Hendon’s MP Matthew Offord married his finance, Claire Rowles, on Saturday 12th June 2010 at Kintbury Church near Newbury before attending their reception at Highclere Castle, home of Lord and Lady Carnarvon.
Politics was a strong theme of the wedding as Claire was given away by her father, Councillor Andrew Rowles of Elcot near Newbury and the Groom’s Best man is also a councillor in Cumbria. The service was attended by no less than 4 MPs (including Matthew), 1 peer, 1 Council Leader, 1 Greater London Assembly Member, 5 councillors and the Chief Executive of a local authority.
During the service the traditional hymns of I Vow to Thee my Country and Jerusalem were accompanied by a more recent hymn in the form of the Beatles All You Need is Love. The Bride and Groom also opted for a less than traditional first dance as they launched into the final dance from the film Dirty Dancing.
The couple also received a letter from the Prime Minister and Mrs Cameron congratulating them on their marriage. In it David Cameron said:
“It is always encouraging to see new colleagues putting into action our key manifesto pledges. Matthew has wasted no time in doing this. Just weeks after the new Coalition Government published our future programme and outlined our belief that strong and stable families of all kinds are the bedrock of a strong and stable society, we see Matthew publicly demonstrating his commitment to our plan by marrying Claire today. I am delighted for you both, and hope Matthew will go on to embrace our other pledges with just as much enthusiasm and commitment!”
The Bride wore a dress designed by Peter Langner from Browns Brides in London.
Matthew said “Our wedding was a perfect day as the sun shone on us and our family and friends. We were very touched as people had travelled from as far afield as Australia, the Caymen Islands, Scotland, Carlisle, Leeds and the Isle of Wight. Being married to a politician is different and I think that our wedding reflected that.”