The comeback no one was asking for: Guido can reveal Anna Soubry is emerging from her cave to once again stand for election… this time for the Bar Council. With the Bar already insufficiently staffed with embittered remainers, Soubry is pitching to “offer [her] time” – given she has plenty nowadays – along with using her “experience and connections in Parliament” to impress her new colleagues. Soubry’s latest career goal is a surprise given she’s previously denied having any experience propping up the bar…

Read her full manifesto below:

“Tell us something about you, your practice and other professional activities at the Bar with which you are involved?

I was called to the Bar in 1995 having completed by Bar finals (I read law at Birmingham University and began my Bar finals over 40 years ago). I practised at the criminal bar in Nottingham for 16 years on the Midland circuit with a largely defence practise. I was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2010 serving as a Government minister in a number of departments finally attending Cabinet in 2015-2016. I lost my seat in 2019. I returned to my Nottingham chambers last year because I enjoy the work and the camaraderie of the bar. I am acutely aware of the crisis in the criminal justice system and the consequences for the bar. I am a staunch believer in an independent bar and have done what I can over the years to support and further the independent bar.

What can you offer the Bar Council?

I offer my time (I returned to chambers on the basis I would ‘help out’ rather than develop a new practise), my experience and connections in Parliament and politics and my commitment to the work of the Bar Council and the independent Bar.

What is your motivation for standing for the Bar Council in these elections?

I want to give my time, experience and connections to the profession I am very proud to be a member of. The Bar was very good to me when I first practised in Nottingham. During my time as a Member of Parliament I wish I had done much more to defend and promote the independent Bar – especially criminal and family practitioners who rely on publicly funded work. I want to do what I can now to protect and enhance our profession.”