David John Maclean, Baron Blencathra, (born 16 May 1953) is a Conservative Party

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Penrith and The Border Penrith and The Border is a constituency in Cumbria represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Neil Hudson, a Conservative. History Penrith and The Border was first contested in 1950 since which it has to date been g ...

from 1983 to 2010.

Early and later life

Born in Scotland, Maclean was educated at Fortrose Academy, Fortrose, and at the University of Aberdeen.

Parliamentary career

After unsuccessfully contesting Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber at the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general e ...

, he was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election seven weeks later, following the ennoblement of William Whitelaw. He took his seat when the House returned from summer recess in October. In Margaret Thatcher's government, Maclean served as a government

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

from 1987 to 1989, when he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, retaining the position when

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

took over as Prime Minister in 1990. After the 1992 general election, he was promoted to Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, and in 1993, he was moved to the post of Minister of State at the Home Office, a position he held until the Conservative Party's defeat at the 1997 general election. He turned down an offer to join the Cabinet, probably as Minister for Agriculture, in 1995, stating that he was 'a round peg in a round hole'. Under William Hague's leadership in opposition, he returned to the backbenches until 2001, when the new leader Iain Duncan Smith promoted him to opposition

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

. When Duncan Smith lost a vote of confidence in 2003, Maclean tendered his resignation but was reappointed to the position under new leader

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...

. He returned to the back benches when

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

was elected as leader in 2005. During the 2005 general election and since, he has worked extensively with the pro hunting group

Vote-OK __NOTOC__ Vote-OK is a group of political activists which were active on the topic of hunting animals during the 2005, 2010 and 2015 general election campaigns. Vote-OK came into being in 2005 through the efforts of Gloucestershire farmer Charles ...

, with the aim of returning a Conservative Government in order to have the Hunting Act 2004 repealed. Maclean made the headlines in 2007, when he proposed a private members bill that would have exempted the Houses of Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act. The bill proved controversial, with the government unofficially supporting the bill. Maclean said that "My bill is necessary to give an absolute guarantee that the correspondence of members of parliament, on behalf of our constituents and others, to a public authority remains confidential." The Bill was passed by the House of Commons on 18 May 2007, but has so far failed to find a sponsor in the House of Lords. A report by the House of Lords ''Select Committee on the Constitution'', published on 20 June 2007, said the Bill "does not meet the requirements of caution and proportionality in enacting legislation of constitutional importance." In its report the Constitutional Affairs Committee in the Commons said "we have been sent no evidence indicating a need for such an exemption or that existing protections for constituents' correspondence were inadequate." Gordon Brown's green paper on constitutional reform, 'The Governance of Britain', says "It is right that Parliament should be covered by the Act", indicating that the Bill's main proposal will not become law. On 26 June 2009, Maclean told his constituency Conservative Association that he would not stand at the following election, because of worsening

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

Expenses claims

Maclean was reported in '' The Daily Telegraph'' as having spent more than £20,000 improving his farmhouse under the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) scheme before selling it for £750,000. He claimed the money by designating the property as his "second home" with the Commons authorities, yet Maclean did not pay capital gains tax on the sale because the taxman accepted it was his main home. Maclean was one of 98 MPs who voted to keep their expense details secret.

House of Lords

On 28 February 2011, Maclean was created a

, as Baron Blencathra, ''of Penrith in the

County of Cumbria A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

'', and he was introduced in the House of Lords on 10 March 2011, where he sits as a Conservative. In 2010, Maclean was played by

Sam Graham Samuel Graham (born 13 August 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Airdrieonians. Career Sheffield United On 10 March 2017, Graham signed his first professional contract with Sheffield United, signin ...

, in the television film ''

On Expenses On, on, or ON may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * On (band), a solo project of Ken Andrews * ''On'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Aphex Twin * ''On'' (Echobelly album), 1995 * ''On'' (Gary Glitter album), 2001 * ''On'' (Imperial Teen album), 200 ...

''. Four years later he was found to have breached the Code of Conduct of the Lords in his dealings with the government of the Cayman Islands.

References

External links