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Helen Morgan (politician)
Helen Margaret Lillian Morgan (born 9 April 1975) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and chartered accountant who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Shropshire since 2021. Morgan is the first Liberal Democrat to represent the constituency, which had previously been considered a Conservative safe seat. Early life and career Helen Morgan was born in 1975 in Nottingham to John and Susan Halcrow. She grew up in Stone, Staffordshire. She attended Alleyne's High School in Stone, before reading history at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduating in 1996. Morgan is a chartered accountant, and, prior to being elected to parliament, was working as financial controller for a real estate business based in North Shropshire. Her previous experience had included posts of head of margin forecasting at British Gas, head of financial reporting at Centrica and as an audit manager at KPMG. Local politics Morgan began her career in politics as a parish councillor. On 6 M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Member Of Parliament (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, a member of Parliament (MP) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Electoral system All 650 members of the UK House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-post voting system in single member constituencies across the whole of the United Kingdom, where each constituency has its own single representative. Elections All MP positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on a five-year cycle, or when a snap election is called. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 set out that ordinary general elections are held on the first Thursday in May, every five years. The Act was repealed in 2022. With approval from Parliament, both the 2017 and 2019 general elections were held earlier than the schedule set by the Act. If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation, then a constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. Under the Representation of the People Act 198 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Gas
British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving around twelve million homes in the United Kingdom, British Gas is the biggest energy supplier in the country, and is considered one of the Big Six dominating the gas and electricity market in the United Kingdom. History 1812–1948 The Gas Light and Coke Company was the first public utility company in the world. It was founded by Frederick Albert Winsor and incorporated by Royal Charter on 30 April 1812 under the seal of King George III. It continued to thrive for the next 136 years, expanding into domestic services whilst absorbing many smaller companies including the Aldgate Gas Light and Coke Company (1819), the City of London Gas Light and Coke Company (1870), the Equitable Gas Light Company (1871), the Great Central Gas Consumer' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sajid Javid
Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament for Bromsgrove since 2010. Born in Rochdale, Lancashire, to a British Pakistani family, Javid was raised largely in Bristol. He studied Economics and Politics at the University of Exeter, where he joined the Conservative Party. Working in banking, he rose to become a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank. He was elected to the House of Commons in May 2010. Under the coalition government of David Cameron he was a Junior Treasury Minister before being promoted to Cameron's Cabinet as Culture Secretary, following Maria Miller's resignation. After the 2015 general election, Cameron promoted Javid to Business Secretary. Javid was a prominent supporter of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Downing Street Refurbishment Controversy
The financing of the 2020 refurbishment of the flat above 11 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, became the subject of a controversy in 2021 when allegations were made in the press as to whether an undisclosed loan was used initially to help finance it. An Electoral Commission inquiry found that the Conservative Party had not accurately reported donations to the party and imposed a £17,800 fine on the party. The commission also said that the full cost of the works had been repaid in full in March 2021. The Conservative Party had said at the time that the Prime Minister had met the full cost of the works. Background Traditionally, the British Prime Minister resides at 10 Downing Street and the Chancellor resides at 11 Downing Street. However, starting with Tony Blair there has been a reversal of this tradition, as the private residential apartment above 11 Downing Street is larger than the one above 10 Downing Street. Following his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westminster Christmas Parties Controversy
Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about parties and other gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gatherings. While several lockdowns in the country were in place, gatherings took place at 10 Downing Street, its garden, and other government buildings. Reports of events attracted media attention, public backlash and political controversy. In late January 2022, twelve gatherings came under investigation by the Metropolitan Police, including at least three attended by Boris Johnson, the then-Prime Minister. The police issued 126 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to 83 individuals whom the police found had committed offences under COVID-19 regulations, including one each to Johnson, his wife Carrie, and Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who all apologised and paid the penalties. The first reporting was on 30 November 2021 by the ''Dail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikkei, with core editorial offices across Britain, the United States and continental Europe. In July 2015, Pearson sold the publication to Nikkei for £844 million (US$1.32 billion) after owning it since 1957. In 2019, it reported one million paying subscriptions, three-quarters of which were digital subscriptions. The newspaper has a prominent focus on financial journalism and economic analysis over generalist reporting, drawing both criticism and acclaim. The daily sponsors an annual book award and publishes a " Person of the Year" feature. The paper was founded in January 1888 as the ''London Financial Guide'' before rebranding a month later as the ''Financial Times''. It was first circulated around metropolitan London by James Sherid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Controversies Regarding COVID-19 Contracts In The United Kingdom
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the British government decided in March 2020 to rapidly place contracts and recruit a number of individuals. Shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) were a particular political issue for the second Johnson ministry. This led to the awarding of a number of contracts without a competitive tendering process, and friends of political figures and people who had made political donations were quickly given contracts. As a result, accusations of cronyism were made against the government. Shortages of PPE and equipment Since the Global spread of H5N1 in 2007, 2007 H5N1 influenza outbreak, National Health Service (NHS) trusts had conducted simulations of Influenza pandemic, influenza-like pandemics. Russell King, an NHS resilience manager, said; "the Cabinet Office had identified the availability and distribution of PPE [personal protective equipment] as a pinch point in a pandemic". Early in the COVID-19 pandemi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randox
Randox is an international health and toxicology company in the ''in vitro'' diagnostics industry headquartered in the UK, and owned by Peter FitzGerald. The company develops diagnostic solutions for hospitals, clinical, research and molecular labs, food testing, forensic toxicology, veterinary labs and life sciences. It develops, manufactures and markets reagents and equipment for laboratory medicine, with a distribution network of 145 countries. Randox is the biggest polymerase chain reaction testing provider in the UK and Ireland. Randox received three contracts by the Department of Health and Social Care without having to compete for a tender. In 2020, Randox was awarded nearly £500 million by the UK government to provide private-sector COVID-19 testing at the cost of about £49 per kit. History Randox was established in 1982 by its owner, Peter FitzGerald, in Crumlin, Northern Ireland. Beginning with a team of six employees, by 2020 the company had 2,700 employees. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They try to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party. The term is taken from the "whipper-in" during a hunt, who tries to prevent hounds from wandering away from a hunting pack. Additionally, the term "whip" may mean the voting instructions issued to legislators, or the status of a certain legislator in their party's parliamentary grouping. Etymology The expression ''whip'' in its parliamentary context, derived from its origins in hunting terminology. The ''Oxford English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and as Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. Johnson has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015, having previously been MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008. Johnson attended Eton College, and studied Classics at Balliol College, Oxford. He was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1986. In 1989, he became the Brussels correspondent — and later political columnist — for ''The Daily Telegraph'', and from 1999 to 2005 was the editor of '' The Spectator''. Following his election to parliament in 2001 he was a shadow minister under Conservative leaders Michael Howard and David Cameron. In 2008, Johnson was elected mayor of London and resigned from the House of Common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safe Seat
A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. In such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing hands because of the political leanings of the electorate in the constituency concerned and/or the popularity of the incumbent member. The opposite (i.e. more competitive) type of seat is a marginal seat. The phrase tantamount to election is often used to describe winning the dominant party's nomination for a safe seat. Definition There is a spectrum between safe and marginal seats. Safe seats can still change hands in a landslide election, such as Enfield Southgate being lost by the Conservatives (and potential future party leader Michael Portillo) to Labour at the 1997 UK general election, whilst other seats may remain marginal despite large national swings, suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2019 United Kingdom General Election
The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 48 seats and won 43.6% of the popular vote – the highest percentage for any party since 1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979. Having failed to obtain a majority in the 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2017 general election, the Conservative Party had faced Parliamentary votes on Brexit, prolonged parliamentary deadlock over Brexit while it governed in minority government, minority with the Conservative–DUP agreement, support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This situation led to the resignation of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, selection of Boris Johnson as Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative leader and Prime M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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