Tony Vaughan KC is the Labour MP for Folkestone and Hythe and the first MP of Filipino heritage in British history. Born in March 1982 to a mother who came to Britain from the Philippines, he grew up in Hitchin, read Law at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, took an LLM at SOAS, and was called to the bar in 2006, practising for 19 years at Doughty Street Chambers, one of the UK's leading human rights sets, a fuller profile than "immigration barrister" conveys.

He was appointed King's Counsel in March 2025, after entering Parliament, and is the only KC in the Commons besides the Prime Minister to take silk outside a ministerial role. In his legal career he represented people the Home Office classified as extremist threats in deportation cases, alongside asylum, trafficking and human rights work, and defends that record plainly: "Judges need high-quality lawyers to help them decide difficult cases." He raised his family in Folkestone, where he was a local charity trustee.

His win ended one of the longest unbroken holds in the country: Folkestone and Hythe had returned a Conservative at every general election since 1885, a 139 year run that included Michael Howard, the former Home Secretary and party leader. He has already secured a tangible result, lobbying successfully for the constituency to be one of only six areas in the South East chosen for the government's Neighbourhood Health Team pilot.

He sits on the Justice Committee, which matches his expertise, and the Petitions Committee, co-chairs the APPG on Refugees and chairs the All Party Parliamentary China Group. He has voted in 370 divisions with zero rebellions, despite his public criticism of asylum policy, and was elected in 2024 with 15,020 votes (34.7 percent) and a majority of 3,729 (8.6 percent), with Reform UK on 24.7 percent.

Vaughan's strengths include being the first MP of Filipino heritage, a Cambridge Law degree and SOAS LLM, 19 years at Doughty Street Chambers, KC awarded while in Parliament, the Neighbourhood Health Team pilot, the Justice Committee, the co-chair of the Refugees APPG, his Folkestone family ties, ending 139 years of Conservative representation, and a loyal voting record despite his policy criticism. His weaknesses include a 3,729 majority (8.6 percent), a 34.7 percent vote share with Reform at 24.7 percent, the extremist-deportation cases that could be used against him where migration is the defining issue, asylum-policy criticism that advertises electoral vulnerability, and the APPG China chair potentially drawing scrutiny. At 44, with Cambridge, SOAS, Doughty Street, the KC and the Filipino heritage, he has one of the most intellectually and personally distinctive profiles in the 2024 intake. Whether the Neighbourhood Health Team, the Justice Committee work and the asylum expertise produce visible Folkestone improvements will determine whether the 139-year first survives.