Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, showed his support for St George’s Day when he attended a special reception in the House of Commons to commemorate England’s Patron Saint.
The event was organised by the Royal Society of St George which has as its Patron Her Majesty the Queen and which exists to ‘foster the love of England and to strengthen England and the Commonwealth by spreading the knowledge of English history, traditions and ideals’.
The St George’s Day event was attended by a number of MPs and Members of the House of Lords, as well as Commons staff and included the cutting of a commemorative cake to mark the occasion.
Speaking about the day Mark Francois said:
“I have found down the years that the other nations in the United Kingdom are not slow to celebrate their own Patron Saints and I do not think the English should be any exception. St George is an important part of our national character and the 23rd April is a day when we can remember him and celebrate our Englishness. I am quite a Shakespeare fan and the line in Henry V 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' has lived with me since my school days. I hope all of my constituents had fun celebrating St George’s Day, which is an important occasion in the national calendar.”