Chris became Member of Parliament for Ipswich on November 22nd 2001 and was re-elected in the General Election held in May 2005.

Chris was appointed in June 2007 to the position of Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Local Government Minister John Healey MP.

 Chris has previously been a member of the highly influential Science and Technology Select Committee.

In the last parliament, Chris served as a member of the Select Committee that scrutinised the work of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Deregulation and Regulatory Affairs Select Committee and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Chris steered his Private Member's Bill onto the Statute Book where it became the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003.

He was Deputy Chair of EEDA, the regional development agency for the East of England, from 1998 and was Leader of Suffolk County Council, named Council of the Year 2001, until his election as Member of Parliament. Chris was first elected to Suffolk County Council in 1985 and represented central Ipswich for 18 years.

During his time as leader of the council Chris was known for his drive for financial efficiency which saved £55 million over eight years while delivering a massive increase locally in nursery places, sheltered housing with extra care and two £1.4 million Park and Ride schemes for Ipswich,

Chris holds a degree in electronics from the University of Kent and moved to Ipswich in 1981 to work at the BT Laboratories at Martlesham Heath near Ipswich.

He lives in East Ipswich with his wife Shona,
a systems analyst for BT in Ipswich, and their
two sons Ted, aged 15, and Tom aged 12.
Their sons go to a local state school and Chris
was a school governor for over ten years.