The British Furniture Confederation (BFC,) the UK’s furniture and beds, furnishings and floorcoverings industry’s political lobbying consortium, has announced the relaunch of its All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the furniture and furnishings industry, with a full complement of new chairman, officers and members.

All Party Parliamentary Groups, which are established to represent specific collective interests in government circles as opposed to purely constituency matters, are disbanded when a General Election is called and reformed when a new Government is installed. Under new rules, four officers, including a chairman and a further 16 members, from all sides of the House and the Lords, are required in order to form a Group. Additionally MPs and Peers are only allowed to join up to six APPGs – and not at all if they have a Government post.

Adam Thompson, Labour MP for Erewash has been appointed chairman of the new APPFIG. The other officers are Labour peer Baroness Winifred Ann Taylor of Bolton, Greg Smith MP (Conservative, Mid Buckinghamshire) and Sarah Smith MP (Labour, Hyndburn). All four officers either have significant furniture enterprises in their constituencies or strong links to the sector.  Adam Thompson’s Erewash constituency includes the furniture heartland of Long Eaton. Baroness Taylor was twice elected MP for bed industry hub Dewsbury in the 2000s).

“As the member of parliament for Erewash, I’m really pleased to be taking on the chair ship of this all-party parliamentary group” said Adam Thompson. “The £41 billion furniture and beds, furnishings and floorcoverings sector is a significant contributor to the UK economy and employs over a quarter of a million people in more than 33,000 enterprises, many of which are in my constituency. In Erewash, we are home to Long Eaton, the UK centre of upholstery manufacturing, and it is a hugely important part of our local economy.”

Jonathan Hindle, chairman of the British Furniture Confederation (BFC), which works closely with the APPFIG to further its lobbying efforts, welcomed the formation of the new APPFIG and in particular Adam’s appointment “I’m delighted to welcome Adam as chairman of our new All Party Group.  Adam’s constituency is a furniture industry hub so he already knows and understands many of our issues – as set out in our recently launched Plan for Growth. I’m sure Adam and the rest of the APPFIG officers and members will help us ensure the furniture industry’s voice is heard both on these industry specific challenges and wider ones currently facing the country as a whole. We are looking forward to getting down to business!”

The APPFIG’s other newly appointed members are:

• James Wild MP (Con, North West Norfolk)
• Lee Anderson MP (Reform, Ashfield)
• Alex McIntyre MP (Lab, Gloucester)
• Lauren Sullivan MP (Lab, Gravesham)
• Alistair Strathern MP (Lab, Hitchin)
• Andy MacNae MP (Lab, Rossendale and Darwen)
• Anneliese Midgley MP (Lab, Knowsley)
• Dr Jeevun Sandher MP (Lab, Loughborough)
• Sean Woodcock MP (Lab, Banbury)
• Amanda Hack MP (Lab, North West Leicestershire)
• Antonia Bance MP (Lab, Tipton and Wednesbury)
• Sadik Al-Hassan MP (Lab, North Somerset)
• James Naish MP (Lab, Rushcliffe)
• Maya Ellis MP (Lab, Ribble Valley)
• Joe Morris MP (Lab, Hexham)
• Laurence Turner MP (Lab, Birmingham Northfield)