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Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo (; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster and former politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as ''Great British Railway Journeys'' and '' Great Continental Railway Journeys''. A former member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate from 1984 to 1997 and Kensington and Chelsea from 1999 to 2005. First elected to the House of Commons in a 1984 by-election, Portillo served as a junior minister under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, before entering the Cabinet in 1992 as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and promoted to Secretary of State for Employment in 1994. A Thatcherite and a Eurosceptic, he was considered a "darling of the right" and was seen as a likely challenger to Major during the 1995 Conservative leadership election, but did not run, and was subsequently promoted to Secretary of State for Defence. As Defence Secretary, he pressed for a course of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is predominantly used today as a style associated with the holding of certain senior public offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and to a lesser extent, Australia. ''Right'' in this context is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'fully'. Grammatically, ''The Right Honourable'' is an adjectival phrase which gives information about a person. As such, it is not considered correct to apply it in direct address, nor to use it on its own as a title in place of a name; but rather it is used in the third person along with a name or noun to be modified. ''Right'' may be abbreviated to ''Rt'', and ''Honourable'' to ''Hon.'', or both. ''The'' is sometimes dropped in written abbreviated form, but is always pronounced. Countries with common or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shadow Chancellor Of The Exchequer
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 given at the gift of the Leader of the Opposition and has no formal constitutional role, but is generally considered the second-most senior position on the opposition frontbench, after the Leader. Past Shadow Chancellors include Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Edward Heath, Geoffrey Howe, Ken Clarke, Gordon Brown, and John McDonnell. The current Shadow Chancellor is Rachel Reeves, who has held the position since 9 May 2021. She is the second woman to hold the position. The name for the position has a mixed history. It is used to designate the lead economic spokesman for the Opposition. The name 'Shadow Chancellor' has also been used for the corresponding position for the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson. This was a source of humour for Chancellor Gordon Brown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2005 United Kingdom General Election
The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect List of MPs elected in the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 646 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, Leader of the Labour Party (UK), led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However, its Majority government, majority fell to 66 seats compared to the 167-seat majority it had won 2001 United Kingdom general election, four years before. This was the first time the Labour Party had won a third consecutive election, and remains the party's most recent general election victory. The Labour campaign emphasised a strong economy; however, Blair had suffered a decline in popularity, which was exacerbated by the decision to send British troops to Iraq War, invade Iraq in 2003. Despite this, Labour mostly retained its le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 Kensington And Chelsea By-election
The Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea, The Rt. Hon Alan Clark (Conservative), died of a brain tumour on 5 September 1999. This was the first safe Conservative seat to have a by-election in the 1997–2001 UK Parliament. There was immediate speculation that Michael Portillo, the most high-profile casualty of the 1997 general election, would use it to return to frontline politics. Portillo immediately confirmed his interest in the seat, but was then confronted with the publication of an interview he had given previously that summer in which he had confirmed that while at Peterhouse, Cambridge he had had homosexual affairs. Portillo was selected as Conservative candidate but faced demonstrations organised by gay rights group OutRage! and its principal campaigner Peter Tatchell who protested against his vote for an unequal age of consent for gay and straight sex, and support for the ban on homosexuality in the UK armed forces while Secretary of State for Defence. Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 United Kingdom General Election
The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179 seat majority. The political backdrop of campaigning focused on public opinion towards a change in government. Blair, as Labour Leader, focused on transforming his party through a more centrist policy platform, entitled 'New Labour', with promises of devolution referendums for Scotland and Wales, fiscal responsibility, and a decision to nominate more female politicians for election through the use of all-women shortlists from which to choose candidates. Major sought to rebuild public trust in the Conservatives following a series of scandals, including the events of Black Wednesday in 1992, through campaigning on the strength of the economic recovery following the early 1990s recession, but faced divisions within the party over the UK's membership of the Eur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 Enfield Southgate By-election
The 1984 Enfield Southgate by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 December 1984 for the British House of Commons constituency of Enfield Southgate. Previous MP The seat had become vacant on 12 October 1984 in tragic circumstances, when the constituency's Member of Parliament (MP) was killed by the Irish Republican Army in the Brighton hotel bombing. Sir Anthony George Berry (12 February 1925 – 12 October 1984) was a Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate, and a Whip in Margaret Thatcher's government. Sir Anthony Berry had been Southgate's MP since the 1964 general election. The constituency had been renamed Enfield Southgate in 1983. Candidates Given the reason for the by-election, there was some discussion about the Labour Party and the Alliance not contesting the poll. However, in the end both opposition forces were represented in the list of candidates. Nine candidates were nominated. The list below is set out in descending order of the number of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Twigg
Stephen Twigg (born 25 December 1966) is a British Labour Co-op politician who was Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, and for Liverpool West Derby from 2010 to 2019. He came to national prominence in 1997 by winning the seat of Defence Secretary Michael Portillo. Twigg was made the Minister of State for School Standards in 2004, a job he held until he lost his seat in 2005. He returned to parliament in 2010, after he was elected Member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby when longtime MP Bob Wareing retired. Following Ed Miliband's election to the Labour leadership, he made Twigg a Shadow Foreign Office Minister. In his October 2011 reshuffle, Miliband promoted Twigg to the post of Shadow Secretary of State for Education. However, on 7 October 2013 he was replaced in the reshuffle. In August 2020, Stephen Twigg was appointed as the 8th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Early life He was born on Christmas Day 1966 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Berry
Sir Anthony George Berry (12 February 1925 – 12 October 1984) was a British Conservative politician. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate and a whip in Margaret Thatcher's government. Berry served as an MP for nearly 20 years until he was killed in the Brighton hotel bombing by the Provisional IRA. Personal life Born in Eton, Buckinghamshire (now in Berkshire), Berry was the sixth and youngest son of newspaper magnate Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley, and his wife Mary (). He married firstly, at Westminster in 1954, the Hon. Mary Cynthia Roche (born 1934), a daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy. Mary's sister, Frances, married John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, and so Berry was an uncle of Diana, Princess of Wales. Berry and his wife Mary had four children: Alexandra Mary (born 1955), Antonia Ruth and Joanna Cynthia (twins, born 1957), and Edward Anthony Morys (born 1960). They divorced in 1966. He then married Sarah Clifford-Turner at Chelsea in 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enfield Southgate (UK Parliament Constituency)
Enfield Southgate is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. It was created in 1950 as Southgate, and has been represented since 2017 by Bambos Charalambous, a member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. History From 1950 to the 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 general election, this constituency was known as Southgate. The prefix of the seat's London Borough was added to some parts of the legislation, but not others, in 1974. It was regarded as a safe seat for the Conservative party, but it gained national attention in the 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 general election when Michael Portillo, Secretary of State for Defence was unexpectedly defeated on a massive swing (politics), swing - the 'Portillo moment'. Portillo had been widely expected to contest the Conservative leadership and his defeat the media took ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Clark
Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade and Defence. He became a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1991. He was the author of several books of military history, including his controversial work ''The Donkeys'' (1961), which inspired the musical satire ''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' Clark became known for his flamboyance, wit, irreverence and keen support of animal rights. Norman Lamont called him "the most politically incorrect, outspoken, iconoclastic and reckless politician of our times". Clark is particularly remembered for his three-volume ''Alan Clark Diaries'', which contains a candid account of political life under Thatcher and a moving description of the weeks preceding his death, when he continued to write until he could no longer focus on the page. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kensington And Chelsea (UK Parliament Constituency)
Kensington and Chelsea was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom 1997–2010. It was one of the safest Conservative seats in the United Kingdom, and since its creation in 1997 became a prestigious seat, with MP Alan Clark, the former Defence Secretary Michael Portillo and the former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind all holding the seat for the Conservatives. The seat was abolished for the 2010 election, when the 1974–1997 Kensington constituency was recreated and Chelsea formed a new constituency together with the southern part of the former Hammersmith and Fulham constituency, called the Chelsea and Fulham constituency. Boundaries The constituency covered the central and southern portions of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, covering the centres of both Kensington and Chelsea. This covered the following wards of the borough: * Abingdon, Brompton, Campden, Cheyne, Church, Courtfield, Earls Court, Hans T ... [...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] |
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