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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Civil society minister’s scalp taken in GE17 drama

This news post is over 7 years old
 

​Rob Wilson saw his majority collapse

The UK’s minister for civil society was a high profile casualty of the Corbyn general election surge.

Tory Rob Wilson lost his Reading East seat to Labour’s Matt Rodda in a dramatic night.

Rob Wilson
Rob Wilson

Wilson, who had a majority of 6,520 in the 2015 general election, was defeated after a 16% swing to his opponent.

He had been the charities minister since 2014, and took over following the resignation of his controversial predecessor Brooks Newmark, who famously said that rather than campaigning on contentious issues, charities should stick to their knitting.

John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, paid tribute to Wilson, saying: ““I would like to thank Rob Wilson for his hard work as minister for civil society.

“Rob’s commitment to the National Citizen Service has helped to create opportunities for thousands of young people to experience social action, and his support for the #givingtuesday campaign has helped it become established as the biggest international day of giving. We wish him and his family all the best for the future, and look forward to continuing our positive working relationship with his successor.”