Steve Double

On 12 March 2019, in a Commons debate on Brexit, Double said of May's proposed deal: "This is a turd of a deal, which has now been taken away and polished, and is now a polished turd. But it might be the best turd that we’ve got."

In August 2019, Double was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department of Health and Social Care. Commenting, he said: “I am pleased the Prime Minister has asked me to join his team as a PPS for the Department of Health. This is an unpaid position and I will be supporting Health Ministers in their work in Parliament. I was offered a PPS post by the previous Government but declined due to it not being the right time for me. However, with a new Prime Minister with a positive and energetic programme for our country I am pleased to now accept this invitation to join his team in government. Serving and representing the people of the St Austell and Newquay constituency on local and national issues will always be my priority, and I aim to use this position to ensure that I am able to do this even more effectively.”

In December 2019, Double was re-elected as Member of Parliament for St Austell & Newquay with an increased majority of 16,526. He received 31,273 votes - up by 6.5 percentage points since his previous election in 2017.

In December 2018, during the no-confidence vote against Theresa May as leader of the party, Double said he would vote against the then-Prime Minister.

In September 2017, Double was one of five MPs who backed the Government Departments (Abolition) Bill, which would have resulted in the abolition of the Department for International Development - effectively ending the management of UK aid to foreign countries. He also backed a Bill calling for a new bank holiday to celebrate Brexit.

Double supported Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum.

In June 2016, Double admitted an extra-marital affair with a married 26-year-old aide. Double had reportedly kept this secret from his wife of 30 years. The BBC later reported that Double's constituency party deputy chairman had resigned, suggesting Double, who had claimed to promote family life, should do the same. They also examined the public's changing view of morality and quoted political historian Matt Cole who said that whilst the public was now more tolerant of infidelity, it did object to hypocrisy. In February 2017, Double participated in a Westminster Hall debate about marriage, stating that he was "surprised... to learn that last year the Government spent more money on repairing cathedrals than on supporting marriage and family relationships." He called on the government to "put more resources into supporting marriage".

Double was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Austell and Newquay at the 2015 general election, when he defeated the incumbent Liberal Democrat Steve Gilbert. He was re-elected at the 2017 general election.

At its establishment in 2009, Double was one of four candidates elected onto St Austell Town Council for the Poltair Ward; he was re-elected in 2013 and served as deputy mayor of the town. He declined to stand at the following election in 2017, having since become an MP. Double was also elected as the Conservative Party candidate onto the new unitary Cornwall Council in 2009 for the St Austell Poltair Ward, but the seat was subsequently won by the Liberal Democrats candidate at the following election in 2013. Double did not stand for re-election to Cornwall Council in 2013.

Double has been married to Anne Bird since 1986; they have two sons. Double employs his wife as a Senior Caseworker on a salary up to £30,000. He was listed in an article in The Daily Telegraph which criticised the practice of MPs employing family members, on the lines that it promotes nepotism. Although MPs who were first elected in 2017 have been banned from employing family members, the restriction is not retrospective - meaning that Double's employment of his wife is lawful.

Stephen Daniel Double (born 19 December 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Austell and Newquay since 2015.

Double was born on the 19 December 1966 in St Austell. The son of the evangelist Don Double, he was educated at Poltair School in the town. He worked in Cornwall across a variety of sectors, including working for a bank, local church and charity. From May 2001, he was Director of Bay Direct Media Ltd, a direct marketing company. In May 2011, he additionally became Director of Phoenix Corporate Ltd, a company selling branded merchandise; he remains as Director and primary shareholder of both companies since becoming an MP.