Sir Robert Goodwill

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Chair and MP for Scarborough and Whitby

Robert was first elected in May 2005, winning the seat from Labour. He served 18 months as a Member of the Transport Select Committee and in 2006 Robert was promoted to the front bench, serving in the Oppositional Whips’ office having departmental responsibilities for DEFRA business.

In the 2010 General Election, Robert was re-elected for a second term, increasing his majority from 1,247 to 8,130 achieving a swing of 6.8% from Labour to Conservative. In March 2019 Robert was appointed as a Minister of State at Defra. 

Robert has been a farmer of 250 acres of land near Malton since 1979, where his family have farmed since 1850. He has been the managing director of Mowthorpe Ltd since 1995, a company that offers environmentally friendly burials in the North Yorkshire countryside. With his wealth of experience, he was elected Chair of EFRA following the resignation of Neil Parish as an MP on 4 May 2022.