By Matthew Barrett
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The annual Parliamentary Boat Race was held yesterday, with the House of Commons team beating their House of Lords colleagues for the third year running.
The Commons team consisted of the following Members:
- Edward Leigh (Con, Gainsborough)
- Matt Hancock (Con, West Suffolk)
- Matthew Offord (Con, Hendon)
- Claire Perry (Con, Devizes)
- George Freeman (Con, Mid Norfolk)
- John Stevenson (Con, Carlisle)
- Dan Byles (Con, North Warwickshire)
- Eric Joyce (Lab, Falkirk)
The Lords team consisted of:
- Lord Thomas of Gresford
- The Lord Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall
- The Lord St John of Bletso
- The Earl of Courtdown
- The Lord Addington
- The Viscount Goschen
- The Baroness Walmsley
- The Lord Bilimoria
The Commons team had the advantage of a former Blue at Oxford (Claire Perry), a Guinness World Record-holder (Dan Byles (for more info, see his Wikipedia entry here)), and seasoned veterans Edward Leigh and Eric Joyce. As well as those experienced team-members, the Commons had Matt Hancock, who stepped in to the team at the very last moment, and first-timer John Stevenson. Matthew Offord took over the captaincy of the team after the retirement of Don Foster (Lib, Bath), last year. Foster announced, on a point of order on the floor of the Commons, the result of the Race after the BSkyB debate finished yesterday evening. Matthew said:
"Those early morning training session certainly came in handy but the power, skill and experience of a first-rate crew ensured our victory over the Lords."
Photo of the team (click to enlarge) (from left-to-right) Edward Leigh, Matt Hancock, Matthew Offord, Claire Perry, Helen (Cox), George Freeman, John Stevenson, Dan Byles and Eric Joyce:
Dan Byles also tweeted this photo after the event, reporting the Boat Race had raised £5,000 for charity (and see more pics on his Twitter page here):