| The Right Honourable Sir Alan Haselhurst MP |
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|---|---|
| Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association | |
| Preceded by | Michael Morris (Lord Naseby) |
| Succeeded by | The Hon Lindsay Hoyle |
| Member of Parliament for Saffron Walden |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 7 July 1977 |
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| Preceded by | Peter Kirk |
| Majority | 15,242 (28%) |
| Member of Parliament for Middleton and Prestwich |
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| In office 18 June 1970 – 28 February 1974 |
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| Preceded by | Denis Coe |
| Succeeded by | Jim Callaghan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 June 1937 South Elmsall, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Angela, née Bailey |
| Children | 2 sons, 1 daughter |
| Alma mater | Oriel College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Website | www.siralanhaselhurst.net |
Sir Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst (born 23 June 1937) is a British Conservative politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden and was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010.[1]
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Alan Haselhurst was born in South Elmsall, near Hemsworth, Yorkshire, and was educated in Birmingham at King Edward's School, Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire, and at Oriel College, Oxford. While at Oxford he was the President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1958 and served as both the secretary and treasurer for two years with the Oxford Union from 1959. Before his election to Parliament, he worked in management in the chemicals industry and became an unremunerated director when his father's pharmacy was incorporated. He was the Chairman of the Manchester Youth and Community Service from 1974 until he was re-elected to Parliament.
Alan Haselhurst worked as an election agent for the Conservative MP for Hertford Robin Balniel at both the 1964 and 1966 general elections. Beginning in 1964, he served for two years as the Chairman of the National Young Conservatives. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1970 general election for the Lancashire seat of Middleton and Prestwich, defeating the Labour MP Denis Coe by 1,042 votes. Haselhurst lost the seat at the next February 1974 general election to Labour's Jim Callaghan by just 517 votes (this is not the same James (Jim) Callaghan who later became Prime Minister, and later still Lord Callaghan of Cardiff). The Conservative MP for the Essex seat of Saffron Walden, Peter Kirk, died on 17 April 1977, and Haselhurst was selected to contest the subsequent by-election on 7 July. Alan Haselhurst won the seat with a majority of 12,437 and has been returned as its MP ever since.
In Parliament, he served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Home Secretary Robert Carr from 1973 until his defeat at the February 1974 general election. He also served as the PPS to the Secretary of State for Education and Science Mark Carlisle for two years from 1979. He served on the European Legislation Select Committee for fifteen years from 1982, and was a member of the Transport Select Committee from 1992 to 1997. He asked the first question in Margaret Thatcher's final Prime Minister's Question Time on 27 November 1990.[2]
Following the 1997 general election, he was appointed Chairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker), remaining in that post under successive Speakers Betty Boothroyd, Michael Martin, and John Bercow until May 2010.
Alan Haselhurst was a contender to succeed Martin at the announcement of Martin's resignation as Speaker on 19 May 2009. Sir Alan became embroiled in the MPs' expenses controversy and was accused by The Daily Telegraph of claiming £12,000 for gardening expenses over 4 years, claiming £249 every month—£1 below the threshold which meant he was not required to provide receipts.[3] In an attempt to wipe his slate clean, he later paid back the gardening expenses "out of respect to his constituents".[4] He withdrew from the race after getting 66 votes in the first round of voting and 57 in the second.[5]
Sir Alan Haselhurst chose not to seek re-election as a Deputy Speaker after the 2010 general election. As the Chairman of Ways and Means must come from a different party than the Speaker was formerly a member of, he would have had to stand for 1st Deputy Chairman, a lesser position. Nevertheless, he was entrusted to continue as a temporary Deputy Speaker chairing debates in the period between the State Opening of Parliament and the election of new Deputy Speakers.
In July 2010, Haselhurst was appointed Chairman of the House of Commons Administration Committee,[6] having earlier been defeated in the election for chair of the Backbench Business Committee by Natascha Engel.
Sir Alan has always had a strong passion for the Commonwealth. Between the years of 1978-1981 he was Chair of the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council. In July 2010 Sir Alan was elected Chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch and the following year at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference at London in July 2011, Sir Alan Haselhurst was elected Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's Executive Committee.[7]
Alan Haselhurst married Angela Margaret Bailey on 16 April 1977, and they have two sons and a daughter. He is a very vocal supporter of community-based projects and was for a time a Director of Turning Point, a charity working with socially excluded young people, for five years from 1981. He is seen as a Wet Tory, and has been a supporter of Kenneth Clarke. He was knighted in 1995 and sworn of the Privy Council in 1999. He is the Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cricket, was a member of the executive council of Essex County Cricket Club from 1996 to 2008, and is a member of MCC.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Denis Coe |
Member of Parliament for Middleton and Prestwich 1970 – February 1974 |
Succeeded by Jim Callaghan |
| Preceded by Sir Peter Kirk |
Member of Parliament for Saffron Walden 1977 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Michael Morris |
Chairman of Ways and Means 1997–2010 |
Succeeded by Hon Lindsay Hoyle |
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