‘or to be more accurate, I want to be’, prompting a wave of support from across Westminster for the first openly trans MP in the Commons.
Now Wallis has achieved another first, becoming the first openly trans MP of the Women and Equalities Select Committee. The appointment happened last night in a little-noticed move, with Sir Bill Wiggin moving a motion on behalf of the Committee of Selection to add Wallis and Mark Jenkinson to the panel, in place of Theo Clark and Philip Davies.
Will the move keep Wallis out of trouble? Steerpike looks forward to finding out…
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