Claim 9964c0cdChecked 21 Jul 2026
Not Enough EvidenceOn the truth scale
Inconclusive — not enough public evidence to rate.
Kemi Badenoch declined to take up the chairmanship of the all-party parliamentary group on cricket.
Mrs Kemi BadenochConservativeCon / North West Essex·Engagements·03 Jun 2026Factual · historical current chronological
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
The claim concerns a private interaction — whether Sir Alan Haselhurst encouraged Badenoch to take up the chairmanship of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Cricket, and whether she declined. The public records confirm that Badenoch has never served as an officer or member of the Cricket APPG, and the current chair is Andrew Lewin (Labour MP for Welwyn Hatfield). However, the specific assertion that she was *encouraged* to take the role and *declined* it rests entirely on a private conversation between Badenoch and Haselhurst. There is no public record of any such offer or encouragement, and no way to independently verify what was said between them in private. The outcome (she is not chair) is consistent with the claim, but the private encouragement and decline cannot be corroborated by public evidence. Sources: Parliament UK - APPG officer roles for Mrs Kemi Badenoch (https://members.parliament.uk/member/4597/appgofficerroles); Parallel Parliament - Cricket APPG (https://parallelparliament.co.uk/APPG/cricket); Parallel Parliament - Kemi Badenoch profile (https://parallelparliament.co.uk/mp/kemi-badenoch)
From speech
I echo the Prime Minister’s words on Lance Corporal James Freeman and about the Royal Navy helicopter crash in Devon. I also send my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Henry Nowak. The circumstances around Henry’s wrongful arrest and tragic murder must be a wake-up call to the entire country and our institutions that every life matters, and it is the responsibility of everyone in this House to bring people together, not divide them. Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Sir Alan Haselhurst—Lord Haselhurst—who died on Monday. Sir Alan served Parliament for over 50 years, eight of them in the Lords and 40 years as my predecessor as MP for Saffron Walden, while from 1970 to 1974 he was the Member of Parliament for Middleton and Prestwich. He was respected on all sides of this House, and was elected multiple times as your predecessor as Deputy Speaker, before he concluded in the other place. Apart from serving his constituents, Sir Alan’s greatest passion in Parliament and perhaps in life was cricket, as you said, Mr Speaker. He was chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on cricket, a role which he encouraged me to take up and which I graciously declined, telling him I knew absolutely nothing about cricket. However, I think colleagues should know that Sir Alan’s intense lobbying is the reason that Sky Sports can be found on the parliamentary TV network. There is so much to say, but just to let everyone know, he was a good and kind man and he will be very much missed. My thoughts are with his wife Angela, his children Mark, David and Emma, and his grandchildren. May I ask the Prime Minister by how much the welfare bill has risen since he came to office?
Sources opened
[1]members.parliament.uk
https://members.parliament.uk/member/4597/appgofficerroles
[2]parallelparliament.co.uk
https://parallelparliament.co.uk/APPG/cricket
[3]parallelparliament.co.uk
https://parallelparliament.co.uk/mp/kemi-badenoch
[4]parallelparliament.co.uk
https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/APPGs
[5]bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk
https://www.bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk/news/conservative-party-leader-kemi-badenoch-pays-tribute-to-form-9468538/
[6]theyworkforyou.com
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/11946/mark_pritchard/the_wrekin/memberships
[7]theyworkforyou.com
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/10143/lord_cryer/memberships
[8]politics.co.uk
https://www.politics.co.uk/reference/sir-alan-haselhurst/
[9]linkedin.com
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lauren-edwards-rae_lovely-to-meet-richard-gould-chair-of-the-activity-7338504258792697860-_XIj
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