Sir Edward Leigh reaches a remarkable milestone in public service.

Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh was first elected to Parliament on 9th June 1983 as th MP for Gainsborough & Horncastle, with the constituency later reverting to the Gainsborough Constituency following a boundary review in 1997.

Looking back to 1924, the Constituency has been represented by just three Members of Parliament, all of them Conservatives: - Harry Crookshank from 1924-1956; Marcus Kimball from 1956-1983 and Sir Edward since then. This must be something of a record and makes Sir Edward not only the longest serving of the three but he is also one of only five Conservative members elected in 1983 who still sit in Parliament.

In view of this remarkable achievement, members of the Gainsborough Association came together on Friday 23rd June at Norton Place (home of Cllr Adam Duguid), to not only acknowledge Sir Edward's 40 year milestone, but also to thank him and Lady Mary for their hard work on behalf of all constituents, their support for the Association and its Officers, and to wish them well as the work continues.

We were delighted to be joined by our guest speaker, the Rt. Hon Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg MP and also Martin Vickers MP who has a long association with the Gainsborough Constituency.