Crispin Blunt

Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt (born 15 July 1960) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Reigate from 1997 to 2024. Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, he was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Youth Justice within the Ministry of Justice from 2010 to 2012 and chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2015 until 2017. Blunt first entered the House of Commons at the 1997 general election, when he replaced the then MP Sir George Gardiner, who had been deselected by the Constituency Conservative Association Executive Council and joined the Referendum Party. In 2013, Blunt was deselected by the Constituency Executive Council, with speculation that this was due to his public announcement that he was gay. However, after a ballot of party members in Reigate, the decision was overturned by a margin of 5–1 and Blunt was reselected as the Conservative candidate for the 2015 general election. In October 2023, Blunt was arrested on suspicion of rape and possession of controlled substances, and released on conditional bail. He subsequently had the Conservative Party whip removed, continuing to sit as an independent MP until the dissolution of Parliament in May 2024. Blunt did not stand for re-election at the subsequent general election. In May 2025, the investigation into alleged rape was dropped by the police due to lack of evidence. In March 2026 at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Blunt admitted four drugs charges, including possession of crystal meth, GBL, amphetamine, and cannabis, that were found at his home following a chemsex party. He was convicted on all four counts and fined £1200. Crispin stated that it was the person who sold him the drugs that subsequently falsely accused him of rape as part of a blackmail and extortion attempt, and that...