Douglas was elected Member of Parliament for Harwich and Clacton in May 2005.

Born in 1971, Douglas grew up in Africa where his parents worked as doctors amongst some extremely poor communities. His father, Wilson Carswell, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, diagnoised the first confirmed cases of HIV/AIDS in Uganda in the early 1980's and was instrumental in drawing the world's attention to the unfolding pandemic.

Douglas went to St Andrew's School, Turi, in Kenya and then Charterhouse in the UK. He read history at the University of East Anglia and at King’s College, London.

After university, Douglas worked in investment management. Douglas also worked in the Conservative Party's Policy Unit, run by David Cameron.

Douglas first stood for Parliament in 2001 against Tony Blair, as the Conservative candidate for Sedgefield. He apologises for coming second, but did manage to cut Blair's majority by over 7,500 votes.

Not yet married, Douglas is keen on swimming, running, riding and fencing. Douglas recently took up gardening and shares an organic vegetable patch with various slugs and snails. He also paints the occasional watercolour (albeit with greater enthusiasm than skill).

Dod's political biography describes Douglas as being "Tall and Eurosceptic ... one of his party’s radical thinkers".

Douglas co-founded the Direct Democracy group of younger Conservative MPs, MEPs and activists, which according to the First Post, is now "one of the top six Tory think tanks ... and has even persuaded Cameron to pledge more power to the people".

Their book, "Direct Democracy" was decribed by the Spectator on June 2 2007 as being "One of the founding texts of the new, revitalised Toryism", which had "argued compellingly that the party should embrace radical localism". A number of ideas outlined in it have since become mainstream Conservative thinking; Direct Democracy's call for directly elected police chiefs is now party policy, as is the proposal to radically decentralise power from Whitehall to the town halls, and the use of open primaries to select Party candidates.

Douglas continues to develop new ideas on the decentralisation of the NHS, re-thinking defence, public hearings for judicial appointments and the democratisation of quangos.

A recent paper for the Institute of Economic Affairs called for a new legal right to empower parents. In a paper for the Adam Smith Institute, Douglas called for the abolition of the Council Tax and for VAT to be converted into a local sales tax, to make local authorities self-financing.

Achieving Britain’s independence is one of Douglas' overriding political interests.

Douglas serves on the House of Commons Education Select Committee. He also sits on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, from where he has begun a campaign for Britain to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Garden Grabbing reaches epidemic proportions in Tendring - says MP

Douglas Carswell MP has uncovered shocking new information about the scale of "garden grabbing" in Tendring. [26 June 2007]

Gazette - Commons Diary with Douglas Carswell MP

I have been busy in Parliament, and at my local Advice Surgeries, representing local people. [27 June 2007]

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Clacton-on-Sea

Clacton-on-Sea was named in November 1864 when newspapers carried advertisements for cliff-top development land at a time when other resorts were mushrooming.

The land was close to Great Clacton village - from which the town took its name. By 1882 the town had a railway branch-line, crucial to the development of the resort.

The town boomed as a seaside resort between the world wars. It became linked in the 1960s with the pirate radio ship Radio Caroline which was broadcasting from nearby off the Essex coast.

By 1970s, as a resort Clacton became known for caravan holidays, guest houses and small hotels, all drawing heavily on their closeness to east London.

Today, modern holiday facilities have been developed, which include golf courses, private fishing lakes and tennis courts, as well as undercover facilities including a heated leisure pool, ten bowling and electronic games.

Clacton-on-Sea buzzes with holidaymakers in summer, drawn by miles of sandy beaches, a reputation for being one of the hottest and driest parts of the country, and lots of places for visitors to stay, much of it low cost.

The town is linked by road and rail to Colchester and from there to London 70 miles away.