Alan Meale Explained

Sir Alan Meale
Office:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment
Primeminister:Tony Blair
Predecessor:Position established
Successor:Chris Mullin
Term Start:6 May 1997
Term End:29 July 1999
Office1:Member of Parliament
for Mansfield
Predecessor1:Don Concannon
Term Start1:11 June 1987
Term End1:3 May 2017
Birth Date:1949 7, df=yes
Birth Place:Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England
Spouse:Diana Gilhespy
Party:Labour
Alma Mater:Durham University
Sheffield Hallam University
Website:www.alanmeale.co.uk

Sir Joseph Alan Meale (born 31 July 1949) is a former British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mansfield from 1987 to 2017.

Early life

Meale attended St Joseph RC School in Bishop Auckland and studied at Ruskin College (in Oxford), and Durham University,[1] his CV also mentions Sheffield Hallam University.[2]

Meale's website lists his previous occupations as author, editor, development officer, trade union official, researcher, political adviser and journalist.[2]

Parliamentary career

Meale entered Parliament on 11 June 1987[3] and made his maiden speech on 3 July 1987 in the Tourism debate where he commented on the poverty, lack of provision, opportunity and services in the Mansfield community.[4] Meale was a whip from 1992 to 1994 when he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Prescott in Prescott's different portfolios until 1998.[5]

Meale served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions under John Prescott from January 1998 to January 1999.[1] He became a government whip Council of Europe Delegation in 2007 and acting Leader of the UK Delegation in 2010.[6] He has been the chair of the British Section of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Cyprus Group since 2007.[5]

In 1998, Michael Ancram accused Meale of "cronyism" following allegations in The Sunday Times that he had lobbied on behalf of Anthony Kleanthous, the millionaire Greek-Cypriot chairman of Barnet football club. Kleanthous wanted to build a £14 million stadium on green belt land, 140 miles from Meale's constituency. The Sunday Times article said that Britain's Greek-Cypriot lobbying groups had paid for Meale and his wife to go to Cyprus and donated thousands of pounds to Labour. Meale denied cronyism, whilst Kleanthos insisted he had not donated to the Labour party and said it was "a bit racist" to link his business interests to Greek-Cypriot political lobbying efforts based on his ethnicity.[7] [8]

Meale was Vice Chair of the APPG for Cyprus,[9] and was regarded by Greek Cypriot groups as one of their "oldest and closest friends in Parliament".[10] According to Meale, he first became interested in the political situation in Cyprus back in 1987 when Tony Benn advised him to "pick a political issue and stick with it".

In the run-up to the UK referendum on membership of the European Union, Meale campaigned to remain in the EU.[11]

Expenses

Meale was mentioned in the Parliamentary expenses scandal having claimed £13,000 over four years for gardening. The limit set retrospectively by Sir Thomas Legg was £1,000 /year.[12] The Legg Report showed that Meale repaid £11,859.47.[13]

Alternative medicine

Meale was one of sixteen MPs to sign an early day motion tabled by Conservative MP David Tredinnick regretting the British Medical Association's opposition to further National Health Service funding of homoeopathy.[14]

Loss of seat

Meale lost his seat at the 2017 general election when Ben Bradley overturned a 2015 Labour majority of 5,315 to become the first ever Conservative MP for the seat. Labour had held this seat since 1923 and the constituency had been represented by Meale since 1987 – before Bradley was born - making the latter one of the youngest MPs elected,[15] despite the acting returning officer wrongly announcing Meale as the victor.[16]

Personal life

Meale married Diana Gilhespy on 10 March 1983, his second wife; he has a son and daughter from his first marriage in 1970. Meale was knighted by Prince Charles officiating at the ceremony in January, 2012, after the 2011 Birthday Honours list was announced, chosen for his "public and political service".[17] [18]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Politics – Ask Aristotle: Alan Meale MP . Guardian Newspapers . 24 January 2011 . London . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20051130131208/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0%2C9290%2C-3580%2C00.html . 30 November 2005 .
  2. Web site: Alan Meale MP – personal website . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090507172034/http://www.alanmeale.co.uk/cv.html . 7 May 2009 . dmy .
  3. Web site: Alan Meale:Labour MP for Mansfield. theyworkforyou.com. 25 January 2011.
  4. Web site: House of Commons debates:Tourism. theyworkforyou.com. 3 July 1987. 25 January 2011.
  5. News: BBC Democracy Live:Alan Meale. BBC News. 24 January 2011. 10 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120510222353/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/25454.stm. dead.
  6. Web site: PACE Member File. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 15 November 2017.
  7. News: UK Politics:Minister denies cronyism allegation. BBC News. 25 October 1998. 24 January 2011.
  8. News: Sengupta. Kim. Millionaire: I paid no cash to Labour. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402222259/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/millionaire-i-paid-no-cash-to-labour-1180718.html . 2015-04-02 . limited . live. 2 April 2015. Independent. 26 October 1998.
  9. Web site: British-Cyprus All-Party Parliamentary Group. Parliament UK. 2 April 2015.
  10. News: Gavos. Thasanis. Sir Alan Meale: The Cyprus issue will be over and we'll all wonder why it took so long. 2 April 2015. Famagusta Gazette. 1 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402183859/http://famagusta-gazette.com/sir-alan-meale-the-cyprus-issue-will-be-over-and-well-all-wonder-why-it-t-p24620-69.htm. 2 April 2015. dead. dmy-all.
  11. News: EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand. BBC News. 22 June 2016. 23 April 2017.
  12. News: Swaine. Jon. MPs' expenses: Alan Meale won battle over £1,300 for 'garden cabin'. The Daily Telegraph. 11 December 2009. 24 January 2011. London.
  13. Web site: 4 February 2010. Review of past ACA payments. House of Commons Members Estimate Committee. 24 January 2011.
  14. Web site: Early Day Motion No. 342 British Medical Association Motions on Homeopathy. 29 June 2010. Tredinnick, David. 18 October 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101022100206/http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=41282&SESSION=905. 22 October 2010. dead.
  15. News: I want to shatter the stereotype of a Tory MP. The Times. 13 September 2017. McGrath. Hannah.
  16. News: Boult . Adam . Awkward election moment as returning officer announces the wrong candidate has won . 26 October 2020 . The Daily Telegraph . 9 June 2017 . Jacqueline Collins, acting returning officer at the Mansfield count, took to the stage to announce the result - and declared Labour candidate Sir Alan Meale had been elected. Except he wasn't the winner - Conservative candidate Ben Bradley was..
  17. "Sir Alan knighted by Prince Charles". Chad, Mansfield local newspaper, 18 January 2012, p.24 Accessed 29 March 2017
  18. News: Queen's birthday honours list: Knights. The Guardian. 11 June 2011. London. 11 June 2011.