Chris Coghlan is the Liberal Democrat MP for Dorking and Horley, and has been an MP continually since 4 July 2024. Sits on the Treasury Committee.
Overall, across health & social care this Parliament
Alive and kicking!
Ranks 228th of 1273 MPs and peers who have spoken on health or care this Parliament — top 18%. 28 contributions since 2024-09-02.
What they’ve raised
Coghlan has predominantly engaged through Commons debate speeches (27) focused on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with recurring emphasis on preventable deaths among autistic and learning-disabled children resulting from local authority failures and misuse of the Mental Capacity Act. He has championed legislative reform, including introducing a Mental Capacity (Duty to Assess) Bill in honour of Christopher Laskaris, and consistently called for greater local authority accountability, transparency, and early intervention funding. His contributions also address cancer research funding and broader health issues affecting vulnerable constituents, drawing on detailed case examples and family testimonies to illustrate systemic governance failures.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
Record by topic
- Learning disability & autism29th of 89868.5
- Cancer176th of 6139.0
- Mental health380th of 8679.0
- Dentistry access99th of 1913.0
- Elderly care & frailty72nd of 2273.0
- Palliative & end of life care318th of 5523.0
What they’ve said
“I have given the Government evidence that hundreds of children with special educational needs and disabilities are avoidably killing themselves because of public authority negligence and misconduct, including my constituent Jen Bridges-Chalkley.”
Public Office (Accountability) Bill · 2026-07-14 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…The Bill is in honour of Christopher Laskaris, whose mum Fiona is here. Christopher was not unlike many autistic children; he was a sensitive and intelligent boy, who once asked his mum to stop on the way to school to rescue a lamb stuck in a fence. I first met Fiona when I was eight.”
Mental Capacity (Duty to Assess) · 2026-07-08 · Read on Hansard ↗
“I entirely agree. An under-resourced officer can still determine need, still issue an EHCP and still be transparent about what cannot yet be delivered. That, at least, is honest.”
SEND Provision and Reform · 2026-04-13 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…I have enormous respect for him, but his underlying argument is flawed, because there is the same number of SEND children now as there was in 2010 and in 1978. The question is why the number fell so much up to 2016 and then rose, and I would suggest that the answer probably has something to do with the scrapping of Sur…”
SEND Provision and Reform · 2026-04-13 · Read on Hansard ↗