1.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
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Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians, who are present or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, the Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, otherwise, the Privy Councils powers have now been largely replaced by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee consists of judges appointed as Privy Counsellors, predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland, the key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below, Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a court or curia regis. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration, later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. During Henry VIIIs reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation, the legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIIIs death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became an administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, but the sovereign relied on a smaller committee, by the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws, the forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons, the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs, the Council became known as the Protectors Privy Council, its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliaments approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protectors Council was abolished, Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. Under George I even more power transferred to this committee and it now began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the British Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the sovereign and it is closely related to the word private, and derives from the French word privé
2.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
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The office is a British Cabinet-level position. The chancellor is responsible for all economic and financial matters, equivalent to the role of Secretary of the Treasury or Minister of Finance in other nations. The position is considered one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is now always Second Lord of the Treasury as one of the Lords Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Treasurer. Formerly, in cases when the Chancellorship was vacant, the Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench would act as Chancellor pro tempore, the last Lord Chief Justice to serve in this way was Lord Denman in 1834. The earliest surviving records which are the results of the audit, date from 1129–30 under King Henry I. The Chancellor controlled monetary policy as well as fiscal policy until 1997, the Chancellor also has oversight of public spending across Government departments. The current Chancellor of the Exchequer is Philip Hammond and he is entrusted with a certain amount of misery which it is his duty to distribute as fairly as he can. The Chancellor has considerable control over other departments as it is the Treasury which sets Departmental Expenditure Limits, the amount of power this gives to an individual Chancellor depends on his personal forcefulness, his status within his party and his relationship with the Prime Minister. Gordon Brown, who became Chancellor when Labour came into Government in 1997, had a personal power base in the party. One part of the Chancellors key roles involves the framing of the annual year budget, as of 2017, the first is the Autumn Budget, also known as Budget Day which forecasts government spending in the next financial year and also announces new financial measures. The second is a Spring Statement, also known as a mini-Budget, britains tax year has retained the old Julian end of year,24 March /5 April. From 1993, the Budget was in spring, preceded by an annual autumn statement. This was then called Pre-Budget Report, the Autumn Statement usually took place in November or December. The 1997,2001,2002,2003,2006,2007,2008,2012 and 2016 Budgets were all delivered on a Wednesday, although the Bank of England is responsible for setting interest rates, the Chancellor also plays an important part in the monetary policy structure. He sets the target which the Bank must set interest rates to meet. Under the Bank of England Act 1998 the Chancellor has the power of appointment of four out of nine members of the Banks Monetary Policy Committee – the so-called external members. The Act also provides that the Government has the power to give instructions to the Bank on interest rates for a period in extreme circumstances. This power has never officially used. At HM Treasury the Chancellor is supported by a team of four junior ministers
3.
Gordon Brown
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James Gordon Brown is a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Blair Government from 1997 to 2007, Brown was a Member of Parliament from 1983 to 2015, first for Dunfermline East and later for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. A doctoral graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Brown spent his career working as both a lecturer at a further education college and a television journalist. He entered Parliament in 1983 as the MP for Dunfermline East and he joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1989 as Shadow Secretary of State for Trade, and was later promoted to become Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1992. After Labours victory in 1997, he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 2007, Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister and Labour Leader and Brown was chosen to replace him in an uncontested election. Brown remained in office as Labour negotiated to form a government with the Liberal Democrats. On 10 May 2010, Brown announced he would stand down as leader of the Labour Party, Labours attempts to retain power failed and on 11 May, he officially resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by David Cameron, and as Leader of the Labour Party by Ed Miliband, later, Brown played a prominent role in the campaign surrounding the Scottish independence referendum of 2014, galvanising support behind maintaining the union. Brown was born at the Orchard Maternity Nursing Home in Giffnock, Renfrewshire and his father was John Ebenezer Brown, a minister of the Church of Scotland and a strong influence on Brown. He died in December 1998, aged 84 and his mother, Jessie Elizabeth Brown, known as Bunty, died on 19 September 2004, aged 86. She was the daughter of John Souter, a timber merchant, the family moved to Kirkcaldy – then the largest town in Fife, across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh – when Gordon was three. Brown was brought up there with his elder brother John and younger brother Andrew Brown in a manse, in common with many other notable Scots, he is therefore often referred to as a son of the manse. At age sixteen he wrote that he loathed and resented this ludicrous experiment on young lives and he was accepted by the University of Edinburgh to study history at the same early age of sixteen. During an end-of-term rugby union match at his old school, he received a kick to the head and this left him blind in his left eye, despite treatment including several operations and weeks spent lying in a darkened room. Later at Edinburgh, while playing tennis, he noticed the symptoms in his right eye. Brown underwent experimental surgery at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and his eye was saved. In his youth at the University of Edinburgh, Brown was involved in a relationship with Margarita. Margarita said about it, It was a solid and romantic story
4.
George Osborne
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George Gideon Oliver Osborne, CH, PC is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been Member of Parliament for Tatton since June 2001. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2016, in March 2017 he was appointed editor of the London Evening Standard, a post he is due to take up in May. Osborne worked briefly as a freelancer for The Daily Telegraph before joining the Conservative Research Department in 1994, Osborne was elected as MP for Tatton in 2001, becoming the youngest Conservative member of the House of Commons. He was appointed Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury by Conservative leader Michael Howard in 2004, the following year he ran David Camerons successful party leadership campaign. Cameron then appointed him Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and, after the 2010 general election, as Chancellor, Osborne pursued austerity policies aimed at reducing the national debt. Following the 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union and Camerons consequent resignation, Osborne was sacked by newly appointed Prime Minister Theresa May, and returned to the backbenches. George Osborne was born in Paddington, London, as Gideon Oliver Osborne, in an interview in July 2005, he said, It was my small act of rebellion. When I finally told my mother she said, Nor do I, so I decided to be George after my grandfather, who was a war hero. Life was easier as a George, it was a straightforward name and he is the eldest of four boys. His father Sir Peter Osborne co-founded the firm of fabric and wallpaper designers Osborne & Little and his mother is Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, the daughter of artist Clarisse Loxton-Peacock. Osborne was educated at independent schools, Norland Place School, Colet Court, in 1990 he was awarded a demyship at Magdalen College, Oxford, where in 1993 he received a 2,1 bachelors degree in Modern History. Whilst there, he was a member of the Bullingdon Club and he also attended Davidson College in North Carolina for a semester, as a Dean Rusk Scholar. In 1993, Osborne intended to pursue a career in journalism and he was shortlisted for, but failed to gain a place on, The Times trainee scheme, he also applied to The Economist, where he was interviewed and rejected by Gideon Rachman. In the end, he had to settle for work on the Peterborough diary column of The Daily Telegraph. One of his Oxford friends, journalist George Bridges, alerted Osborne some time later to a vacancy at Conservative Central Office. Osborne joined the Conservative Research Department in 1994, and became head of its Political Section, one of his first roles was to go to Blackpool and observe the October 1994 Labour Party Conference. Between 1995 and 1997 he worked as an adviser to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Douglas Hogg. Osborne worked on Prime Minister John Majors campaign team in 1997, after the election, he again considered journalism, approaching The Times to be a leader writer, though nothing came of it
5.
President of the Board of Trade
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The President of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. The current holder is Liam Fox who is also the Secretary of State for International Trade, charles II established a Council of Trade on 7 November 1660 followed by a Council of Foreign Plantations on 1 December that year. The two were united on 16 September 1672 as the Board of Trade and Plantations, after the Board was re-established in 1696, there were 15 members of the Board - the 7 Great Officers of State, and 8 unofficial members, who did the majority of the work. The senior unofficial member of the board was the President of the Board, the board was abolished on 11 July 1782, but a Committee of the Privy Council was established on 5 March 1784 for the same purposes. On 23 August 1786 a new Committee was set up, more focused on commercial functions than the previous boards of trade. At first the President of the Board of Trade only occasionally sat in the Cabinet, but from the early 19th century it was usually a cabinet-level position
6.
Tony Blair
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Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and the Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. From 1983 to 2007, Blair was the MP for Sedgefield, under Blairs leadership, the party used the phrase New Labour, to distance it from previous Labour policies and the traditional conception of socialism. Critics of Blair denounced him for having the Labour Party abandon genuine socialism, in May 1997, the Labour Party won a landslide general election victory, the largest in its history, allowing Blair, at 43 years old, to become the youngest Prime Minister since 1812. In September 1997, Blair attained early personal popularity, receiving a 93% public approval rating, the Labour Party went on to win two more elections under his leadership, in 2001, in which it won another landslide victory, and in 2005, with a reduced majority. In the first years of the New Labour government, Blairs government introduced the National Minimum Wage Act, Human Rights Act, Blairs government also devolved power, establishing the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly. In Northern Ireland, Blair was involved in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, Blair has faced strong criticism for his role in the invasion of Iraq, including calls for having him tried for war crimes and waging a war of aggression. In 2016, the Iraq Inquiry strongly criticised his actions and described the invasion of Iraq as unjustified, Blair also intervened militarily in Kosovo and Sierra Leone. Blair was succeeded as the leader of the Labour Party and as Prime Minister by Gordon Brown in June 2007. On the day that Blair resigned as Prime Minister, he was appointed the official Special Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East and he now runs a consultancy business and has set up various foundations in his own name, including the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 6 May 1953 and he was the second son of Leo and Hazel Blair. Leo Blair was the son of two entertainers and adopted as a baby by Glasgow shipyard worker James Blair and his wife. Hazel Corscadden was the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher, in 1923 he returned to Ballyshannon, County Donegal. In Ballyshannon Corscaddens wife, Sarah Margaret, gave birth above the grocery shop to Blairs mother. Blair has one brother, Sir William Blair, a High Court judge. Blairs first home was with his family at Paisley Terrace in the Willowbrae area of Edinburgh, during this period, his father worked as a junior tax inspector whilst also studying for a law degree from the University of Edinburgh. Blairs first relocation was when he was 19 months old, at the end of 1954 Blairs parents and their two sons moved from Paisley Terrace to Adelaide, South Australia. His father lectured in law at the University of Adelaide and it was when in Australia that Blairs sister Sarah was born. The Blairs lived in the suburb of Dulwich close to the university, the family returned to the UK in summer 1958
7.
Alan Johnson
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Alan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Johnson has been the Member of Parliament for Hull West and Hessle since the 1997 general election. Born in London on 17 May 1950, the son of Stephen and Lillian Johnson, Johnson was then in effect brought up by his older sister Linda when the two were assigned a council flat by their child welfare officer. Linda, then herself only 16, has since been recognised as the hero of Johnsons poignant 2013 memoir This Boy and he passed the eleven-plus exam and attended Sloane Grammar school in Chelsea, now part of Pimlico Academy, and left school at the age of 15. He then stacked shelves at Tesco before becoming a postman at 18 and he was interested in music and joined two pop music bands. Johnson joined the Union of Communication Workers, becoming a branch official and he joined the Labour Party in 1971, although he considered himself a Marxist ideologically aligned with the Communist Party of Great Britain. A full-time union official from 1987, he became General Secretary of the union in 1992, by this time, however, as his memoir makes clear, he was more inclined towards the right wing of the Labour Party. Before entering parliament Johnson was a member of Labours National Executive Committee, during this time he was the only major union leader to support the abolition of Clause IV. Randall was subsequently elevated to the House of Lords and he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dawn Primarolo in 1997 and achieved his first ministerial post at the Department of Trade and Industry in 1999. He was moved to the Department for Education and Skills in 2003 as Minister for Higher Education though he had left school at 15. He responded to criticism on 21 February 2007 by saying The whole cabinet believed the intelligence we were presented. As we all now know, that intelligence was wholly wrong, in September 2004, Prime Minister Tony Blair appointed Johnson to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after the resignation of Andrew Smith. The departments old name was kept and Johnson served as Secretary of State for Trade, on 5 May 2006, one day after the 2006 local elections, his brief was changed to that of Secretary of State for Education and Skills, replacing Ruth Kelly. Johnson has also expressed some concerns over diplomas, and has opened up debate in parliament on the subject of what parental situation is best. He stated that in his view, it is the parents themselves who make the difference, Johnson looked at improving pay and working conditions for teachers during his tenure as Education Secretary. Johnson became Secretary of State for Health on 28 June 2007 and he later criticised breast cancer patient Debbie Hirst because she attempted to buy the cancer drug Avastin, which the NHS had denied her. Johnson told Parliament, patients cannot, in one episode of treatment, be treated on the NHS and then allowed, as part of the same episode and that way lies the end of the founding principles of the NHS
8.
John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness
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He is now the Chairman of the Royal United Services Institute. Hutton was born 6 May 1955, in London, though his family moved to Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex when he was 8. He was educated at Westcliff High School for Boys and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he joined the Conservative, Liberal and Labour Associations and gained a BA in 1976 and he worked for a year as a bus driver. For two years he was an adviser to the CBI. From 1980–81, he was an associate for Templeton College. He went on to become a law lecturer at the Newcastle Polytechnic from 1981–92 before turning back to politics. Hutton first stood for election in the Penrith and the Borders seat in 1987, two years later, he also failed to be elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the Cumbria and North Lancashire region. His election to the Barrow and Furness seat in the 1992 general election saw him replace Cecil Franks as MP with a majority of 3,578 and his majority increased to 14,497 in the Labour landslide of the 1997 Election. After being a part of the Department of Health from 1998 and his position in this role was short lived, however. Following the second resignation of David Blunkett, Hutton was appointed as his replacement in the role of Secretary of State for Work and he was moved into the role of Secretary of State for Defence in the cabinet reshuffle on 3 October 2008. On 5 June 2009, Hutton resigned his Cabinet position and announced his intention to stand down as an MP at the general election. Hutton gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry about his role as Defence Secretary on 25 January 2010, in June 2010, it was announced that Hutton had joined the board of US nuclear power company Hyperion Power Generation. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments stipulated that he should not lobby his former department for 12 months and it was also announced in June 2010, that the Conservative – Lib Dem coalition had asked him to head a commission into public sector pensions. His initial report was published in October 2010, the final report was published in March 2011. John Hutton married Rosemary Caroline Little in 1978 in Oxford and they had three sons and a daughter, before divorcing in 1993. He married civil servant Heather Rogers in 2004 and he is a member of Cemetery Cottages Working Mens Club, Barrow. In 2008 John Huttons first book was published, a book with the title Kitcheners Men – The Kings Own Royal Lancasters on the Western Front 1915–18. In it, Hutton gives an insight into the daily routine
9.
Secretary of State for Scotland
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Her Majestys Principal Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majestys Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland representing Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office, a government department based in London, the post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was abolished in 1746, following the Jacobite rebellion. Scottish affairs thereafter were managed by the Lord Advocate until 1827, in 1885 the post of Secretary for Scotland was re-created, with the incumbent usually in the Cabinet. In 1926 this post was upgraded to a full Secretary of State appointment, consequently, the role of Secretary of State for Scotland has been diminished. A recent Scottish Secretary, Des Browne, held the post whilst simultaneously being Secretary of State for Defence, the current Secretary of State for Scotland is David Mundell. John Erskine, 22nd Earl of Mar had served as Secretary of State of an independent Scotland since 1705, following the Acts of Union 1707, he remained in office. The post of Secretary of State for Scotland existed briefly after the Union of the Parliament of Scotland, after the rising, responsibility for Scotland lay primarily with the office of the Home Secretary, usually exercised by the Lord Advocate. The Secretary for Scotland was chief minister in charge of the Scottish Office in the United Kingdom government,1885 saw the creation of the Scottish Office and the post of Secretary for Scotland. From 1892 the Secretary for Scotland sat in cabinet, the Secretary for Scotland post was upgraded to full Secretary of State rank as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1926. All Secretaries for Scotland also held the post of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, the post of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland was held ex officio by Secretaries of State for Scotland from 1926 to 1999. Secretaries of State for Scotland since Donald Dewar have not been Keepers of the Great Seal, with the rise of the SNP in the Scottish and British parliaments and the resultant interest in Scottish Independence, the Secretary of states role has also subsequently increased in prominence. The Scotland office itself has received an increase in budget of 20% from 2013 to 2017 with a 14. 4% increase in 2015/16 alone. The UK governments website lists the Secretary of State for Scotlands responsibilities as being, The main role of the Scottish Secretary is to promote, other responsibilities include promoting partnership between the UK government and the Scottish government, and relations between the 2 Parliaments. This seeming lack of responsibility has in recent years seen calls for the scrapping of the role and the wider department of the Scottish office itself by opposition MPs
10.
Helen Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke
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Liddell then became the British High Commissioner to Australia until 2009, having previously been appointed a Cabinet Minister as Secretary of State for Scotland. On 28 May 2010, it was announced in the Dissolution Honours List that she would be created a Life Peer. She was born Helen Lawrie Reilly, the daughter of a Catholic father and a Protestant mother and she attended at the same time as John Reid, whom she later replaced as Secretary of State for Scotland and also made way for as MP for Airdrie and Shotts. A former BBC Scotland economics journalist from 1976–77, Liddell has taken flak for her closeness to media proprietor Robert Maxwell, working as aide she once followed him on one occasion in to a gents toilet while being followed by a TV crew. She was also the public affairs director of Maxwells Scottish Daily Record, after Maxwells disgrace she tried to distance herself from him claiming that she had never worked for Maxwell. Helen Liddell published one novel about women in politics, called Elite and she contested East Fife constituency in October 1974. Liddell was first elected to Parliament in 1994, at the closely fought Monklands East by-election following John Smiths death and she was appointed a Privy Councillor on 27 October 1998. She was Secretary of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2003, in addition she angered the monks of Buckfast Abbey when she called on them to stop selling Buckfast Tonic Wine in Scotland. She was dubbed Minister for Monarch of the Glen after several visits to the set of the hit BBC series and she took up appointment as British High Commissioner to Australia in the summer of 2005. She was succeeded in the role by Valerie, Baroness Amos in October 2009 and she married Alistair Liddell in 1972, they have one son and one daughter. Torrance, David, The Scottish Secretaries Debretts People of Today Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle – Helen Liddell TheyWorkForYou. com – Helen Liddell MP Satirical website dedicated to Helen Liddell
11.
Douglas Alexander
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Douglas Garven Alexander is a British Labour politician who was the Shadow Foreign Secretary and former Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South. Alexander was first elected to Parliament in the Paisley South by-election in 1997, in 2003, he became a minister, and held several positions including Minister of State for Europe from 2005-06. At the 2005 election, Alexanders constituency was abolished, and he was elected to represent its successor seat of Paisley. In 2006 he was appointed to the Cabinet by Tony Blair, becoming the Secretary of State for Scotland, when Gordon Brown replaced Blair as Prime Minister in 2007, Alexander became the Secretary of State for International Development. In 2010, following the election of Ed Miliband as Labour Leader, Alexander was elected to the Shadow Cabinet and was made the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and he held this position until a 2011 reshuffle, when he was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary. In October 2013, he was appointed by Miliband as the partys Chair of General Election Strategy, in 2015, he failed to be re-elected to the Paisley and Renfrewshire South seat in the House of Commons when it was won by Mhairi Black of the Scottish National Party. Alexander was born in Glasgow, the son of a Church of Scotland minister, Douglas N. Alexander, much of his childhood was spent in Bishopton in Renfrewshire. A prominent member of the 1st Bishopton Company of the Boys Brigade, Alexander attended Park Mains High School in Erskine, also in Renfrewshire, from where he joined the Labour Party as a schoolboy in 1982. In 1984 he won a Scottish scholarship to attend Lester B and he spent 1988/89, the third of his four undergraduate years, at the University of Pennsylvania as part of the exchange scheme between Edinburgh and Penn. Whilst studying in America, he worked for Michael Dukakis during the 1988 American presidential election campaign and he graduated from Edinburgh with a first-class degree in 1990. His sister, Wendy Alexander, was involved in politics as an MSP until 2011. His father, a Church of Scotland minister, conducted the funeral of the inaugural First Minister of Scotland and he is married to Jacqueline Christian and they have two children. He is the great-nephew of Cecil Frances Alexander, in 1990 he worked as a speech-writer and parliamentary researcher for Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary, Gordon Brown. He returned to Edinburgh to study for an LL. B. at Edinburgh University and he then qualified as a solicitor. On qualifying as a solicitor he worked for a firm of solicitors in Edinburgh, when the Perth and Kinross constituency was abolished, Alexander was chosen to be the Labour candidate in the newly drawn Perth constituency at the 1997 general election. This time, he was pushed into place behind the SNP. On 28 July 1997, Gordon McMaster, the Labour Member of Parliament for Paisley South, Alexander, who grew up in Renfrewshire, was chosen to contest the by-election and he was duly elected to serve as the Member of Parliament for Paisley South on 6 November 1997. He lost his seat to 20-year-old Mhairi Black of the Scottish National Party at the General Election on 8 May 2015, Alexander took a successful co-ordinating role in his partys campaign for the 2001 general election
12.
Secretary of State for Transport
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Her Majestys Principal Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The office used to be called the Minister of Transport and has merged with the Department for the Environment at various times. The current Secretary of State for Transport is Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State is supported by a small team of junior Ministers. Each Minister is a Member of Parliament from either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, the number of Ministers supporting the Secretary of State for Transport vary from time to time, but is usually about 3. The titles given to these Ministers also vary, currently the positions are held by one Minister of State for Transport and two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for Transport. From 2003 until June 2007 the role of Secretary of State for Transport was combined with the role of Secretary of State for Scotland, the names provided in the sections below are those who have served in a position equivalent to the Secretary of State for Transport. The Ministry of Civil Aviation was created by Winston Churchill in 1944 to look at ways of using aircraft. The new Conservative Government in 1951 appointed the same Minister to Transport and Civil Aviation, Colour key, Conservative Labour National Liberal Colour key, Conservative The Ministry was renamed back to the Ministry of Transport on 14 October 1959. Colour key, Labour Not an official member of the cabinet, Colour key, Conservative Colour key, Conservative The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions was created in 1997 for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Critics argued from the outset that this was a mistake and that a post of Secretary of State for Transport was needed in its own right. Colour key, Labour After Byers resignation, such a division was made, with the portfolios of Local Government, during the lifetime of DTLGR, John Spellar served as Minister of State for Transport with a right to attend Cabinet. John Spellar Colour key, Conservative Labour Ministry of Civil Aviation Aerodrome Fire Service Track record, Transport secretaries
13.
Stephen Byers
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Stephen John Byers is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010, in the previous parliament, from 1992, he represented Wallsend. He did not contest the 2010 general election, Stephen Byers was born in Wolverhampton. He was educated at Wymondham College a state-run day and boarding school, Chester City Grammar School and the Chester College of Further Education. He then gained a law degree at Liverpool John Moores University and became a law lecturer at Newcastle Polytechnic in 1977, Byers was elected as a councillor to the North Tyneside District Council in 1980 and was its deputy leader from 1985 until he became an MP in 1992. Reportedly a former supporter of the entryist Militant group once active within the Labour Party – a claim which he says is untrue – Byers had publicly rejected the approach by 1986. In the 1983 general election, he contested the Conservative stronghold seat of Hexham, finishing in third place and some 14,000 votes behind the former Cabinet minister Geoffrey Rippon. He was first elected to Parliament in the 1992 general election in Wallsend, a Labour stronghold, following the retirement of Ted Garrett, in 1993, Byers joined the influential Home Affairs Select Committee. He became an ally of Tony Blair, a fellow northeastern Labour MP, Blair gave him a job as soon as he became the Leader of the Opposition, placing Byers in the Whips Office. An instance of this is when Byers briefed journalists in 1996 saying that the party might sever its links with the trade unions, while at this post, Byers drew attention to himself when he said 8 times 7 was 54 in a BBC interview promoting a Government numeracy drive. His Wallsend constituency was abolished in 1997 and he was elected for the equally safe North Tyneside constituency with a 26,643 vote majority and he joined the Cabinet in July 1998, as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and became a Member of the Privy Council. After the sudden resignation of Peter Mandelson, Byers was appointed as Secretary of State for Trade, after the 2001 general election, he was made Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government & the Regions. Byers was heavily criticised for his part in the collapse of the MG Rover Group and this ultimately led to the creation of Network Rail, which effectively renationalised Britains railway infrastructure company. Byers decision angered those private investors who had lost money, and under pressure from The City, the action also led to the largest class legal action ever seen in the British courts. Moore and Byers survived the resulting outrage, but, in February 2002, on 15 February, the resignations of both Moore and Sixsmith were announced. Later on, however, Sixsmith stated that he had not agreed to go, Byers troubles continued over the following months. The pressure on Byers was too much, and he resigned on 28 May 2002 to be replaced by Alastair Darling, the BBC announced the change with the comment Its bye-bye Byers, hello Darling. On the backbenches, Byers kept up pressure for the Labour Party to keep to the centre ground, in August 2006, he suggested that Labour heir-apparent, Gordon Brown, should discard the inheritance tax to prove his New Labour credentials to Middle England. On 14 November 2009, he announced that he would be stepping down from Parliament at the 2010 general election and he also condemned the governments proposed inheritance tax reforms that had been launched in response to Opposition proposals to reform the tax
14.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
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Her Majestys Principal Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, or informally Work and Pensions Secretary is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment division of the Department for Education and Employment, the Ministry of Pensions was created in 1916 to handle the payment of war pensions to former members of the Armed Forces and their dependants. In 1944 a separate Ministry of National Insurance was formed, the two merged in 1953 as the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, confusingly, the Secretary of State responsible for this Department was titled the Secretary of State for Social Services. The Department was de-merged in 1988, creating the separate Department of Health, colour key, Labour Conservative Liberal National Labour National Independent Posts of Minister of Pensions and Minister of National Insurance merged in 1953
15.
Harriet Harman
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Born in London to physician John B. Harman and his wife Anna, a solicitor, Harriet Harman attended St Pauls Girls School and obtained a BA in Politics from Goodricke College, University of York. She qualified as a solicitor and worked for Brent Law Centre from 1978 to 1982, under Blair, Labour won the 1997 general election, he became Prime Minister and Harman was re-elected for the new constituency of Camberwell and Peckham. Blair appointed her Secretary of State for Social Security and the first ever Minister for Women, serving until 1998, in 2001, she was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales, serving until 2005 when she became Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs. In 2007, Blair resigned as Prime Minister and John Prescott resigned as Deputy Prime Minister, Harman ran in the subsequent deputy leadership election and defeated five other candidates, ultimately winning over Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson by 50. 43% to 49. 56%. Gordon Brown, who was elected Leader, appointed Harman Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal, Minister for Women and Equality, however she was not appointed Deputy Prime Minister. She held all of government positions until Labour lost the 2010 general election. On defeat, Brown resigned as Leader and Harman became Acting Leader and Leader of the Opposition until Ed Miliband was elected leader, after Labours defeat in the 2015 general election, Miliband resigned as Leader and Harman once again became Acting Leader and Leader of the Opposition. She announced that she would resign as Deputy Leader, prompting a concurrent deputy leadership election. Harman holds the record as the longest-ever continuously-serving female MP in the House of Commons and she is married to former trade union leader Jack Dromey, who became Treasurer of the Labour Party in 2004 and MP for Birmingham Erdington in 2010. They have two sons and a daughter, Harman was born Harriet Ruth Harman at 108 Harley Street in London, to Anna Harman, a solicitor, married to a Harley Street physician John Bishop Harman. Her parents each had non-conformist backgrounds – her grandfather, an ophthalmic surgeon Nathaniel Bishop Harman, was a prominent Unitarian and her aunt was Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, and her cousins include writers Lady Antonia Fraser, Rachel Billington, and Thomas Pakenham. Harman is a niece of Joseph Chamberlain and is also related to Richard Chamberlain. Harman attended a public school, St Pauls Girls School. During her time at York, she was a member of Goodricke College and was involved with student politics. In 2017, she claimed that her tutor at York told her that she would get a 2,1 degree if she had sex with him, after York, Harman went on to qualify as a solicitor. Harman worked for Brent Law Centre in London, between 1978 and 1982, Harman was employed as a legal officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties. In this capacity, and just before becoming MP for Peckham in a by-election in 1982, Harman subsequently took the case to the European Court of Human Rights, successfully arguing that the prosecution had breached her right to freedom of expression
16.
Andrew Smith (British politician)
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Andrew David Smith is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Oxford East since 1987. He served in the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1999 to 2002 and then as Secretary of State for Work and he was educated at Reading School and St Johns College, Oxford, where he gained a BA and Bachelor of Philosophy. He was the Member Relations Officer for Oxford and Swindon Co-op Society from 1979-87 and he became an Oxford City Councillor in 1976, leaving the council in 1987. He contested Oxford East in 1983, Smith has been the Member of Parliament for Oxford East, which he won in 1987 from the Conservative Party. After Labours victory in the 1997 general election he was made a minister in the Department for Education and Employment. He was Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1999 to 2002 and he won re-election in his Oxford East seat in the 2005 General Election, but saw his majority slashed by 90%. Others point to his stewardship of the Department for Work and Pensions, Smith is also the Chairman and one of the founding members of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua, launched in October 2008. 1% swing to Labour, bucking the national trend. Similarly, in 2015 Smith was re-elected with 50% of the vote, in 2015 with minutes to spare before the deadline for nominees ended Smith nominated Jeremy Corbyn for leader of the Labour party despite not actually supporting Corbyn. Smith nominated Corbyn because he wanted a debate about the direction of the Labour party. Smith was the 35th Labour MP to nominate Corbyn which meant the necessary threshold for Corbyn to be on the paper was reached. He was married to Valerie Miles, a former Lord Mayor of Oxford, county councillor on Oxfordshire County Council and they had a son, Luke, and Smith lives in the southeast Oxford council estate of Blackbird Leys. Andrew Smith MP official site Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom Voting record at Public Whip Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou BBC Politics page
17.
William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill
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William Arthur Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill, PC is a British Conservative politician who served in the Cabinet from 1990 until 1997 and is a life member of the Tory Reform Group. He is now a peer and Provost of Eton College. Waldegrave served as a Trustee and Chair of the Rhodes Trust, during which time he helped to create. His portrait hangs at Rhodes House, Oxford, Waldegrave was the Chairman of Trustees for the National Museum of Science and Industry from 2002 to 2010. He became Provost of Eton College, on 8 February 2009, Waldegrave is the youngest of the seven children of Mary Hermione Grenfell and the 12th Earl Waldegrave, and the only brother of the present Earl. One of his sisters is The Lady Susan Hussey, Waldegrave was educated at Eton College, where he won the Newcastle Scholarship in 1965, and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he served for a term as president of the Oxford Union. Oxford was followed by Harvard University in the United States, on a Kennedy Scholarship, in 1971 he was elected a Prize Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and is now a Distinguished Fellow. In 1971 Waldegrave was working at the Conservative Research Department and in March 1971 he was appointed to the Central Policy Review Staff. “He was from the one of the most active philosophers of the CPRS. He was one of the few openly political members of the staff and was used by Victor Rothschild, head of the CPRS and he was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Bristol West in 1979. He remained at Environment, becoming a Minister of State in 1985, until 1988 when he became a Minister of State at the Foreign, however Sir Richard Scott exonerated Waldegrave of duplicitous intent in wrongly describing the Governments policy. He attended Bilderberg meetings three times, after losing his Commons seat to Valerie Davey in Labours 1997 landslide, he entered the House of Lords as Baron Waldegrave of North Hill, of Chewton Mendip in the County of Somerset, in 1999. He is married to Caroline Waldegrave, cookery writer and managing director of Leiths School of Food and they have four children, Katherine, Elizabeth, James and Harriet. Waldegrave is a trustee of Cumberland Lodge, an educational charity and he is an active member of the Board of Managers for the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. He is notable for having offered a prize for the best lay explanation of the Higgs Boson and this represents the Higgs field in space. A former Conservative Prime Minister enters the room, All the workers she passes are strongly attracted to her. As she moves through the room, the cluster of admirers around her create resistance to her movement and this can be imagined as how a particle moves through the Higgs field. The field clusters around a particle, resisting its motion and giving it mass, if a sleazy rumour crosses the room, it creates the same sort of clustering
18.
Edinburgh South West (UK Parliament constituency)
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Edinburgh South West is a Scottish constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used in the 2005 general election. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election, Edinburgh South West is one of five constituencies covering the City of Edinburgh council area. All are entirely within the city council area, Edinburgh South West is mostly a replacement for the former Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, but excludes some of the east of that constituency. Also, it includes a western portion of the former Edinburgh Central constituency. The Scottish Parliament uses different boundaries, Edinburgh South West covers a south western portion of the city area. It has a north east and a suburban centre. The remainder is rural, and runs into the Pentland Hills in the south, as a result of the Local Governance Act 2004, these wards were replaced with new wards in 2007. Current ward boundaries are not aligned with the constituency boundaries, politics of Edinburgh Leigh Rayments Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with E
19.
Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)
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Edinburgh Central was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election, in 1999, a Scottish Parliament constituency was created with the same name and boundaries, and continues in use. From 1925 until 1999, the Member of Parliament for the Westminster constituency was an ex member of the Board of Trustees of the National Library of Scotland. Since 1999, that role has taken by the Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Scottish Parliament constituency. 1885-1918, The Municipal Wards of St. Giles, George Square, 1918-1950, The George Square, St. Giles and St. Leonards Municipal Wards of Edinburgh. 1950-1955, The George Square, Holyrood, and St Giles wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh, 1955-1974, The George Square, Holyrood, and St Giles wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh, and part of Gorgie-Dalry ward. 1974-1983, The George Square, Gorgie-Dalry, Holyrood, and St Giles wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh, 1983-1997, The City of Edinburgh District electoral divisions of Dalry/Shandon, Haymarket/Tollcross, Murrayfield/Dean, New Town/Stockbridge, and St Giles/Holyrood. 1997-2005, The City of Edinburgh District electoral divisions of Dalry/Shandon, Fountainbridge/Tollcross, Moat/Stenhouse, Murrayfield/Dean, the 1997-2005 boundaries covered a central portion of the City of Edinburgh council area, including Edinburgh Old Town, the West End, Holyrood and Murrayfield. The constituency was one of six covering the city council area, at the 2005 general election, the constituency area was divided between Edinburgh East, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh South West and Edinburgh West. General Election 1914/15, Another General Election was required to place before the end of 1915
20.
Alexander Fletcher (British politician)
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Sir Alexander MacPherson Fletcher, sometimes known as Alex Fletcher, was a British Conservative Party politician. He was born in Greenock in western Scotland and he was married to Christine Anne Buchanan. Fletcher first stood for Parliament in the 1970 General Election at West Renfrewshire and he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh North at a by-election in 1973, serving there until 1983, when after boundary changes he became MP for Edinburgh Central. However, at the 1987 general election he lost his seat to future Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, Fletcher was Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1979 to 1983, and Minister for Corporate and Consumer Affairs 1983 to 1985. He died in Westminster but was returned to Edinburgh for burial and he and his wife are buried together in the 20th century extension to Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. Times Guide to the House of Commons 1987 Leigh Rayments Historical List of MPs Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by Alexander Fletcher
21.
House of Lords
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The House of Lords of the United Kingdom, referred to ceremonially as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster, officially, the full name of the house is, The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Unlike the elected House of Commons, all members of the House of Lords are appointed, the membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England, of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they include some hereditary peers including four dukes. Very few of these are female since most hereditary peerages can only be inherited by men, while the House of Commons has a defined 650-seat membership, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 805 sitting Lords, the House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament to be larger than its respective lower house. The House of Lords scrutinises bills that have approved by the House of Commons. It regularly reviews and amends Bills from the Commons, while it is unable to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it can delay Bills and force the Commons to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the House of Lords acts as a check on the House of Commons that is independent from the electoral process, Bills can be introduced into either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. Members of the Lords may also take on roles as government ministers, the House of Lords has its own support services, separate from the Commons, including the House of Lords Library. The Queens Speech is delivered in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, the House also has a Church of England role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within the House by the Lords Spiritual. This new parliament was, in effect, the continuation of the Parliament of England with the addition of 45 MPs and 16 Peers to represent Scotland, the Parliament of England developed from the Magnum Concilium, the Great Council that advised the King during medieval times. This royal council came to be composed of ecclesiastics, noblemen, the first English Parliament is often considered to be the Model Parliament, which included archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, and representatives of the shires and boroughs of it. The power of Parliament grew slowly, fluctuating as the strength of the monarchy grew or declined, for example, during much of the reign of Edward II, the nobility was supreme, the Crown weak, and the shire and borough representatives entirely powerless. In 1569, the authority of Parliament was for the first time recognised not simply by custom or royal charter, further developments occurred during the reign of Edward IIs successor, Edward III. It was during this Kings reign that Parliament clearly separated into two chambers, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The authority of Parliament continued to grow, and, during the fifteenth century
22.
Lords Temporal
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This article is about the secular members of the British House of Lords. For the fictional lords of time, see Time Lords, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Lords Temporal are secular members of the House of Lords. Before the enactment of the House of Lords Act 1999, all peers were members of the House of Lords, membership of the Lords is now limited to life peers and a number of elected hereditary peers. The Lords Temporal are all members of the Peerage, formerly, they were all hereditary peers. A similar arrangement was made in respect of the Kingdom of Ireland when that nation merged with Great Britain in January 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. However, when most of Ireland left the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State in December 1922, by the Peerage Act 1963, the election of Scottish representative peers also ended, and all Scottish peers were granted the right to sit in Parliament. Under the House of Lords Act 1999, only life peerages automatically entitle their holders to seats in the House of Lords. Of the hereditary peers, only 92 – the Earl Marshal, the Lord Great Chamberlain and 90 elected by other peers – retain their seats in the House
23.
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
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The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is in the gift of the Leader of the Opposition but is informal, the Shadow Chancellor has no constitutional role. The name for the position has a mixed history and it is used to designate the lead economic spokesman for the Opposition, although some Shadow Cabinets have not used the term. The term has been used interchangeably with economic spokesperson by the Liberal Democrats as well as the opposition party. The current position of Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer is held by John McDonnell, lewis Baston Reggie, The Life of Reginald Maudling
24.
David Heathcoat-Amory
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David Philip Heathcoat-Amory is a British politician, accountant and farmer. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wells from 1983 until he lost the seat in the 2010 general election and he became a member of the British Privy Council in 1996. David Heathcoat-Amory is the son of British Army Brigadier Roderick Heathcoat-Amory, MC and he was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, University of Oxford, where he received an MA in PPE. He was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association and was a contemporary of John Redwood, Robert Jackson, William Waldegrave, Edwina Currie, Stephen Milligan and he qualified as an accountant in 1974 and joined Price Waterhouse as a chartered accountant. In 1980, he was appointed as the assistant finance director of the British Technology Group where he remained until he was elected to Parliament in 1983 and he is also a farmer with employees. Heathcoat-Amory contested the London Borough of Brent seat at Brent South at the 1979 general election but was defeated by the sitting Labour MP Laurence Pavitt by 11,616 votes and he held the seat with a majority of 6,575. In Parliament, he was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury John Moore in 1985, and was also the PPS to his successor from 1986 Norman Lamont. Following the 1987 general election he became the PPS to the Home Secretary Douglas Hurd until he was promoted to the government of Margaret Thatcher as an Assistant Government Whip in 1988 and he was promoted to become a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury and Government Whip in 1989. He was appointed as the Treasurer of the Household following the 1992 general election and was the Minister of State at the Foreign and he was appointed as the Paymaster General in 1994 where he served until resigning from the government in 1996 over the single European currency. He became a member of the Privy Council in 1996, in 1997 Heathcoat-Amory joined the shadow cabinet of William Hague as the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and was the Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry from 2000. He left the frontbench on the election of Iain Duncan Smith as the leader of the Conservative Party in 2001. He served as the chairman of the all party group on the British Museum, the chair of the group on astronomy and space environment. From late 2001 until July 2003, Heathcoat-Amory was one of the two British parliamentary delegates to the Convention on the Future of Europe, which drafted the European Constitution. Heathcoat-Amory was selected by the Power 2010 democracy and constitutional reform campaign as one of six MPs accused of failing our democracy, Heathcoat-Amory lost his seat in the 2010 general election to the Liberal Democrats Tessa Munt who achieved a 6. 1% swing. In interviews, Baynes said he was offering the public a service no other candidate is, Heathcoat-Amory partly blamed the presence of a UKIP candidate on the ballot paper for his defeat during his speech after the result of the ballot was announced. He also admitted that his involvement in the expenses scandal played a part in his defeat and he received a level of opprobrium in 2008 after remarking, regarding the presence of a Black MP, Dawn Butler, Theyre letting anybody in nowadays. In February 2010 it was revealed that he had asked to repay a total of £29,691.93. The Times dubbed the scandal The Manure Parliament when singling out Heathcoat-Amorys claim, in July 2010, Heathcoat-Amory placed his second home on the market for £1. 5million
25.
Municipal Borough of Hendon
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Hendon was an ancient civil parish of around 8,250 acres which included Mill Hill, as well as Golders Green and Childs Hill. In 1894 it was created a district of Middlesex and in 1932 it became a municipal borough. The municipal borough was abolished in 1965 and the became part of the London Borough of Barnet. The name is Saxon and means the high down, and its earliest known use is in 1005 as Heandunigna and it was in the Hundred of Gore in the county of Middlesex. It had a vestry by the middle of the 17th century, becoming a district of Middlesex in 1894. The municipal borough was abolished in 1965 and the became part of the London Borough of Barnet. In 1932 the parish of Edgware became a part of Hendon Urban District, there is evidence of Roman activity in Hendon, and along its western edge runs the Roman Road Watling Street. Hendon Manor was recorded in the Domesday survey of 1087 as lands belonging to Westminster Abbey, during the 17th century the area became famous for its hay. In 1765 the manor came into the possession of the actor David Garrick, in 1868 a station was opened on the Midland Railway, and this encouraged some suburban development in Hendon during the 1880s and 1890s. This was twofold as it provided not only a means of commuting for people living in the area into central London, by the 1930s Hendon was a recognised industrial area of London, with companies like Schweppes, Johnson’s Photographic Ltd and Handley Page the aircraft manufacturers. However much of Hendon’s industry was minor engineer units, often employing fewer than twenty people, during the post war period demand for new housing pushed industry out of the area, and established the district as solely suburban in nature. Hendon is famous as the location of Hendon Aerodrome which was established by Claude Grahame-White in 1911 and its arms was, Azure on a mount in base vert a Pascal Lamb proper, on a chief or two windmill sails in saltire sable. The crest was, On a wreath or and azure a two-bladed airscrew in pale, kelly’s Directory - These contain lists of residents for Hendon and interesting descriptions of the area,185518901914
26.
Labour Party (UK)
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The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Labour later served in the coalition from 1940 to 1945. Labour was also in government from 1964 to 1970 under Harold Wilson and from 1974 to 1979, first under Wilson and then James Callaghan. The Labour Party was last in government from 1997 to 2010 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, beginning with a majority of 179. Having won 232 seats in the 2015 general election, the party is the Official Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the party also organises in Northern Ireland, but does not contest elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance. In September 2015, Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party, the first Lib–Lab candidate to stand was George Odger in the Southwark by-election of 1870. In addition, several small socialist groups had formed around this time, among these were the Independent Labour Party, the intellectual and largely middle-class Fabian Society, the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and the Scottish Labour Party. In the 1895 general election, the Independent Labour Party put up 28 candidates, Keir Hardie, the leader of the party, believed that to obtain success in parliamentary elections, it would be necessary to join with other left-wing groups. Hardies roots as a lay preacher contributed to an ethos in the party led to the comment by 1950s General Secretary Morgan Phillips that Socialism in Britain owed more to Methodism than Marx. The motion was passed at all stages by the TUC, the meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations—trades unions represented about one third of the membership of the TUC delegates. This created an association called the Labour Representation Committee, meant to coordinate attempts to support MPs sponsored by trade unions and it had no single leader, and in the absence of one, the Independent Labour Party nominee Ramsay MacDonald was elected as Secretary. He had the task of keeping the various strands of opinions in the LRC united. The October 1900 Khaki election came too soon for the new party to campaign effectively, only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful, Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby. Support for the LRC was boosted by the 1901 Taff Vale Case, the judgement effectively made strikes illegal since employers could recoup the cost of lost business from the unions. In their first meeting after the election the groups Members of Parliament decided to adopt the name The Labour Party formally, the Fabian Society provided much of the intellectual stimulus for the party. One of the first acts of the new Liberal Government was to reverse the Taff Vale judgement, the Peoples History Museum in Manchester holds the minutes of the first Labour Party meeting in 1906 and has them on display in the Main Galleries. Also within the museum is the Labour History Archive and Study Centre, the governing Liberals were unwilling to repeal this judicial decision with primary legislation
27.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
28.
University of Aberdeen
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The University of Aberdeen is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. The university as it is today was formed in 1860 by a merger between Kings College and Marischal College, a university founded in 1593 as a Protestant alternative to the former. Today, Aberdeen is consistently ranked among the top 200 universities in the world and is one of two universities in the city, the other being the Robert Gordon University. The universitys iconic buildings act as symbols of wider Aberdeen, particularly Marischal College in the city centre, there are two campuses, the predominantly utilised Kings College campus dominates the section of the city known as Old Aberdeen, which is approximately two miles north of the city centre. Although the original site of the foundation, most academic buildings were constructed in the 20th century during a period of significant expansion. The universitys Foresterhill campus is next to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and houses the School of Medicine, Aberdeen has approximately 13,500 students from undergraduate to doctoral level, including many international students. An abundant range of disciplines are taught at the university, with 650 undergraduate degree offered in the 2012-13 academic year. Five Nobel laureates have since associated with Aberdeen. The first principal was Hector Boece, graduate and professor of the University of Paris, despite this founding date, teaching did not start for another ten years, and the University of Aberdeen celebrated 500 years of teaching and learning in 2005. Following the Scottish Reformation in 1560, Kings College was purged of its Roman Catholic staff, George Keith, the fifth Earl Marischal was a moderniser within the college and supportive of the reforming ideas of Peter Ramus. In April 1593 he founded a university in the city. It is also possible the founding of another college in nearby Fraserburgh by Sir Alexander Fraser, Aberdeen was highly unusual at this time for having two universities in one city, as 20th-century University prospectuses observed, Aberdeen had the same number as existed in England at the time. In addition, a university was set up to the north of Aberdeen in Fraserburgh from 1595. Initially, Marischal College offered the Principal of Kings College a role in selecting its academics, Marischal College, in the commercial heart of the city, was quite different in nature and outlook. For example, it was integrated into the life of the city. The two rival colleges often clashed, sometimes in court, but also in brawls between students on the streets of Aberdeen, as the institutions put aside their differences, a process of attempted mergers began in the 17th century. During this time, both colleges made notable contributions to the Scottish Enlightenment. Both colleges supported the Jacobite rebellion and following the defeat of the 1715 rising were largely purged by the authorities of their academics and officials
29.
Brown ministry
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He took office as Prime Minister, a title he would hold until his resignation on 11 May 2010. In his inaugural cabinet, Brown appointed the United Kingdoms first female Home Secretary, in comparison with Tony Blairs Last Cabinet, Brown retained seventeen ministers including himself. Alistair Darling replaced Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer while his portfolio at Trade and Industry was renamed Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and given to John Hutton. Hutton was in turn replaced as Work Secretary by Peter Hain, david Miliband was promoted from Environment Secretary to Foreign Secretary and was replaced in that brief by Hilary Benn, then International Development Secretary. Douglas Alexander filled Benns seat whilst his posts as Transport and Scotland Secretaries were given to Ruth Kelly and Des Browne, respectively, jack Straw became the first MP Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, declaring it a new Great Office of State. Amid speculation that Brown would appoint him as Deputy Prime Minister and/or First Secretary of State and it was believed that the Government Equalities Office would become its own department headed by an Equalities Secretary, however, it was not given Secretary of State status. Former Commons Chief Whip, Jacqui Smith was given a promotion as the first female Home Secretary and was replaced by Geoff Hoon. His successor, Jim Murphy, was not given a provision to attend Cabinet as he was, tessa Jowell lost her place at the table when James Purnell became Culture Secretary but was given the right to attend Cabinet as the Olympics Minister and also became Paymaster General. The last holdover from Blairs government was The Lord Grocott, who stayed on as Chief Whip in the Lords, beverley Hughes retained her role Children Minister and was elevated to Cabinet, but was only allowed to sit in that body when her policy area was on the agenda. Additionally, The Baroness Ashton of Upholland and Andy Burnham entered Cabinet as Lords Leader and Lord President of the Council, the Baroness Scotland of Asthal and The Lord Malloch-Brown were given the right to attend Cabinet as Attorney General and Africa, Asia and UN Minister. The last alteration to the Cabinets composition was the removal of the Minister for Social Exclusion, key, Government of the United Kingdom Cabinet of the United Kingdom Blair ministry Full List of Government Ministers as of 29 June 2007 from the 10 Downing Street website. Full List of Government Ministers as of 25 January 2008 from the 10 Downing Street website and her Majestys Government as of 27 June 2007 from the 10 Downing Street website. Her Majestys Government as of 9 June 2009 from the 10 Downing Street website, in full, Browns government as of 27 June 2009 from BBC World News Ministerial Appointments as of 3 October 2008 from the 10 Downing Street website. Ministerial Appointments as of 5 June 2009 from the 10 Downing Street website
30.
United Kingdom general election, 1987
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The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservatives ran a campaign focusing on lower taxes, a strong economy and they also emphasised that unemployment had fallen below 3 million for the first time since 1981, and inflation was standing at 4%, its lowest level for some 20 years. The tabloid media also had support for the Conservatives, particularly The Sun. The Labour Party, led by Neil Kinnock, was moving towards a more centrist policy platform. Indeed, the Labour party succeeded in doing so with this general election, the Conservatives were returned to government, having suffered a net loss of only 21 seats, leaving them with 376 MPs. Labour succeeded in resisting the challenge by the SDP-Liberal Alliance to replace them as the main opposition, however, Labour still returned only 229 MPs to Westminster. The election was a disappointment for the SDP-Liberal Alliance, who saw their vote share fall and this led to the two parties eventually merging completely to become the Liberal Democrats. The election night was covered live on the BBC, and presented by David Dimbleby, Peter Snow and it was also broadcast on ITV and presented by Sir Alastair Burnet, Peter Sissons and Alastair Stewart. The 1987 General Election saw the election of the first post-war Black and Minority Ethnic Members of Parliament, Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng, Bernie Grant, and Ketih Vaz. The Conservatives campaign emphasized lower taxes, an economy, and defence. Norman Tebbit and Saatchi and Saatchi spearheaded the Conservative campaign and this was when, according to Youngs memoirs, Young got Tebbit by the lapels and shook him, shouting, Norman, listen to me, were about to lose this fucking election. In his memoirs Tebbit defends the Conservative campaign, We finished exactly as planned on the ground where Labour was weak and we were strong – defence, taxation, during the election campaign however Tebbit and Thatcher argued. The first Conservative party political broadcast played on the theme of Freedom and ended with a fluttering Union Jack, the hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country and the slogan, Its Great To Be Great Again. Labours first party political broadcast, dubbed Kinnock, The Movie, was directed by Hugh Hudson of Chariots of Fire fame, kinnocks personal popularity jumped 16 points overnight after the initial broadcast. The Conservatives were returned by a landslide victory with a comfortable majority. Yet the overall result of this proved that the policies of Margaret Thatcher retained significant support. Despite initial optimism and the professional campaign run by Neil Kinnock, in many southern areas, the Labour vote actually fell, with the party losing seats in London. However, it represented a victory against the SDP–Liberal Alliance
31.
United Kingdom general election, 2015
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The United Kingdom general election of 2015 on 7 May 2015 elected the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom. Each of the 650 parliamentary constituencies elected one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons and it was the first general election at the end of a fixed-term Parliament. Local elections took place in most of England on the same day, polls and commentators had predicted the outcome would be too close to call and would result in a second hung parliament similar to the 2010 election. Opinion polls were eventually proven to have underestimated the Conservative vote as they won an outright majority. Having governed in coalition with the Liberal Democrats since 2010, the Conservatives won 330 seats and 36. 9% of the vote, the British Polling Council began an inquiry into the substantial variance between opinion polls and the actual result. The Labour Party, led by Ed Miliband, saw an increase in its vote share to 30. 4%. This was its lowest seat tally since the 1987 election, senior Labour shadow cabinet members, notably Ed Balls, Douglas Alexander, and Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, were defeated. The UK Independence Party came third in terms of votes with 12. 6%, the Green Party won its highest-ever share of the vote with 3. 8%, and held Brighton Pavilion with an increased majority, though did not win any additional seats. Labours Miliband and Murphy resigned, as did Clegg, Farage claimed that his resignation was rejected by his party, and he remained in post. In Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionist Party returned to the Commons with two MPs after an absence, while the Alliance Party lost its only seat despite an increase in total vote share. That renegotiation was followed by an in-out referendum a year later in June 2016, as a result, it is likely that this was the last general election to be held in the UK during its membership of the EU. There were local elections on the day in most of England. No other elections were scheduled to take place in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, all British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens over the age of 18 on the date of the election were permitted to vote. In general elections, voting takes place in all constituencies of the United Kingdom to elect members of parliament to seats in the House of Commons. Each parliamentary constituency of the United Kingdom elects one MP to the House of Commons using the first-past-the-post system, if one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the Government. If the election results in no party having a majority. In this case, the options for forming the Government are either a minority government or a coalition government, the next boundary review is now set to take place in 2018, thus the 2015 general election was contested using the same constituencies and boundaries as in 2010. Of the 650 constituencies,533 are in England,59 in Scotland,40 in Wales and 18 in Northern Ireland, in addition, the 2011 Act mandated a referendum in 2011 on changing from the current first-past-the-post system to an alternative vote system for elections to the Commons
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Cabinet of the United Kingdom
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Ministers of the Crown, and especially Cabinet ministers, are selected primarily from the elected members of House of Commons, and also from the House of Lords, by the Prime Minister. Cabinet ministers are heads of government departments, mostly with the office of Secretary of State for, the collective co-ordinating function of the Cabinet is reinforced by the statutory position that all the Secretaries of State jointly hold the same office, and can exercise the same powers. The Cabinet is the ultimate decision-making body of the executive within the Westminster system of government in constitutional theory. The political and decision-making authority of the cabinet has been reduced over the last several decades. The Cabinet is the committee of Her Majestys Privy Council, a body which has legislative, judicial and executive functions. Its decisions are implemented either under the existing powers of individual government departments. Since the reign of King George I the Cabinet has been the executive group of British government. Both he and George II made use of the system, as both were not native English speakers, unfamiliar with British politics, and thus relied heavily on selected groups of advisers, the term minister came into being since the royal officers ministered to the sovereign. The name and institution have been adopted by most English-speaking countries, and this development grew out of the exigencies of the First World War, where faster and better co-ordinated decisions across Government were seen as a crucial part of the war effort. All these demanded a highly organised and centralised Government centred on the Cabinet, Cabinet ministers, like all ministers, are appointed and may be dismissed by the monarch at pleasure on the advice of the Prime Minister. The allocation and transfer of responsibilities between ministers and departments is generally at the Prime Ministers discretion. The extent to which the Government is collegial varies with political conditions, any change to the composition of the Cabinet involving more than one appointment is customarily referred to as a reshuffle, a routine reshuffle normally occurs every summer. The number in addition to the Prime Minister is currently 21, the Cabinet Secretary does not have a political appointment such as Secretary of State and is not a member of the Cabinet, but is the professional Head of Her Majestys Civil Service. In formal constitutional terms, the Cabinet is a committee of Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, all Cabinet members are made Privy Counsellors shortly after appointment if not already Privy Counsellors, but only selected Privy Counsellors are appointed to the Cabinet or invited to attend. MPs and peers in the Cabinet use the style the Right Honourable The Cabinet has come to be made up almost entirely of members of the House of Commons, the Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the House of Lords. Otherwise it is rare for a peer to sit in the Cabinet, the Lord Chancellor was formerly the presiding officer of the House of Lords, but since 2007 need not be a member of the Lords, and members of the House of Commons have been appointed. The number of ministers who are peers has increased since 1997. Occasionally cabinet members are selected from outside the Houses of Parliament, harold Wilson appointed Frank Cousins and Patrick Gordon Walker to the 1964 cabinet despite their not being MPs at the time
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United Kingdom general election, 1997
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The United Kingdom general election of 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. Under the leadership of Tony Blair, the Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition and won the election with a landslide victory, winning 418 seats. Blair, as a result, became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, under Blairs leadership, the Labour Party had adopted a more centrist policy platform under the name New Labour. This was seen as moving away from the traditionally more left-wing stance of the Labour Party, the Labour campaign was ultimately a success and the party returned an unprecedented 418 MPs and began the first of three consecutive terms for Labour in government. However,1997 remains the last election in which Labour had a net gain of seats, a record number of women were elected to parliament,120, of whom 101 were Labour MPs. This was in thanks to Labours policy of using all-women shortlists. The Conservative Party was led by incumbent Prime Minister John Major and ran their campaign emphasising falling unemployment, however, future Prime Minister Theresa May was elected to the safe Conservative seat at Maidenhead, and future Speaker John Bercow in the seat at Buckingham. The Scottish National Party returned 6 MPs, double their total in 1992, as with all general elections since the early 1950s, the results were broadcast live on the BBC, the presenters were David Dimbleby, Peter Snow and Jeremy Paxman. Labour had elected John Smith as its party leader in 1992, Blair brought the party closer to the political centre and abolished the partys Clause IV in their constitution, which had committed them to mass nationalisation of industry. Labour also reversed its policy on nuclear disarmament and the events of Black Wednesday allowed Labour to promise greater economic management under the Chancellorship of Gordon Brown. Fast-track punishment for persistent young offenders by halving the time from arrest to sentencing, cut NHS waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients as a first step by releasing £100 million saved from NHS red tape. Get 250,000 under-25-year-olds off benefit and into work by using money from a levy on the privatised utilities. No rise in tax rates, cut VAT on heating to 5 per cent. Disputes within the Conservative government over European Union issues, and a variety of sleaze allegations had affected the governments popularity. The previous Parliament first sat on 29 April 1992, therefore, the latest date the election could have been held on was 22 May 1997. British elections have been held on Thursdays by convention since the 1930s, Prime Minister John Major called the election on Monday 17 March 1997, ensuring the formal campaign would be unusually long, at six weeks. The election was scheduled for 1 May, to coincide with the elections on the same day. This set a precedent, as the three subsequent general elections have also held alongside the May local elections
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United Kingdom general election, 2010
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The United Kingdom general election of 2010 was held on Thursday,6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system, none of the parties achieved the 326 seats needed for an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, won the largest number of votes and seats and this resulted in a hung parliament where no party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons. This was only the general election since World War II to return a hung parliament. The coalition government that was formed was the first coalition in British history to eventuate directly from an election outcome. The hung parliament came in spite of the Conservatives managing a higher share of the vote than the previous Labour government had done in 2005 that had a comfortable majority, Coalition talks began immediately between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats and lasted for five days. There was an attempt to put together a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition. To facilitate this Gordon Brown announced on the evening of Monday 10 May that he would resign as Labour Party leader. Realising that a deal with the Conservatives was in reach, the day on Tuesday 11 May, Brown announced his resignation as Prime Minister. This was accepted by Queen Elizabeth II, who then invited David Cameron to form a government in her name and become Prime Minister, none of the three main party leaders had previously led a general election campaign, a situation which had not occurred since the 1979 election. During the campaign, the three party leaders engaged in a series of televised debates, the first such debates in a British general election campaign. The Liberal Democrats achieved a breakthrough in opinion polls after the first debate, nonetheless on polling day their share of the vote increased by only 1% over the previous general election, and they suffered a net loss of five seats. This was still the Liberal Democrats largest popular vote since the partys creation, the share of votes for parties other than Labour or the Conservatives was 35%, the largest since the 1918 general election. In terms of votes it was the most three-cornered election since 1923, the Green Party of England and Wales won its first ever seat in the Commons, and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland also gained its first elected member. The General Election saw a 5. 1% national swing from Labour to the Conservatives, the result in one constituency, Oldham East and Saddleworth, was subsequently declared void on petition because of illegal practices during the campaign, the first such instance since 1910. The election took place on 6 May in 649 constituencies across the United Kingdom, under the first-past-the-post system, voting in the Thirsk and Malton constituency was postponed for three weeks because of the death of a candidate. The governing Labour Party had campaigned to secure a consecutive term in office. The Conservative Party sought to gain a dominant position in British politics after losses in the 1990s, the Liberal Democrats hoped to make gains from both sides and hoped to hold the balance of power in a hung parliament
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Jack Straw
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John Whitaker Straw is an English politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Blackburn from 1979 to 2015. Straw served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the governments of Tony Blair and he held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001 and Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 under Blair. From 2007 to 2010 he served as Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Justice throughout Browns Premiership, Straw is one of only three individuals to have served in Cabinet continuously under the Labour government from 1997 to 2010, the others being Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling. In February 2015 Channel 4 Dispatches and The Daily Telegraph accused Straw of impropriety following a meeting set up with a fictitious Chinese company. Straw strongly denied the allegations and referred himself to Parliament’s Commissioner for Standards, in September 2015 the Commissioner for Standards dismissed all allegations that he had brought the House of Commons into disrepute and criticised Channel 4 and the Daily Telegraph’s conduct. Jack Straw was born in Buckhurst Hill in Essex, the son of Walter Arthur Whitaker Straw, an insurance salesman, after his father left the family, Straw was brought up by his mother on a council estate in Loughton. Known to his family as John, he started calling himself Jack while in school, in reference to Jack Straw, Straw is of 1/8th Jewish descent. Jack Straw was educated at Brentwood School and the University of Leeds and he graduated with a 2,2 degree in Law. He was alleged by the Foreign Office to have disrupted a student trip to Chile to build a youth centre and they branded him a troublemaker acting with malice aforethought. Led by Straw, Labour Society disaffiliated itself from the Labour Party, Straw was then elected president of the Leeds University Union. At the 1967 National Union of Students Conference, he ran for office in the NUS. In April 1968, he stood unsuccessfully for election as NUS President, however, he was elected as NUS President in 1969, holding this post until 1971. In 1971, he was elected as a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Islington, in 2007 the Union Council reinstated his life membership and place on the Presidents Board. Straw subsequently qualified as a barrister at Inns of Court School of Law and he is a member of The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple and remains active in lecturing to fellow members and students. Between 1971 and 1974, Jack Straw was a member of the Inner London Education Authority, and Deputy Leader from 1973 to 1974. He served as an adviser to Barbara Castle at the Department of Social Security from 1974 to 1976. From 1977 to 1979, Straw worked as a researcher for the Granada TV series, Straw stood unsuccessfully as the Labour parliamentary candidate for the safe Conservative Tonbridge and Malling constituency in the February 1974 election. He was later selected to stand for Labour in its safe Blackburn seat at the 1979 General Election, Straw was selected to stand for Parliament for the Lancashire constituency of Blackburn in 1977, after Barbara Castle decided not to seek re-election there
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Better Together (campaign)
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Better Together was the principal organisation that represented parties, organisations, and individuals campaigning for a No vote in the Scottish independence referendum,2014. It was established in 2012 with support of the three main unionist political parties in Scotland, Scottish Labour, the Scottish Conservative Party, the principal organisation campaigning for a Yes vote was Yes Scotland. Alistair Darling MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Gordon Brown, the campaign was officially registered as Better Together 2012 Limited and its registered office was located in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh. On 11 November 2013, Nosheena Mobarik, who was formerly on the Chair for CBI Scotland, was appointed as a Director of Better Together. Better Togethers Campaign Director was Labour activist Blair McDougall, who was an adviser to Ian McCartney and James Purnell during the Labour governments of Tony Blair. He was national director of the Labour Partys Movement for Change organisation from 2011, former Scottish Government adviser and Strathclyde Police press chief Rob Shorthouse is Director of Communications, Kate Watson the Director of Operations, and Gordon Aikman the Director of Research. Although the UK Independence Party also favoured Scotland remaining within the United Kingdom, UKIP in return accused Better Together of being petty and small minded. In May 2013, Scottish Labour launched its own campaign called United with Labour, Darling stated in May 2013 that his side needs to win well in order to prevent another independence referendum within just a few years, to head off calls for another poll, the so-called neverendum. He contrasted his campaigns position with that of Yes Scotland, saying they had to win only by one vote to achieve their ultimate aim, in June 2014, Better Together adopted the slogan No Thanks in its campaign publicity. BBC political correspondent Iain Watson commented that Better Together had been intended to sound positive, No Thanks was adopted after testing with focus groups, although Better Together remained the formal name of the campaign group itself. It was inspired by Non Merci the slogan used in the 1980 referendum on Quebecs separation from Canada, on 21 June, Darling launched the Rural Better Together campaign at the Royal Highland Show. Rural Better Together will be chaired by Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon who said farmers had given the group a great response. The pro-union campaign disclosed its donor list on 6 April 2013, the Herald commented that The preponderance of business people is a blow to Alex Salmond, who has made a stronger economy a cornerstone of the SNPs case for independence. Since 2006, Taylor, the executive of Vitol Plc, has donated £550,000 to the Conservatives. Other donors of more than £7,500 included Edinburgh-born crime writer C. J. Sansom, who gave £161,000, and engineering entrepreneur Alan Savage, who handed over £100,000. In June 2014, Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, all three drew criticism from Yes Scotland for being donors located outside Scotland. The Herald also highlighted Taylors links with dubious deals in Serbia, Iraq, Iran and Libya, angus Robertson, of the SNP, added, This information is extremely serious and raises questions the No campaign must answer. Material in the public domain states that during his tenure as chief executive Mr Taylors company paid $1m to Serbian war criminal Arkan, who was indicted at the Hague for crimes against humanity
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Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
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Scottish independence referendum, 2014
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A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom took place on 18 September 2014. The referendum question, which answered with Yes or No, was Should Scotland be an independent country. The No side won, with 2,001,926 voting against independence and 1,617,989 voting in favour, the turnout of 84. 6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the introduction of universal suffrage. To pass, the proposal required a simple majority. With some exceptions, all European Union or Commonwealth citizens resident in Scotland aged 16 or over could vote and this was the first time that the electoral franchise was extended to include 16 and 17 year olds in Scotland. Yes Scotland was the campaign group for independence, while Better Together was the main campaign group in favour of maintaining the union. Many other campaign groups, political parties, businesses, newspapers, prominent issues raised during the referendum included which currency an independent Scotland would use, public expenditure, EU membership, and North Sea oil. The Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were established as independent countries during the Middle Ages, after fighting a series of wars during the 14th century, the two monarchies entered a personal union in 1603 when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England. The two nations were temporarily united under one government when Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector of a Commonwealth in 1653, Great Britain in turn united with the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland left the Union in 1922 to form the Irish Free State, consequently, the Labour Party was committed to home rule for Scotland in the 1920s, but it slipped down its agenda in the following years. The Scottish National Party was formed in 1934, but did not achieve significant electoral success until the 1960s, a document calling for home rule, the Scottish Covenant, was signed by 2 million people in the late 1940s. Home rule, now known as Scottish devolution, did not become a serious proposal until the late 1970s as the Labour government of James Callaghan came under pressure from the SNP. A proposal for a devolved Scottish Assembly was put to a referendum in 1979, a narrow majority of votes were cast in favour of change, but this had no effect due to a requirement that the number voting Yes had to exceed 40% of the total electorate. No further constitutional reform was proposed until Labour returned to power in 1997, clear majorities expressed support for both a devolved Scottish Parliament and that Parliament having the power to vary the basic rate of income tax. The Scotland Act 1998 established the new Scottish Parliament, first elected on 6 May 1999, a commitment to hold a referendum in 2010 was part of the SNPs election manifesto when it contested the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. As a result of election, the SNP became the largest party in the Scottish Parliament and formed a minority government led by the First Minister. The SNP administration launched a National Conversation as an exercise in August 2007, part of which included a draft referendum bill. After this, a paper for the proposed Referendum Bill was published
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2015 Dissolution Honours
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The 2015 Dissolution Honours was issued on 27 August 2015 upon the advice of Prime Minister David Cameron. The Life Peerages were announced separately from the other appointments, while it was gazetted as a single list on 22 September 2015. The Rt Hon. James Arbuthnot The Rt Hon. Gregory Barker Catherine Fall Simone Finn Stephen Gilbert The Rt Hon. William Hague FRSL Robert Hayward OBE The Rt Hon, sir George Young Bt CH The Rt Hon. Sir Alan Beith Sharon Bowles The Rt Hon, sir Malcolm Bruce Lorely Burt The Rt Hon. Sir Menzies Campbell CH CBE QC The Rt Hon. Lynne Featherstone The Rt Hon, don Foster Jonny Oates Shas Sheehan The Rt Hon. Vince Cable Cllr Barry Norton Anthony Ullman The Rt Hon. Annette Brooke OBE Philippa Harris The Rt Hon
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Great Bernera
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Great Bernera, often known just as Bernera is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over 21 km2, it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island, Great Bernera lies in Loch Roag on the north-west coast of Lewis and is linked to it by a road bridge. Built in 1953, the bridge was the first pre-stressed concrete bridge in Europe, the main settlement on the island is Breaclete. The island, under the name of Borva, was the setting for A Princess of Thule by the Scottish novelist William Black, the novel is notable for its descriptions of the local scenery. The islands name is Norse in origin and is derived in honour of Bjarnar, the vast majority of placenames in the district are similarly Norse, implying extensive Viking settlement. The most common name on Great Bernera is MacDonald, and these are said to be descended from a watchman of the Macaulays of Uig, who gave him the island in return for his services. Since 1962, the island has been owned by Robin de la Lanne-Mirrlees, a former Queens Herald and he eventually inherited the title Prince of Coronata and died in 2012. His home Bernera Lodge was at Kirkibost, in the south east of the island is the first planned crofting township in the Outer Hebrides. It was created in 1805 by the regular allotting of individual crofts by the Earl of Seaforths land surveyor, the village was re-settled in 1878 and the original boundaries are still in use today. Callanish VIII is a standing stone arrangement near the bridge between Lewis and Bernera, set out in a semicircle. It is known locally as Tursachan, which means merely Standing Stones, the ruins of Dun Barraglom broch are nearby. Bernera is also known for its Iron Age settlement at Bostadh, discovered in 1992, a replica Iron Age house matching those now buried is sited nearby. The island was the location of the Bernera Riot of 1874, the islanders refused to agree to an ever-increasing diminishing grazings allowance in favour of expanding sporting estates, and were in turn threatened with a military visit. This did not occur, but even more eviction notices were handed out, the legal case was the first recorded victory for small-tenants at will and the evidence that was heard at the eleven-hour trial paved the way for land reform in Scotland. The island is roughly 8 kilometres long by 3 kilometres wide, the coast is much indented and there are also numerous fresh water bodies such as Loch Barabhat, Loch Breacleit and Loch Niocsabhat. The highest point is the eminence of Sealabhal Bhiorach south of Bostadh, there are deposits of muscovite and tremolite asbestos. An example of a rock of tremolite on muscovite from Great Bernera is shown in the photograph to the right, the western side of the island is included in the South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area. There are many islands in Loch Roag. to the west, from north to south are Pabaigh Mòr, Vacsay, Fuaigh Mòr, to the north, the island of Bearnaraigh Beag, and a number of islets
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Ross and Cromarty
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Ross and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a county and a lieutenancy area in current use. The local government county is now divided between two local government areas, the Highland area and Na h-Eileanan Siar, the region has some of the most spectacular landscapes and some of the oldest rock formations in Europe. The rocks are of Cambrian and Precambrian age, the population is engaged mainly in fishing and tourism. The population as of 2001 was 49,967, the district is famous for its mountainous scenery, especially in the west, in an area known as Wester Ross. It includes the Torridon Hills composed of Precambrian Torridonian sandstone over Lewisian gneiss, the latter rocks often give the appearance of a snow topping when they cap a specific peak. The Torridons comprise individual mountains such as Beinn Eighe and Liathach, with related peaks Slioch, although many peaks in the North-west highlands exhibit Torridon geology, the Torridon hills are generally considered only to be those in the Torridon Forest to the north of Glen Torridon. The name Ross and Cromarty was first used for the Ross, in 1983, the Ross, Cromarty and Skye constituency was created to represent the then Ross and Cromarty district and Skye and Lochalsh district. The Kincardine area joined the Caithness and Sutherland constituency, the local government county of Ross and Cromarty was created in 1890 under the Local Government Act 1889, with boundaries similar to, but not exactly the same as, the boundaries of the constituency. The county continued with largely unchanged boundaries until its abolition in 1975, when the county was abolished in 1975, the mainland part became part of the new Highland Region, and Lewis became part of the Western Isles islands area. In 1975 the mainland part of the county was effectively divided between three districts of the Highland region. Most of the county became the new district of Ross. The Lochalsh area joined the Skye and Lochalsh district and the Kincardine area joined the Sutherland district, the district was abolished in 1996. The wards in the district of Ross and Cromarty formed the management area of Ross and Cromarty from 1996 to 1999. The name was not used for a management area after 2007, the registration county of Ross and Cromarty, used for land registry purposes, covers the area of the former county of Ross and Cromarty, including Lewis. Lieutenancy areas are used for the ceremonial lord lieutenants, the monarchs representatives. The Ross and Cromarty lieutenancy area combines the areas of two districts of the Highland region, Ross and Cromarty, and Skye and Lochalsh. Mackenzie, History of the Outer Hebrides
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