On Saturday 11th July, Andrew Rosindell was joined by family, friends, fellow politicians and a host of celebrities at a star-studded event at London Zoo to celebrate his 25 years of elected public service as both a Member of Parliament and a local Councillor in Romford.
He was elected as a councillor for the Chase Cross Ward in 1990 (gaining the seat from the Liberals) and as the MP for Romford in 2001 (gaining the seat from Labour). 2015 therefore marks his twenty-fifth consecutive year of public service for the people Romford – representing them in both in the Town Hall and in Parliament.
Andrew has held a ‘Victory Dinner’ every year since 2002, when he celebrated the first anniversary of his election as a Member of Parliament. This year, the Dinner was held at London Zoo, with over 250 people in attendance. In addition to hundreds of local supporters and friends from Romford, there were also several television personalities, diplomats and parliamentarians in attendance. Amongst the 250+ guests were the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, The Rt. Hon. Lindsay Hoyle M.P., Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, The Rt. Hon. Chris Grayling M.P., the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, The Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers M.P., and former First Sea Lord, The Rt. Hon. Lord West, as well as comedy actress, Su Pollard.
The Guests of Honour was the Lord Jeffrey Archer of Weston-Super-Mare, in attendance with his wife, Dame Mary Archer. Andrew and Jeffrey have known each other for over thirty years, and Jeffrey was one of first people to encourage him to become an M.P.
The evening began with a welcome reception of ‘Pimms with the Penguins’ at Penguin Beach in which Andrew and guests were invited to feed the penguins with sardines!
Guests were then treated to a 3 dinner, interspersed with speeches congratulating Andrew for his long record of service. In addition to the speeches, guests were also treated to songs from singer Patti Boulaye O.B.E., as well as a Charity Auction, conducted by both Nigel Evans M.P. and ITV News Presenter, Charlene White. Proceeds went to the Orangutan Appeal U.K., Andrew’s chosen charity for the evening.
Following the event, Andrew said:
“It’s been wonderful to be able to celebrate a quarter century of public service this evening in the company of so many friends, family and colleagues. I am very proud to have been elected by the people of Romford in seven different elections over the past twenty five years. There is no greater honour for an M.P. than to be able to represent their home town, and I want to thank everyone for their magnificent support for me over such a long time. It truly was a special occasion, and its wonderful to know that we raised so much money for the Orangutans!”